Smith mountain lake ice cream boat

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By Ashley Kairis | Special to Laker Weekly

Summers at Smith Mountain Lake just wouldn’t be the same without sunny days, great memories and The Ice Cream Boat. Travis Burke has run the business since he and his brother Ryan launched it in the summer of 2001 when they were ages 15 and 11, respectively.

Labor Day marked the end of this season for the boat’s rounds. But it’ll be back next year.

Travis, 29, fully intends to continue the business of cruising the lake with ice cream in tow to the delight of kids and grown-ups.

The Burke brothers, who were born in Roanoke but later moved with their family to the lake, missed the ice cream trucks they remembered from town life. As older boys, Travis and Ryan came up with the idea of selling ice cream from a boat.

With support from their parents, Bill and Frieda Burke, they turned their idea into a real business. Their parents gave them a pontoon boat and backed them financially, and the brothers worked together to deliver ice cream to both docks and boats along the Roanoke River channel of the lake. For the first several years, until Travis turned 18, Bill rode with the boys to comply with insurance regulations.

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The two brothers ran the business together, unconcerned with making a profit, instead focusing on making memories and meeting new people, they said.

“Our goal was just to learn how to run a business and have fun with it. We’ve always tried to keep it that way,” Travis said. “There have been rumors floating around that we paid for college with the business or that it was an Eagle Scout project, or that I’m a teacher doing this on my summers off, but none of that’s true.

“People have a hard time believing that we’d do this just because we have fun doing it, but that’s why we started it and that’s why we keep it going. People love it ... and the same people are happy to see us over and over again.”

Customers will see the words “The Ice Cream Float” on the side of their vessel — and the brothers gave it that name as a play on words — but officially, it’s known as The Ice Cream Boat.

The younger of the two, Ryan, 25, moved to Florida a year and a half ago and now manages a mango farm there. But he’s still involved in the business.

“Every time we talk, he’s always asking me about people we know, and it’s the same for everybody on the lake — they all ask how Ryan’s doing,” Travis said. “I was always promising he was going to be back for a visit, to ride around, but this summer is the first time it somehow never worked out.”

In Ryan’s absence, Travis has continued to ride daily; his wife Alison, who is pursuing a doctoral degree at Virginia Tech, rides along on weekends, helps with the business and runs the social media for The Ice Cream Boat.

“Now that I don’t have Ryan, without Alison, I couldn’t do it alone,” Travis said.

Travis is on the water from 10 to 12 hours a day, seven days a week, weather permitting. But he says the days never feel long because he truly enjoys being out and talking to everyone.

“Alison tells me that if I didn’t talk so much, I could get home by 6 or 7 o’clock,” he says.

Travis and Alison recently started using a GPS tracker so customers can go to their Facebook page, click a link, and see on a map where The Ice Cream Boat is located on the lake. Customers had often made a game of searching for The Ice Cream Boat but Travis thought there had to be a better way.

“I was starting to feel bad because it seemed like they were spending $50 worth of gas to buy $3 worth of ice cream,” he said jokingly.

While the job is rewarding, the goal has never been to turn a financial profit. “Our goal has always been to have fun,” Travis said.

Travis studied business and marketing at Longwood University and works for SML resident Mike Legg at Automotive Solutions in Roanoke, where he takes part in buying and rebuilding cars.

In order to make a living and also make the people of SML happy, “it takes a very understanding boss and an even more understanding wife,” Travis said.

Both regular customers and first-time tourists appreciate the kindness and sense of community that The Ice Cream Boat has created. It’s rare, they say, to find anyone today who does something completely for the enjoyment and happiness of others without expecting anything in return.

“He adds to the life of the lake, especially for the kids,” said customer Pat Massa.

While Travis keeps to a pretty accurate time schedule, he doesn’t pass up an opportunity to stop and talk with people. He has built many relationships with his route’s customers — not all of whom are human. Several dogs around the lake get excited at the sound of The Ice Cream Boat’s theme song. Travis ends up handing out about 5 pounds of dog biscuits each week.

But just like any other ice cream business, the majority of the excited customers are young children and their families.

“The Ice Cream Boat is making such memories for our grandchildren every year,” SML resident Ann Kosel said. “They count on it and there would be a huge gap if it wasn’t here. Travis is so fun and kind and is always smiling.”

The Ice Cream Boat has stayed afloat for 14 summers and Travis intends to keep it that way. He says Ryan feels the same way and still feels connected to The Ice Cream Boat’s customers.

“When people ask me how much longer I’m going to do this, I say we honestly never expected it to last this long,” Travis said. “We started it when we were kids. I figure it will be time to stop when I pull into people’s docks and they say, ‘Oh, no: It’s The Ice Cream Boat again.’”

“We appreciate everyone and we are so grateful they keep supporting us,” he added.

See more photos of The Ice Cream Boat on our blog at lakerweekly.com

Check The Ice Cream Boat’s Facebook page at facebook.com/theicecreamboat

For more photos of The Ice Cream Boat, visit our blog at lakerweekly.com.

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