At Frankie & Jo’s, we absolutely love working with local businesses, especially when those businesses are quirky, unique, or have a rich history. The Captain Whidbey Inn on Whidbey Island happens to possess all three of those qualities, which is why at the end of August we’ll be doing a pop-up shop on the dock of the historic Inn, and collaborated with the new owners Matt and Mike French to develop our fabulous August seasonal flavor Captain Whidbey Caramel Cookie Crunch.
The Captain Whidbey Inn has a colorful and storied history going all the way back to 1907, when the Inn was first built under the name Whid Isle Inn. The Inn proudly bears the marks of all its past transformation and iterations, encapsulating at once both a timelessness and a fervent desire to evolve, to defy any kind of categorization or label one might try to put on it, having been at different times a boarding house, private residence, post office, general store, and a girl's school, among other things. It is a place of multiplicities and mystery as much as a place of nostalgic comfort, reflecting the stunning nature that surrounds it which can in the same moment ground you and take your breath away.
A little over a year ago, Matt and Mike French, good friends of Frankie & Jo’s with a track record of success in renovating and reimagining historic hotels, became the most recent in a long line of owners of the Captain Whidbey Inn. As well as upgrading the Inn and the surrounding landscape to be up to the standards of a modern boutique hotel, Matt and Mike have been hard at work to not only spread the word about the Inn to potential visitors, but also to reconnect with the local community, hiring local chefs, musicians, and designers, holding community gatherings, and partnering with community organizations.
It is with Matt and Mike’s help and inspiration that we developed our Captain Whidbey Caramel Cookie Crunch seasonal flavor for August. Reminiscent of a warm, salty summer day spent at the beach, Caramel Cookie Crunch is a rich and creamy caramel ice cream base swirled with gooey caramel and dotted with chocolatey potato chip cookie bites that are both chewy and crunchy, adding the perfect texture to this deliciously decadent flavor. The perfect treat to be enjoyed on the gorgeous beaches of Whidbey Island!
In that spirit, for the last weekend of August, we’ll be hosting a pop-up shop on the scenic dock of the Captain Whidbey Inn. We’ll be serving several of our phenomenal plant-based ice cream flavors, including of course our Captain Whidbey Caramel Cookie Crunch. The pop-up will take place August 23rd through the 25th, and will be open from 2pm to 10pm all three days. So come join us on beautiful Whidbey Island, and help us support an historic 100-plus year-old institution that’s been given a new life. And if you can’t make it to the pop-up, you can still try all three of our August seasonal flavors, including the Caramel Cookie Crunch, at any of our shops, or shipped nationwide!