When it comes to eating, most people will not travel more than a couple of miles to consume quality food; but distance didn’t stop some members of the journalism staff from traveling to Superior Dairy in Hanford, CA, by Amtrak.

While in the journalism lab, juniors Viviana Hinajosa, Rayna Endicott, Tynin Fries, seniors Juan Ruelas and Stephan Melendez decided to take a trip to Superior Dairy.

The restaurant has been open since 1929 and is still family owned and operated while it managed to stay open through the tough economy. The dairy not only serves their famous homemade ice cream, but also frozen yogurt, shakes, sundaes and food.

Co-owners Susan Bowden-Wing and her brother Tim Jones have continued the family business. According to Bowden, the dairy is well known for their old fashioned vanilla ice cream and their infamous chocolate chip.

“Superior Dairy is one of the last old fashion ice cream parlors and has been in the family for three generations,” Bowden said. “The dairy presents a nostalgic throwback atmosphere and the consistency is what keeps customers returning.”

The dairy has attracted much attention over the years reeling customers in by the hundreds each day. Most of the time, Superior Dairy customers arrive up to 30 minutes early to wait in line before the ice cream parlor opens. Some travel quite a distance just to spend the day their with their kids, grandchildren or even as a couple.

The FC group started the day off with breakfast at Country Waffles, then caravanned to the Santa Fe Amtrak station in Downtown Fresno to catch the train. For one round trip ticket to Hanford it costs $14, and infants under two are free. After boarding the train, we scrambled to find seating in the upper deck, but sat in the dining car due to few remaining seats.

“I thought going to Hanford was a great adventure. Now that I’m a junior, I love being able to do things with friends that I wouldn’t normally do,” Fries said. “Taking the train to Superior Dairy was so random and fun. My friends are really crazy and we made a lot of memories together.”

After arriving at the Hanford train station, the group walked to Superior Dairy, located only six blocks away from the train depot. With out knowing or checking the hours of operation, the group arrived 45 minutes early before the dairy opened. While wait they decided to walk across the street to the park and wait.

Upon waiting, the group was constantly checking the time to make sure they were the first in the dairy and, even then, a line was forming around the block.

Entering the dairy, the atmosphere is unique the decor inside is furnished with old fashioned pink seats accompanying the bar that glides around the restaurant looking into where the ice cream is assembled.

While most of the group was still deciding, Melendez ordered one scoop of the old fashion vanilla ice cream. Ordering one scoop was almost a mistake, they served to much according to Ruelas.

“When I ordered one scoop of the cookies-n-cream I expected to see only one physical scoop, not six or seven regular sized scoop smashed together and piled on top of each other,” Ruelas said. “I couldn’t even finish the ice cream inside the cup, I threw it away.”

Like Ruelas many new customers were in awe of the proportions the parlor served, but some who were fond of the amount of scoops per order were brave enough to take on a triple scoop.

“Unlike many other vendors that serve ice cream, Superior Dairy is not concerned with portion control because we make our own ice cream and do not rely on any one else,” Bowden said.

Once finished ordering, the group decided to sit and eat while trying each others ice cream. After eating to they’re liking, the five students shared to mix and match the different flavors in order to enhance their ice cream experience.

After a day of waking up early, and traveling 30 minutes away from Fresno, the group walked back to the park to chat, take pictures and shared their plans for the future. Partly the reason why the group waited almost three hours for the train was Melendez’s fault due to a small time discrepancy, but Hinajosa disagress, she says the time waiting was well spent.

“Sitting on the lawn and waiting three hours for the train to come was probably the best part,” Hinojosa said. “Of course the ice cream was incredible, but we really bonded while we were waiting for the train. We made memories that will never be forgotten on the trip. Over all it was a really good trip and I would definitely go back for the ice cream and the memories.”

From that day on the group agreed that this particular group would be taking random trips around the Central Valley and possibly around the state of California to experience different venues and at the same time create life-long memories.

Superior Dairy is located on 325 N Douty St, Hanford, CA 93230. For more information, contact them at 559.582.0481.

For more features, read the Sept. 25 article Outdoor education provides hands-on learning.