Icecream

LE MARS, Iowa, 12:54 p.m. — Come west of the Mississippi and you can kiss your beloved Phish Food good-bye. The Midwest and the Plains are Blue Bunny territory, a vast steppe unclaimed by boutique ice cream makers like Ben & Jerry’s or Haagen-Dazs. Since the founding of Wells’ Dairy by Fred H. Wells, Jr., in 1913, Le Mars has been home to the company’s flagship ice cream brand.

“Today, more ice cream is produced in Le Mars, Iowa, by a single company than in any other city in the world!” reads the town’s Web site.

So it’s no surprise that we caught the Dodd bus pulling into the shop, factory and museum complex just off Le Mars’ main drag, Iowa Highway 75. Rocky Road, Senator?

Zack Abrahamson