When Chip Hearn decided to open a shop specializing in ice cream, he knew exactly which supplier he would use. He’d tasted Hockessin-based Woodside Farm Creamery’s products, and it was love at first bite. “I went nuts over how spectacular their stuff was,” recalls Hearn, owner of The Ice Cream Store in downtown Rehoboth Beach.
6 Rehoboth Avenue, Rehoboth Beach
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The Ice Cream Store has continued to keep Woodside Farm Creamery busy, creating more than 100 flavors, including a maple bacon crunch ice cream and a Death by Peanut Butter flavor. “Chip keeps coming up with some crazy flavors,” says Jim Mitchell, who owns the farm with his wife, Jane.
King’s Homemade Ice Cream in Milton has been a fixture since 1972, when Earl King bought a general store in the downtown district. The quaint A-frame structure is Sussex County’s oldest continuously operating commercial building. At least 25 feet of the building’s front was built in the late 1600s. The attic beams were cut by hand, and there’s a wrought-iron hitching post out front. Initially, the store sold such items as penny candy, canned goods and about five or six ice cream flavors. It later focused only on ice cream. Earl’s son, Tom, and his wife, Chris, opened a second location in Lewes in 1981, which has the same old-fashioned ambiance.
201 2nd Street, Lewes | 302 Union Street, Milton
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Just a few miles outside of Lewes, off Route 1, is Hopkins Farm Creamery, where you can see the black-and-white Holsteins up close while ordering your favorite flavor. The dairy is located at Green Acres Farm, which the Hopkins family has owned for four generations. They started making ice cream in 2008, and their creamery has been a must-visit for ice cream near the Delaware beaches ever since.
18186 Dairy Farm Road, Lewes
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Vanderwende’s Farm Creamery is another Delaware farm with a coastal presence. The family started selling ice cream in 2012 on their Bridgeville farm. In 2015, they added a Dewey Beach location. Now, Vanderwende’s has five locations and a food truck.
4003 Seashore Highway, Bridgeville | 8372 Hickman Road, Greenwood
23 Bellevue Street, Dewey Beach | 300 Coastal Highway, Fenwick Island
243 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA
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In Bethany, Moo Cow Cone is owned and operated by a mother/daughter duo with a passion for chilled treats. Both native to Sussex County, the pair serve up hand-dipped ice cream and milkshakes piled high with creative toppings. Since opening in 2022, the ice cream stand has become a favorite for Bethany locals and tourists in search of a cool treat at the Delaware beaches.
39597 Jefferson Bridge Road, Bethany Beach
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Related: 15 Reservation-Friendly Restaurants at the Delaware Beaches
