(image from www.leewardlaw.com)
It is such a lovely day today in the DC-area (74 degrees and sunny) and the first day of spring is on Sunday so of course my thoughts are turning to ice cream :) I love ice cream, and my husband super loves ice cream so on spring/summer weekends, we are always up for trying new ice cream places around town or returning to old favorites. Here are a few places that we have visited and liked in the past:
1. The Dairy at the University of Maryland: This shop has horrible hours if you're not a student/faculty member on campus (it's only open 11am to 4pm Mon-Fri), but the ice cream is worth a little maneuvering in your schedule to make time for a visit. They have 26 flavors that are made in-house with the university's herd of Holsteins. One of our favorite flavors is Fridge Fever (vanilla ice cream, chocolate fudge, chocolate brownie, chocolate covered cashews and Myers rum).
2. York Castle Tropical Ice Cream (Silver Spring, MD): Run by a Jamaican family, this shop specializes in tropical flavors that most Americans have never heard of (Soursop, Lychee, Mamey Sapote). There are also flavors like Mint Chocolate Chip and Swiss Chocolate if you're not feeling adventurous :)
3. Thomas Sweet (Georgetown, DC): This is a really cute ice cream cafe with outdoor seating which is a definite plus! Cinnamon ice cream is one of my fave flavors and difficult to find, but they serve it here :)
4. Justine's Ice Cream (St. Michaels, MD): Justine's is on Maryland's Eastern Shore so we're only able to visit if we're traveling through the area, but the milkshakes here are worth a special detour!
Two ice cream shops that I'm looking forward to trying for the first time this spring/summer are the Ice Cream Factory & Cafe in Brandywine, MD, and Cherry Hill Farm & Orchards in Clinton, MD. Has anyone been to these places before? I would also like to try my first snowball this season in Baltimore. I've heard from friends who are from Baltimore that this is quite the summer tradition there, and that there is fierce customer loyalty to specific snowball stands in the area. Any suggestions?
