Ring Mountain

Our next stop for ice cream found us in Eagan at Ring Mountain Creamery. Eagan does not seem like the place you would go for really good ice cream since there is no dairy, no cows, and no quaint downtown, but don't let that detour you! Ring Mountain Creamery has everything you could want in a good ice cream shop combined with everything you need in a suburban coffee shop atmosphere. With 24 flavors of ice cream AND 24 flavors of gelato, you are sure to find something to cure your sweet tooth. If you aren't in the mood for sweet, they also have a cafe menu complete with coffee drinks, sandwiches and salads. Once you have your menu choice, you can retire into a booth or comfortable chair and play a round of Jenga or Chinese Checkers. A full shelve full of games lines the wall for you to use during your visit. If you find yourself hosting a large group, there is a large table with a center turntable to make sharing easier!

The kids and I visited on a Friday afternoon in August. The shop was not busy on this cool, blustery afternoon, which suited us just fine. We brought Grandpa and Grandma along, who live nearby and are somewhat regulars at the place, to show us the ropes. The kids choose blue gelato, chocolate cake batter, and cake batter. I choose Butterfinger. Grandpa chose root beer float. Grandma chose dark chocolate chunk gelato. The kids all found the flavors sweet and pleasant. And I had to agree that this was some of the sweetest ice cream we have had all summer. But I was amazed at how well the flavor profiles resembled their namesake. Cake batter, both vanilla and chocolate, tasted just like a finger swipe from the bowl of freshly mixed cake batter. Root beer float really did have the complexity of root beer combined with vanilla ice cream. Butterfinger was pleasantly sweet with plenty of Butterfinger chunks. The dark chocolate chunk gelato was smooth vanilla flavor with wonderful dark chocolate chunks. The flavors were not as complex and well blended as, say Izzy's. But to my kids, that is actually a good thing.

The kids rated the ice cream adventure well. They thought the ice cream tasted good and was a good value. The staff was patient as we sampled all sorts of flavors to decide what to finally made it into our cups. They do have a kid's scoop option, a perfect amount for my three and me, which I always appreciate. The only problem they had was ice cream on a cold day can make you cold. Lesson learned!

Of course our adventures wouldn't be complete with a comment on what else the area holds. This shop unfortunately didn't hold much in the adventure category. It is smack dap in the middle of a retail strip mall near the movie theater and Target. However, it doesn't take much for my kids to be entertained. The small pond outside had ducks swimming. They were entertained for minutes, at least, watching the ducks. You could make an afternoon of movie viewing and ice cream for sure. Or just make the shop your destination and play a few board games. From the fun colored cups the ice cream is served in to the great tasting ice cream and gelato, Ring Mountain is well worth the trip!

Freeziac

Although we are trying to find the best local ice cream this summer, a chain or two will be thrown in for fun and comparison. Freeziac in Eden Prairie was a chain we had to try because we all love frozen yogurt so much. The concept is TCBY meets a self serve Cold Stone. You enter a coffee shop looking place to find two soft serve machines in the back of the store and a counter full of toppings. You pick one of 4 flavors, or a twist, and top with your choice of candies, fruit and sauces. You pay by the weight. My sister joined us and got two bowls for her kids and paid $2.50. My kids went a bit overboard and our total was more like $15! We had everything from cake batter with marshmallows and chocolate sauce to vanilla with berries and mango.

The kids thought this place was the bomb! Not only do they love soft serve frozen yogurt, but the fact that they could put whatever they wanted on top was more exciting than anything. I loved the fact that I could get fruit topped vanilla frozen yogurt just like I did at Dayton's Southdale in middle school. It wasn't an "experience" like many of the shops we have visited this summer, but it certainly hit the spot on a hot day!

The Pearl

Although our ice cream adventures have been focused on finding great ice cream near home, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to get ice cream at our favorite place in LaCrosse, WI, the Pearl. We call the place Pearl Street Ice Cream shop since it is located on Pearl Street in downtown LaCrosse. If you haven't been to LaCrosse, it is a beautiful river town with a nicely restored historic downtown. The Pearl is an ice cream shop, old fashion candy shop, and now a coffee shop as well. It has been since 1993 and continues to have lines out the door on hot summer nights. The shop is placed in one of the historic old downtown buildings near the river, with a 1930s soda fountain counter on one side and a candy counter filled with an assortment of candies from Big League Chew to homemade chocolate fudge along the other side. At the back is a bit of seating, but the joy of this shop is to enjoy your ice cream at one of the outdoor tables and people watch!

My kids LOVE this ice cream place because it has the most horrific colored blue ice cream which tastes a lot like Fruit Loops and is appropriately named Blue Moon. They would eat this ice cream out of an old shoe they love it so much. Not to mention that while they wait in line they can dream of all the candy you might buy them if you were in a generous sort of mood. I like this place because the price is fantastic, at a $1.80 for a regular single scoop, and the adult friendly flavors are also very good. We had a large group and so we enjoyed sampling the Chocolate Peanut Butter (very good), Carmel Cashew (my favorite), Butter Pecan (good), and Coconut Chocolate (very good).

Another reason to love The Pearl is Oscar. Oscar is the 88 year old-time soda jerk who works the counter and makes the ice cream and candy. He decided that the Pearl needed to continue making homemade ice cream as the shop continued to grow and expand instead of getting ice cream from a wholesaler, so he attended classes at UW and began making the Pearls wonderful ice cream flavors. Seeing Oscar at the counter makes the Pearl have a real small town, old fashion feel and adds to the joy of each visit.

After you over-indulge in ice cream, you are just a short walk from Riverside Park where you can enjoy the river views, fountains, concerts, and community events. If you are really lucky, you may just get a view of the Riverboats as they come up and down the Mississippi. The kids love the park for its fountains, spacious lawns for running, and the "stage" where they love to put on their own impromptu concerts. Even some of our best photographs have come from lawns of Riverside Park! It is a wonderful place to visit winter, summer, spring or fall for it seems there is always something new to see and do.