King’s Ice Cream dips into 40th season as a Lewes tradition

2020 marks 40 seasons of business in downtown Lewes since King’s Homemade Ice Cream opened its doors on Good Friday of 1981. Its location was, at that time, the Zwaanendael Hotel, now Hotel Rodney.

Tom and Chris King decided that an ice cream shop was just what Lewes needed. Earl, Tom’s dad, owned and operated King’s Ice Cream in Milton, so opening another shop in Lewes seemed a natural extension to what was already a successful business.

However, the logistics were not so simple. A recession, high interest rates, and naysayers who claimed it was not a good time for a start-up business were discouraging, but the Kings were not dissuaded. A local bank was willing to take a chance on the Kings’ new business, paving the way for what would become a Lewes tradition.

With the help of two or three local students, Tom and Chris began working at their small walk-in shop with no seating. A year later, when their growing business required a bigger place, the Kings moved across the street to 201 Second St., where King’s Ice Cream continues to operate today.

Through the years, many hundreds of local and summer resident students worked in the Lewes shop. It became a tradition to work at King’s, to train a year or two prior to getting a job in the busier town of Rehoboth Beach.

Children, parents and grandparents enjoy making traditional treks to King’s. Former King’s employees often relate intriguing stories about customers who predictably ordered the same thing every time, fun and tasty whipped-cream fights outside the building after hours, employee pizza gatherings in Rehoboth  and lifelong friendships that developed among fellow workers. The experience of growing up in a small town working at an ice cream shop, the hub of Lewes after hours, is a memory to be cherished.

The King children, Chelsea and Ryan, were 11 and 8 the season King’s opened in 1981. They believed there was nothing better than having a dad who owned an ice cream shop and enjoying free ice cream whenever they wanted it.

As former scoopers themselves, Ryan and Chelsea said the King’s Ice Cream tradition is meaningful to them as well. Now in California, Ryan and his wife Kelley bring their children back to Lewes where they can discover small-town life and the delights of taste testing all the flavors.

Chelsea left home for awhile, lived and worked in Europe, then returned to Lewes with her Dutch husband and first child in 2004. In 2010, she and her husband Rudy bought King’s Milton and Lewes shops from Tom and Chris.

Honoring tradition, Rudy continues churning the award-winning ice cream flavors that Tom and Earl developed, but he also enjoys making up his own, such as Dutch Chocolate, Salted Caramel Crunch and Funfetti. Rudy and Chelsea’s son Aidan now helps with the ice-cream making, and their daughter Kiran is just beginning her tour of duty behind the dipping counter.

Tradition continues as King’s Homemade Ice Cream Shops opens its doors for its 40th season. Guests can visit King’s Milton shop at 302 Union St. or the Lewes shop at 201 Second St. All the favorite ice cream flavors and desserts are served from 1 to 9 p.m., seven days a week.

Along with family and friends, guests are asked to bring their masks to wear. One family at a time may enter the shop to order, so social distancing is requested as patrons wait outside.

While 2020 might not be seeing much to celebrate so far, 40 years of bringing “the best ice cream on the Eastern Shore” to Lewes is a cause for joy.