When July arrives in North Florida the thermometer no longer shows the true outdoor temperature. It may say 94 degrees but it really should say 94 degrees plus. The plus is 100% humidity and no breeze to within one hundred miles of the courthouse square. The plus is what gets you around here
Entertainment options during the heat of the day, which roughly runs between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., are limited. Selections include lounging around on a covered porch sipping sweet tea (making as few movements as possible), staying inside, finding someplace to swim or eating ice cream. This afternoon Becks and I loaded the kids up and headed for Thomasville to grab an ice cream. Our first choice for a cone was closed for vacation so we went to another place that we knew had ice cream, Izzo’s Soda Fountain.
Izzo’s is a 1950’s style soda shop located on Broad Street . A long counter where you can watch your meal be made and then eat a burger or ice cream runs along the left side of the restaurant. To the right are built-in shelves that look to be original to the building when it was built in the late 1890’s. In the middle are a collection of tables where other patrons can eat. Pictures of Marilyn Monroe and Coca-Cola paraphernalia dot the walls while music from the 50’s drifts out of the speakers.
We found a booth towards the back and after getting the kids settled I went to the cashier and ordered 3 ice cones. I settled on birthday cake while Becks got chocolate and Mason a cup of vanilla. We enjoyed our cones while Mason got most of his vanilla into his mouth by using the spoon and his fingers.
When we were done instead of leaving we lingered and let Mason play with a Thomas the Train tabletop set. Becks then mentioned that it’d be nice to have a coke float. I had never had one and decided to order one along with a basket of fries. It was not the healthiest afternoon snack, but what the heck, it was Saturday.
The coke float came in an old-fashioned soda fountain glass and consisted of scoops of vanilla ice cream flooded with coke. It was very good and tasted much better to me than root beer floats I’ve had in the past. The French fries were also straight out of a diner, thin, crispy and golden brown. Izzo’s seasoned them with what tasted like a mixture of salt and sugar and in minutes the basket they arrived in was empty.
Running low on space in our stomachs we pried Mason away from the Thomas the Train set and happily headed for the car.
Sweet Tea & Bourbon’s Rating:
Atmosphere: B+
Taste: B+
Presentation: C
Service: A
Cleanliness: A
Price: $
Sweet Tea & Bourbon 