Serving up Soft Serve: This Beachside Ice Cream Stand in Northern California Won Me Over

Soft serve and amusement parks go hand in hand, especially when said park borders a warm Californian beach. The widely-beloved (and forever immortalized in the vampiric classic, "The Lost Boys") Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk was founded in 1907 and remains the oldest working amusement park in California. Of course, such legacy deserves equally impressive frozen treats, and the local favorite is, by far, Carousel Cones. 

Think it may be too cold for soft serve? Think again. Northern California’s surf town Santa Cruz has mild weather for most of the year and warm weather for summers. However, if one wanted to make sure their child was NOT covered in melted ice cream, it seems reasonable that a mix of a hot sun and tiny hands might be a bad combination to achieve that goal. Luckily, this problem has been solved by Carousel Cones with their solution to everything — just dip it in tempered chocolate!

The small stand offers old-school vibes and a compact menu with the idea of keeping things classic but also offering a few fun options. With homemade waffle cones, you can buy vanilla, chocolate, or swirled soft serve, all of which can be dipped in chocolate. There’s also ice cream sundaes, root beer floats, ICEEs, various beverages, and a few other dipped-in-chocolate items: frozen bananas, ice cream sandwiches, and a “sandae” boardwalk original consisting of chocolate malt between graham crackers that is dipped in chocolate and covered in almonds. 

This frozen street staple of the boardwalk is named after, and shares a building with, the famous Looff Carousel. This carousel was built in 1911 and, along with the Big Dipper (built in 1924), the pair were listed as National Historic Landmarks. They are also both on the National Register of Historic Places, and both are two of the oldest beachfront amusement park rides/attractions in all of the West Coast. Both were also built by the same family, with Charles I. D. Looff building the carousel and his son Arthur constructing the wooden roller coaster. 

The Looff Carousel is special to Santa Cruz for many reasons. One, for the fact that only five other carousels made by Charles I.D. Looff still exist in the United States. It is also entirely hand-carved with intricately-made horses, contains a 1894 Ruth & Sohn organ, and has a well-loved brass ring dispenser (one of only twenty ring dispensers still being used in the world). A tip: only those seated on the outside lane of horses can grab rings to throw at an open-mouthed clown, and your aim better be true!

Both the carousel and Carousel Cones are near the main entrance of the park, and although you have to pay to use the carousel, entrance to the park in general is free so you can go and enjoy your soft serve without having to pay for a park ticket. So, whether you choose the soft serve, a banana, or ice cream sandwich, just make sure to follow the unofficial rule and dip it in chocolate! Think you have a better boardwalk food option? Use our nomination form and tell us all about it!