LE MARS, Iowa -- An employee at the new Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor pressed a scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream into a chocolate-dipped waffle cone. She then handed the delicacy to Eric Isebrand, who was waiting patiently behind the glass counter."This is one of the new flavors," the 10-year-old boy said as he licked the cold treat. "When I saw it, I picked it out."
"I really like it," he added, after using a napkin to wipe melted chocolate off his face.
Eric, his mother, Nancy Isebrand, his older sister, Amy, and two of Amy's friends, Crystal Epppling and Katrina Engebretson, were among the first customers at the old-fashioned ice cream parlor and museum, which made its debut in downtown Le Mars Friday.
The new parlor and museum is located in a historic building that Wells Enterprises, the makers of Blue Bunny ice cream and frozen novelties, extensively renovated. It replaces a smaller parlor Wells had operated since 1999 at the intersection of Highways 3 and 75.
For the grand opening Friday night, Wells hosted a free concert by Tonic Sol Fa in front of the parlor at 115 Central Ave., N.W, and was expected to sell some 1,000 ice cream cones at the reduced rate of 50 cents each. The celebration was held in conjunction with the annual Ice Cream Days festival in Le Mars, the self-proclaimed Ice Cream Capital of the World.
The new parlor, which boasts nearly 12,000 square feet of space, features an open grand staircase, which allows guests on the second floor to look down at the lower level. "It really produces that open feel," Dave Smetter, Wells' senior director of corporate marketing and communications, said.
Nancy Isebrand said she and her family were regular visitors at the former parlor, and were anxiously awaiting the opening of the new one.
"It's beautiful," the Le Mars woman said as she looked around. "It has a lot more room. We're looking forward to spending more time here."
The main floor seats up to 100 people, and about 30 more on the second level, which is furnished with leather couch and seats and an 82-inch flat screen TV. A second-floor party room, which can be booked for various events, holds up to 130 people.
There also is outdoor seating, on which a number of visitors Friday enjoyed their ice cream treats on a warm sunny.
With the added room, the parlor has doubled its ice cream selection to nearly 40 flavors. The choices include some Blue Bunny flavors not usually found in retail stores, including Huckelberry, Vanilla Storm and White Chocolate Caramel Cluster.
Another counter, brought over from the former parlor, serves malts, shakes, floats, sundaes and old-fashioned ice cream sodas.
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