August is historically the steamiest, stickiest, sweatiest month of the year–brilliant move, Founding Fathers, building the nation’s capital on a swamp–in these parts. We’ve tracked down 31 frozen treats (one a day for the rest of this month) to provide you with some temporary, and often insanely delicious, relief.
The place: Carl’s – 2200 Princess Anne St., Fredericksburg
The prescription: cherry slush. Carl’s has kept their vintage Electro Freeze machines–they traffic in vanilla, chocolate and strawberry soft serve exclusively–whirring since the late 40′s. But by the time I pulled into their perennially overcrowded parking lot, I had vastly superseded my recommended daily serving of calcium. But I was sorely in need of something cold. Enter: cherry slush. A potent blend of granulated ice spun with thrillingly cherry syrup, so sweet and cold–creeping anasthetically across the gums, staining the lips and tongue fire engine red and instantaneously transforming the blood to pure glycogen–one is inclined to siphon it up in protracted gulps. Though that invites the very real possibility of serious brain freeze (and insta-tooth decay).
“Would you like ice cream on top of that? It’s DEE-licious,” my teen server suggested with a wry smile as the crystalline slush cascaded into my wax-lined paper cup. One fantastic sin at a time, darling…
–Warren
————————————————————————————————————————————————
Keep tabs on the month long Freeze Jag trek here.