Timing, in some cases, is everything.
You may have driven past the Grand River Resort in Racket, on Highway 7 South, on the way from Clinton to Warsaw, and seen the closed signs on the ice cream window.
But the resort’s ice cream dispensary has been open every year, according to resort owner Diana Greff, from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. It’s just not open except on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holiday Mondays. And then not until noon and it closes at 6 p.m., hours weekend lake commuters may not be driving by.
Grand River Resort is owned by Diana and spouse Michael Greff, who bought the resort four years ago. They moved to Racket from Hurley, Mo., where they had worked in banking.
“We decide to retire, and this is what we retired to,” she said, sitting at the reception desk in the resort office, next door to the ice cream window.
In previous years, they carried ice cream made in Warsaw, but when it was not available, switched to ice cream from the Ice Cream Factory in Eldon, Mo. Ice Cream Factory is also a mom-and-pop business, she noted, and the ice cream is hand-made and hand-dipped.
“All my ice cream comes in with the name of the person who made it,” Diana said.
Her personal favorite is Gooey Butter Cake flavor, with pieces of the decadent Missouri dessert in it. She’s also partial to “Brownie Blast” and “Blackberry Cobbler.”
There’s also vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, butter pecan and cookie dough. Specialty flavors include Mustang Tracks, Extreme Mint Chocolate Chip and Mocha Almond Fudge. “Cobalt Cookie” is a blue ice cream with cookie pieces in it. There’s even a vegan option, “Lemon Poppyseed,” made with coconut milk.
In case ice cream is not your guilty pleasure, the drive-up window also dispenses shakes, malts, root-beer floats, orange dreams, lemonade, limeade and cherry limeade, plus ice teas and soft drinks. Ice cream comes in a waffle cone or sugar cone, or, for the non-adventurous, a 32-ounce tub.
A kid’s cone is $2. Ice cream cones are $3.25 plus tax for one scoop, $4 for two scoops.
Also for your consideration: ice cream sundaes (hot fudge, chocolate, strawberry, walnut or caramel), for $3.75 (one scoop) or $4.75 (two scoops). Toppings include whipped cream, nuts, cherries or sprinkles.
There’s a shady porch on the side of the building to sit and eat your ice cream cone if you don’t want it to drip in the car. Bring hand wipes to clean sticky hands and faces before continuing your journey.
The Grand River Resort is located at 11919 Highway 7, Warsaw, Mo. 66535. For more information, go to www.grandriverresort.net or call 660-438-2713.
