The Going Out for Ice Cream Poll

[HomeAgain]

We had an ice cream place within walking distance before (actually about 3-4 of them in a 2 block radius).  Yes, we'd go out at least once a week, walking there and back.

 

Now?  I wouldn't drive to one after dinner.  No.  It seems to be a pain to shlep everyone in the car and back.

[skimomma]

We don't now because we live where it is rarely hot enough to want ice cream and we do not have any cute little ice cream joints to go to.  But we did this at least once a week all summer when I was growing up.  Usually a couple of hours after dinner.  And if we were to vacation where it was warm and there was an ice cream place, we would probably be game.

[redsquirrel]

we live a short walk from not one but two excellent ice cream shops, each make their own ice cream.  DH would walk to one of them every damn day if I let him.  We go a couple times during the summer, maybe twice a month. 

 

I wouldn't drive to get ice cream, but it's like a half mile walk for one and less than that for the other. It's a lovely walk on a summer evening, and it's a good way to see neighbors and old friends. I don't get ice cream, but the kids do...and I can use the steps, lol.

 

On vacation we get ice cream almost ever night. It's a long walk to the camp store, a couple miles, but it's fun.  And we can walk part of it in the ocean.

 

Summers are too short here not to get the occasional ice cream.

 

I didn't vote because while I do occasionally go out after dinner for ice cream, we don't drive or bike or boat. We walk and that wasn't a choice.

Edited September 6, 2016 by redsquirrel

[zoobie]

Sounds fun!

 

We used to randomly go get concretes at a custard place that had a drive-thru. It closed and little ones in the car at night = screwed bedtimes, so I haven't done it in a while. We have gone in lieu of dinner or lunch. There's a new Thai rolled ice cream place not too far that's fun to watch and eat. We had that for a late lunch on Saturday.

[AnnE-girl]

It's an occasional treat when we are home, and an absolute must-do activity when we are on vacation. We have a few really good ice cream and gelato places in our town and nearby that we go to. The kids usually get coupons as part of our library's summer reading program that we of course have to use. Plus it's harder to find chocolate hazelnut and salted caramel ice cream in the grocery store. One local place has chocolate peanut butter with Oreos. It's pretty amazing. We are more likely to go out for ice cream as a mid afternoon treat than dessert after dinner though. I don't like getting the kids all sugared up before bed.

[TCB]

We occasionally go out for ice cream after eating dinner at home, but fairly infrequently because it is a 20 minute drive. We often stop for ice cream when we're out though, especially on vacation. This year a new ice cream place opened in town and we stop there quite often. For a while it was sometimes 2-3 times a week! I was seriously addicted to their hot fudge sundaes and have had to reign myself in! I'm not usually a desert person at all, and don't really eat ice cream at home, but those sundaes! Wonderful.

[AmandaVT]

Our neighbors own an ice cream shop and it's 1 mile from our house. (we live on a dirt road and the store is just off our street on the main road) We went there a lot when we first moved here. They make delicious ice cream and driving by it multiple times a day was very tempting. After the first summer, we settled down and we go once a week in the summer for a family treat. :-)

[Guest]

Not only do we not do that, but we very rarely drive from our house to go out to eat. Eating out is for when we are already out and can't get a meal together in a reasonable amount of time if we go home, or we aren't gong home anytime soon.

Me neither and I almost added that into the poll but I thought it was conflating too many different ideas. I decided to just make it about leaving out for dessert.

 

Once, when DS was over a friend's house, the whole family, dog included, piled into the car and drove to Chick-Fil-A for dinner. My son thought that was so very odd, lol! Chick-Fil-A is something we only do if we are already out and can't get home to eat.

[Alte Veste Academy]

I guess it makes sense that if you very rarely even go out to dinner that it would be odd to go out for dessert. A continuum of experience, as always. :)

[sassenach]

I much prefer going out for ice cream rather than keeping it in the house. That way it's a special treat and not a regular diet.

