Four Seas: The Best Ice Cream on Cape Cod

Four Seas is the third oldest ice cream shop in New England and considered by ice cream connoisseurs to be one of the best in the country. Situated in an old blacksmith shop in downtown Centerville on Cape Cod, Massachusetts since 1934, it has become a Cape tradition for over 70 years.

The name "Four Seas" comes from a poem by Mabel E. Phinney called "Cape Cod Calls". Four Seas is a strictly summer Cape Cod experience, opening a week before Memorial Day on Saturday and closing a week after Labor Day on Sunday. In 2006, the season runs from May 20 to September 10. The owner, Richard Warren, employs local high school students to whom he gives a high esprit de corps and also runs a scholarship in memory of his son, Randall. The pay is low, but the perks (like free ice cream all summer long) are good. Warren recently had a reunion of 122 former employees, all but five of the students who have worked at Four Seas over the years.

Warren, himself, started off as a student working at the ice cream shop for the original owner W. Wells Watson and has since turned over the shop to his son Douglas. He and his wife bought Four Seas when Watson retired in 1960. The shop is open from 9:30 to 10pm after June 24 during the high summer season and 10am to 10pm on school nights in spring and fall.

Four Seas prides itself on its excellent ice cream, its service and its old Cape Cod charm. The ice cream shop has had the same look since 1934, boasting a retro counter set with stools and a small dining room on the side for lunch and those who like to eat their ice cream sitting down. The line is usually out the door, especially on hot summer evenings, but Warren's employees pride themselves on fast and efficient service. You won't wait long for your ice cream at the Four Seas. This is good, since the parking lot is quite small. You may end up having to park on the street.

And what ice cream it is: 24 flavors out front with ten more on rotation in the freezer. Four Seas ice cream has changed mainly in the addition of new flavors. Watson created several, including chocolate chip (which he originally called "chip chocolate"), that were later made famous by larger ice cream companies. But the ice cream itself remains as artery-clogging and satisfying as Ben & Jerry's, with 15% butterfat. It goes down sweet and easy and will drip off your cone if you don't lick fast. Cape Cod summers get hot.

Four Seas ice cream comes in cones of three sizes, but you can also buy pints and quarts to bring home. The shop has an end-of-the-season sale on these where the prices are cut by 15%, lowering on the last day after 2pm every two hours. However, the prices aren't bad for what you get: a large cone only costs $3.50, which is a standard rate for summer ice cream on Cape Cod. You'll also find Four Seas ice cream at various restaurants and stores up and down the Cape. The shop was even once asked to furnish ice cream for a Kennedy wedding.

Four Seas also has a lunch menu running between 10am and 2:30pm that includes a locally famous lobster salad sandwich. After 2:30, though, the ice cream business picks up, making it too hard to keep the sandwiches coming. The main business of Four Seas is, and always has been, its ice cream.

You can find Four Seas on Main Street in Centerville. If you're new to Cape Cod, try the Four Seas official page, which has clear instructions for the shop from Route 6. Just click on "location" at the bottom of the page. If you have any kind of sweet tooth and you love Cape Cod, you won't want to miss the Four Seas ice cream experience.