You've heard of a drive-thru, but what about a boat-thru?
Michael Alton built the floating ice-cream shack in his driveway last winter
The jingle of an ice-cream truck might be a rare sound in this day and age, but a new venture has people screaming for ice cream on the water this summer.
Situated in the Kingston area near where the Saint John River meets Belleisle Bay, it's a peculiar sight to behold — a small, floating shack with a green roof and red flags.
And that shack has a name. It's called Ice Cream Dock and boaters are able to utilize the "boat-thru" to grab a treat while on the water.
The idea was the brainchild of Michael Alton, who said he has lived and worked on the water his entire life.
The business was inspired by some things he saw in other parts of the world — and it took a bit of dreaming, too — but the Ice Cream Dock began operating on Canada Day this year.
"This is exactly the type of summer I was looking to have," Alton said.
"I wanted to make it look like, you know, like a baseball … snack shack when you were a kid, you know, where you'd go to get a freezie or ice cream at the game," said Alton.
Alton built the structure in his driveway last winter, out of mostly recycled materials. He then craned it into the water for the big opening.
Everything on board the shack is run by solar and battery power, he said.
Alton said he didn't advertise at first, and just started on weekends, but momentum quickly picked up and the family-run affair moved to seven days a week.
"All of a sudden, now we have, you know, a community of 5,000 people, and it's been nothing but positivity, which is such a breath of fresh air when it comes to the internet," he said.
Alton said he sees hundreds of people on a Saturday, some coming with their own boats and others utilizing the kayaks, paddle boards, canoes and floaties that he sets up on the nearby beach each day.
And for those who don't want to leave the beach for an ice-cream bar, Alton has a team of 10- to 16-year-olds — Cameron, Newen, Eli, Carson, Avery and Nevin — which includes some of his own kids, who do beach deliveries of the ice cream for a $3 fee that they keep.
Alton and his wife operate a couple's retreat right up the hill from the beach, Ridgeback Lodge, and he said sometimes people arriving at the lodge will spot the colourful ice cream venture and pay a visit.
"We've had people from Denmark, the United States. We've had people from all over New Brunswick and Ontario and Alberta and British Columbia … and places I'm sure I'm missing," he said.
"It's just been an absolute pleasure to see how excited everybody is about just such a simple business."
Alton said the original plan was to actually run a pizza shack on the water, but he couldn't get the licensing together in time, so that's how the Ice Cream Dock came to be.
"I think that's where we're going to stay, at least for now," he said. "The smiles that people get from the ice cream is … just great."
But as the warmer days become less and less frequent, the weather-dependent business will move to just weekends on Sept. 7. From there, Alton said he'll play it by ear.
And looking back on the summer, Alton said his biggest takeaway is to follow your dreams.
"There's going to be a lot of people along the way that tell you it's crazy, especially if it sounds crazy," he said.
"A lot of people … will tell you things are not possible, or that it can't be done, or the insurance will be too high.
"But if you just keep going and try and find a solution for each problem, and don't let those people cloud what you're trying to do … you will be able to do anything."
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With files from Roger Cosman