[Χά�ων]

Ice cream!!!!

 

We went out for ice cream twce since this thread started.

[Spryte]

Summer vacations, fairly common. We are usually camping so it's not like we are going to toss ice cream in the cooler. Getting cones just makes more sense, lol,

 

At home, we probably would just walk the block to the grocery store and get some Popsicles or ice cream sandwiches. We usually have 4 or more kids here when we do that and it's just more economical than going out for ice cream at an ice cream parlor. Also, we can walk to the store and be back in well under 10 minutes but the nearest ice cream parlor is a longish walk or a short drive.

 

It's not uncommon for us to drive a bit out of town on summer evenings in pursuit of night sky watching with binoculars in hand. Sometimes when we do that, we stop on the way out for milk shakes and French fries.

What is it about milkshakes and French fries? They are the perfect combo.

[Evergreen State Sue]

I didn't know the difference between "not typically" and "rarely do", but I voted rarely.  When we are on vacation, we might treat ourselves more often, but rarely is it the routine at home.

[lovinmyboys]

We just rode a ferry across the river to get ice cream after a dinner in yesterday. We do it once a year. The kids love it. Dh thinks it is a little weird because there is an equally good ice cream shop just down the road from us and we never go there. Something about riding the boat to get ice cream just makes it even better.

[LucyStoner]

What is it about milkshakes and French fries? They are the perfect combo.

My husband and sons love them. I probably would too if I could have the milk shake. So I get an iced tea. Not as exciting. :P

[SKL]

We don't do that for various reasons.  But I could see how it would be a nice idea to make the most of the long summer days.

 

When my kids are in the holiday mode, they think of ice cream fairly often.  :P  At home, pretty much never.

[Reefgazer]

I voted "other".  We only do this when we eat at a restaurant.  We'll we eat at the restaurant of our choice, and then go elsewhere for ice cream dessert.

[SKL]

I should add that if we had an ice cream shop within walking distance to our house, we might go for a walk after supper to get some ice cream.  Driving is a whole different thing.

[Kareni]

There is a bakery in our neighboring city that makes the most delectable desserts.  We go out after dinner perhaps four times a year to pick up something yummy.  Generally we bring it home to eat.  Sometimes if we've eaten out, we'll stop there before heading home.

 

I eat ice cream year round, but usually I eat it at home from a purchase from the grocery store.  When we're camping, we buy it from a lakeside store.  My husband will only eat ice cream if the temperature is over 90 degrees.  (Strange man!)

 

Regards,

Kareni

[mamiof5]

Never

[SereneHome]

I do that frequently enough with the kids during summer months. I would just tell them to get dressed after dinner and get in the car and we would drive over a few miles to a local farm that sells ice cream.

 

 

Edited September 6, 2016 by SereneHome

[Guest]

Sounds fun!

 

We used to randomly go get concretes at a custard place that had a drive-thru. It closed and little ones in the car at night = screwed bedtimes, so I haven't done it in a while. We have gone in lieu of dinner or lunch. There's a new Thai rolled ice cream place not too far that's fun to watch and eat. We had that for a late lunch on Saturday.

Concretes? Is this a typo or a treat I have never heard of?

[Carrie12345]

It's somewhat normal for us to hit an ice cream shop after a great ball game. Or a miserable one.  Or the first one. Or the last one.  With or without teammates. We usually go a few more times through the summer on our own.

[magnificent_baby]

Infrequently, but yes we have. My parents do this a lot; goes hand in hand with going for a ride around the lake, or just going for a ride in general. Must be an old fashioned thing that stuck around in our family. 

[Rachel]

On vacation? Definitely!

 

We rarely have dessert at home, when we do its homemade. I don't care for most store bought ice cream so we don't keep that at home. A few times a year, mostly in the summer, we will go for ice cream as a treat. The ice cream shop is always busy so I assume many families do this.

