North Carolina Coastal Eats

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A Guide to the Sweet Life on Oak Island

My introduction to the delicious desserts of Southport and Oak Island came during the summer of 1999 when I worked as a lifeguard at the North Carolina Baptist Assembly at Fort Caswell. There was a weekly pilgrimage after the Sunday evening worship service over the bridge to Sweet Treat in Southport.

You'd walk through the doors and the owners, John and Lil Astoske, would warmly greet you and quickly get to scooping out your favorite cone. Mine was Moose Tracks.

This hallowed ground for ice cream lovers has long since closed their doors. Thankfully, a crop of businesses has sprung up that are devoted to satisfying the sugary appetites of locals and visitors alike.

A Scoop of Nostalgia

Walking into Frosty's on East Oak Island Drive is like stepping back in time. Reminiscent of an old-fashioned ice cream parlor, the walls are decorated with aluminum signs featuring retro advertisements for Moon Pie and Hershey's syrup along with mid-20th century screen stars like John Wayne and Judy Garland. Wind chimes fashioned out of seashells hang from a lime green ceiling in the back and blue-and-white checkered tablecloths sit atop small circular tables.

Alan and Wendy Heckman opened their business in March of 2004 in what was an existing ice cream shop in the Yaupon Beach section of Oak Island. "We thought it would be fun to have an ice cream shop and it is," says Alan.

Frosty's sells a rainbow-colored variety of ice cream, a rotating selection which is made just over the bridge in Southport. You can order a simple scoop of ice cream in a cup or homemade waffle cone or jazz it up with a sundae, split, float or shake. There's a smorgasbord of toppings displayed in small glass containers, everything from Mounds and Butterfingers to gummy bears and Reese's Pieces.

Alan invented the homemade twisted turtle ice cream that is unique to Frosty's, though his favorite is the homemade snicker bar. It's a little harder for Wendy to pin down her favorite. "I like them all," she says, eventually zeroing in on nutty coconut.

A line flows out the ice cream shop during the summer, but Frosty devotees may fondly remember the Thursday evenings from mid June to late August when Gracie the Clown was on hand to entertain customers while they waited. She would mold balloon animals and sculptures for the kids and even created whimsical face paintings for the entire family.

Photos of Gracie and many of Frosty's clients hang on a cork board in the back, surrounded by license plates from the Heckmans' first cars, brochures and postcards from Alan's travels and even two old rotary phones.

The couple loves the interaction with people more than any other part of running the shop. "We've made more friends and acquaintances in the last 10 years than we did in the previous 25 years," says Alan.

You Had Me at 12 Layers

Step out the front door of Frosty’s and turn left to find the next not-to-miss confection on your visit to Oak Island – the 12- layer cake at Nancy Jo’s Bakery. Named as one of the 25 best tastes in North Carolina by the News and Observer, it’s layer upon layer of blonde sponge sandwiched between impossibly thin layers of chocolate icing.

One bite of this cake (which I recommend pairing with a hot cup of earl grey tea) transports me back to my grandmother’s homemade chocolate fudge. Each layer is individually baked on site before owner Chris Townsend or another of Nancy Jo’s devoted employees slowly pours cooked hot fudge icing between each layer. Then, a ladle is filled full of fudge icing and poured over the assembled cake, flowing down the sides to envelope the pancake-thin layers.

On this particular spring day on Oak Island, the Nancy Jo’s team used 78 pounds of butter and 115 cans of evaporated milk to create 71 of these island-made cakes. Townsend is quick to mention that churning out such labor-intensive cakes is possible thanks only to his incredible employees. When they’re not busy baking for the island’s locals and visitors, they’re turning out sweets for one of Nancy Jo’s three other locations in North Carolina.

Cheers to the Key Lime Pie

Guests who stay at one of Oak Island Accommodations Caswell Beach or Yaupon Beach vacation rentals are a quick beach cruiser ride away from one of the island’s newer dining options – Koko Cabana. Housed in the same building as the Oak Island Pier shop, a dynamic young couple has changed the landscape of the food offerings available on Oak Island. Regular menu items like the island bowl (rice, pineapple salsa, kimchi cucumbers, edamame, pickled onions and sesame seeds with your choice of protein) and specials like a blackened salmon sandwich served with a to-die-for pesto sauce are as much a feast for your eyes as they are for your palate.

Diners could be forgiven for filling up on shaka snacks and mains, but regulars to this oceanfront establishment know to leave room for dessert. When you poll the wait staff and the regulars, the favorite sweet treat to round out the meal is a toss up between a peanut butter pie and key lime pie.

There’s something about spring, the beach and key lime that just makes everything feel right in the world. Maybe it’s the way the beach grasses echo the green of the lime. Or maybe it’s the way the tart sweetness awakens every one of your taste buds. Whatever it is, if you’re wanting to end a glorious oceanfront meal with a slice of one of these homemade treats then make a reservation for Friday. The restaurant, which churns out a new batch of pies and other desserts every Thursday, often sells out of the coveted key lime pie by midday Saturday. Maybe it’s because visitors to the island know life is too short to skip dessert on vacation.

Ready to experience some of these desserts yourself? Oak Island Accommodations has over 400 vacation rentals, all within a short drive of exceptional coastal dining. We're here to help you find your place by the sea. Get started on your search today!

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