Normandy Beach's Kaboodles Ice Cream Parlor serves up scoops, sprinkles and silly names to boot.

The concept of going out for ice cream is absolutely married to summers at the Shore. Sure, there’s FrozFruit bars, Screwballs and novelty character-shaped frozen dessert novelties to be had on the beach during the day, but when the sun goes down, you hanker for a cone. Before any of us could drive, my friends and I found our main source of entertainment in walking up and down Route 35 North in search of ice cream. There was Mrs. Walker’s (now Summer Sweets), Milky Way (now a real estate office) and Salty’s (still the same!) if we felt like trekking. Today the options are just as plentiful, if not more so.

Obviously, this is going to become a series. And it will likely get personal. Ice cream parlors – like pizza – can inspire fierce loyalty. And, like pizza, no ice cream is really ever bad. Even when it’s pretty bad, it’s still pretty good.

Kaboodles in Normandy Beach fed the ice-cream-frenzied masses for years at the corner of 6th Ave. and 35 North for years. A quick survey of flavor titles during a recent trip revealed that Kaboodles carries quite the eclectic collection of flavors: Tastykake Kandy Kake (you know – the cake/peanut butter/chocolate explosion of deliciousness from your youthbut in ice cream form), Deathby Chocolate, Cake Batter with sprinkles throughout, and sugar-free low-fat Moosetracks for those whose willpower doesn’t allow for ice cream to be subtracted from their diet.

I had been jonseing for weeks for strawberry with rainbow sprinkles in a sugar cone. It definitely didn’t disappoint but also didn’t blow your mind. I should probably have tried the Kandy Kake ice cream but the stomach wants what it wants.

Strawberry with rainbow sprinkles and Cookies & Cream. We trust you can tell the difference.

The menu also includes frozen yogurt and several featured sundaes and treats like the Berry White Shake and the Patriots sundae, a combination of strawberries, blueberries and vanilla ice cream.

A small, two-scoop cone will set you back $2.85. In all, our order of three cones – one with sprinkles (not jimmies)- totaled $8.80. Kaboodles stays open later than many ice cream joints, 11:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. There’s outside seating in what can be considered downtown Normandy Beach.

Kaboodles Ice Cream Parlor is located at  560 State Highway 35 No, at the corner of Route 35 North and Sixth Avenue just over the border into the Brick Township part of Normandy Beach. For information, call (732) 830-0222.