Captain Sundae, Holland Michigan: The Ice Cream Shop That Served Two Presidents

Hello, I'm Ino.

On the way to Ottawa Beach, my friend mentioned there was somewhere we had to stop first. A local ice cream shop, she said. People drive from out of state for it. Presidents have eaten there.

That last detail was enough.

The Tommy Turtle — caramel, hot fudge, buttered pecans, and soft serve. Holland's most famous ice cream order.

Captain Sundae: A Holland Institution Since 1980

Captain Sundae has been operating on Douglas Avenue in Holland, Michigan since 1980 — originally opened as a convenient stop for beachgoers heading to Ottawa Beach State Park just down the road. Over the decades it grew into something far beyond a roadside ice cream stand. It now has three locations across western Michigan, a pirate-themed mini golf course next door, and a very specific claim to fame that involves the White House.

The exterior is hard to miss. Weathered signs, a Port Hole window, and nautical odds and ends give the place the feel of a building that has been exactly itself for a long time and has no intention of changing. Which is part of the point.

The Port Hole window and the sign that's been there since 1980.

The Presidential Visit That Put It on the Map

In September 2004, two things happened at Captain Sundae that changed the shop's profile permanently. NBC's Today Show came to Holland as part of a West Michigan feature — and on September 13th of that same year, President George W. Bush stopped in during a campaign swing through Michigan. He ordered a Tommy Turtle.

The visit made national news. Photos of Bush at the counter were taken, framed, and hung on the wall — where they remain today alongside other memorabilia. In 2012, Mitt Romney made a campaign stop at Captain Sundae as well, ordering a Peanut Butter Shipwreck.

Two presidential candidates and a national television appearance, all anchored around the same ice cream shop on the way to the beach. That's a specific kind of local legend.

The walls tell the story — decades of local loyalty and one very famous September afternoon.

The Menu: Soft Serve, Flavorburst, and Pirate-Themed Sundaes

The menu at Captain Sundae is larger than it looks from the outside. The base is soft serve ice cream — vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and twist combinations. Then there's something called Flavorburst, which may need a brief explanation for anyone unfamiliar with it: it's soft serve with a flavored syrup swirled in as the ice cream is dispensed, creating a burst of fruit flavor — strawberry, blue goo, bubblegum, green apple, raspberry, butter pecan, orange, or grape — throughout the vanilla base. The result is a two-toned cone that tastes more interesting than a plain soft serve.

The specialty sundaes are where the pirate theme fully commits. The menu includes items called the Peanut Butter Shipwreck, the Nutty Captain, Buried Treasure, and Pirate's Booty — names that turn ordering into something slightly more entertaining than usual. Many of these sundaes were created by customers over the years through a "create our next sundae" contest the shop used to run.

The Tommy Turtle: Holland's Most Famous Sundae

There was only one real choice for a first visit: the Tommy Turtle.

The construction goes like this — vanilla soft serve ice cream as the base, layered with hot fudge and hot caramel sauce (kept at 130 degrees), topped with roasted buttered pecans, whipped cream, and a cherry. It arrives looking almost too assembled to eat.

Up close, the layers are visible — warm caramel working its way down through cold ice cream.

A quick note on the name: "turtle" is an American dessert term for the combination of caramel, chocolate, and pecans — so named because the pecans arranged around the caramel center resemble a turtle's legs and shell. It's a classic combination that shows up in candies and sundaes across the country. Captain Sundae's version has been on the menu since day one.

I started with the top layer — the soft serve on its own. Less sweet than I expected. The dairy flavor comes through clearly, which is a good sign. Then I worked my way down into the caramel and fudge layers, letting them mix with the partially melted ice cream above.

This is where it gets interesting. The caramel is warm and intensely sweet on its own. But as it melts the ice cream around it, the sweetness spreads and softens. The buttered pecans add a roasted, slightly salty counterpoint that keeps the whole thing from tipping too far in one direction. Cold and warm, creamy and crunchy, sweet and salty — it covers a lot of ground in a plastic cup.

The point where warm and cold meet — and the reason I came back before leaving Michigan.

I went back before leaving Michigan. That's the clearest thing I can say about it.

Tip: The Tommy Turtle is best eaten at a pace — give the warm sauces time to work on the ice cream before you mix everything together. Eating it too fast means you miss the temperature contrast that makes it work.

The Pirate Ship, the Legend, and the Mini Golf

Out back, the seating area is built around a wooden pirate ship structure — the kind of thing that would have been endlessly interesting at age eight and remains surprisingly charming as an adult. Red metal tables and benches fill the space around it.

Near the mini golf course, there's a sign that tells the story of Captain Burke: a sailor who, caught in a storm on Lake Michigan, dragged his gold inland through the channel and fell asleep among some trees — only to wake up and find pirates had stolen everything. The mini golf course follows the story hole by hole. It's not subtle, but it commits to the bit.

Tip: Captain Sundae is located on Douglas Avenue, directly on the way to Holland State Park and Ottawa Beach — it makes a natural stop before or after the beach. On summer weekends it gets busy, but the line moves quickly. The shop opens at noon on Sundays and 11am Monday through Saturday.

Ino's Practical Tips

What to order on a first visit: The Tommy Turtle. It's been there since 1980, it's what both presidents ordered, and it's the reason the shop is famous. Start there.

On the Flavorburst: If you want something lighter than a sundae, the Flavorburst soft serve is worth trying — it's more interesting than a plain cone and gives you a sense of the shop's approach to soft serve. Blue Goo is a local favorite.

Timing: Summer weekends get crowded, particularly in the afternoon when beachgoers are heading back from Ottawa Beach. Arriving earlier in the day or on a weekday avoids the peak wait.

Location: 507 Douglas Ave, Holland, MI 49424. Directly on the route between downtown Holland and Holland State Park — you'll likely pass it anyway.

Hours: Monday–Saturday 11am–11pm, Sunday 12pm–11pm (verify before visiting as hours may vary by season).

Worth the Stop — and Probably a Second One

Captain Sundae is not trying to be anything it isn't. It's a soft serve ice cream shop that has been doing the same things well since 1980, in the same location, with the same signature sundae. Two presidents stopped in. NBC came to film. The walls remember all of it.

The Tommy Turtle is genuinely good — not in a complicated way, but in the way that things that have been quietly perfected over forty years tend to be. The warm caramel, the cold ice cream, the pecans. It works.

I came for the beach and ended up going back for the ice cream. That's a reasonable outcome for Holland, Michigan.

If you're visiting Ottawa Beach nearby, I wrote about that here: Ottawa Beach, Holland Michigan: Lake Michigan's Hidden Sunset Spot

And if you're looking for a proper meal before dessert: Texas Roadhouse Review: The Liveliest, Most Delicious Meal in America