 

Growing up we always had a light supper on Sunday nights before church. We would frequently go get McDonalds milkshakes after church. Although no one got their own, we shared. We never ate out but my parents enjoyed treating us. Occasionally if one of us kids were out with mom alone, she would take us to Dairy Queen for a blizzard (it was only open in the summer). I enjoy doing the same with my kids on occasion although they prefer Orange Leaf.

[alisoncooks]

Concretes? Is this a typo or a treat I have never heard of?

 

I bet this is like a Blizzard (DQ) or a McFlurry.  Ice cream with mix-ins?

[marbel]

Concretes? Is this a typo or a treat I have never heard of?

 

I had to look it up.   It's a mixture of ice cream and add-ins.  (Link to Culver's restaurant site)

 

ETA: we don't have Culver's where I live, so I looked up the offerings at Friendly's which looks like a similar chain.  They have a similar thing called "Friend-Z" though it doesn't look like it can be customized.  We don't like their food or ice cream so we're not likely to check them out.  :-)   I like the idea though.  I prefer my ice cream with "stuff" in it. 

Edited September 6, 2016 by marbel

[dirty ethel rackham]

We go out for ice cream occasionally. When we were little, my dad would take us all to Dairy Queen as a special treat ... like maybe once or twice a summer. Dh has similar memories. We have a reknown ice cream shop within walking distance. Sometimes, when we have had company for dinner (a rare occasion), we will walk to this ice cream shop. (Usually it is out of town friends who want to treat us.) On occasion, we will hop in the car with the dog and head to Dairy Queen for old-time's sake. That said, I am kind-of an ice-cream snob. My brother is in the business of marketing premium ice creams. He worked for Breyers (when they first came out and before they ruined the recipe) and then Haagen Daaz. Then he formed his own marketing company. We got to taste these awesome premium ice creams before they even got to market. So, if I get ice cream, I want the good stuff. DQ is just for nostalgia, not because it is great ice cream.

[Kathryn]

Other. Only on vacation.

[Sarah CB]

We did it more frequently when I was growing up than we do now. And by more frequently, I mean maybe a few times a year. It was a big treat. Sometimes it would be Dairy Queen. One city we lived in had a great ice cream parlour, so we'd go there. I remember walking there after dinner - same with DQ. Another city we lived in had a Baskin Robbins and that was fun to go to.

 

I've done this with my kids, but can't remember the last time we did. However, there is a Dairy Queen being built about a 20 minute walk from our house so I imagine we might do this more often in the future.

 

And why? Because it's fun. It's a nice extension to the evening. As a parent with teens who like to hide in their rooms after dinner I enjoy any excuse to get them out somewhere with me. I like the idea of walking to the ice cream place rather than driving - maybe that's why we haven't gone in such a long time? 

[kewb]

It was a treat for us growing up.  A big deal if after dinner dad said "Let's go get Carvel"  We went and it was fun to choose a cone or a cup. Soft serve or not.  And to come home with a container of flying saucers.  Mom usually stayed home.

 

This scenario plays out in my own house.  Except, sometimes I go with them to get the ice cream.

 

Not something we do reguilarly but definitely something that would happen on vacation.

[Library Momma]

We go out for ice cream quite a bit during the warm months.  We have quite a few great seasonal places that aren't far from our house. Only we go out in the afternoon, or on the way home from the beach or park.  The only time we go for ice cream in the evening or after dinner is on vacation.

[zoobie]

Concretes? Is this a typo or a treat I have never heard of?

 

It's frozen custard, which is softer than ice cream, blended with whatever you want. The place that was nearby was called Sheridan's, and it was ridiculously good. They had one my husband loved with vanilla custard, pretzels, caramel, and some type of chocolate. I liked a chocolate custard with espresso and almonds. They even had one that was blended with a slice of wedding cake. We tried a famous custard place in St. Louis, but it wasn't nearly as good. I can't believe this place closed. It was always busy! 

 

Similar to a Dairy Queen blizzard, but with homemade custard. Different texture than their mystery soft serv. And better mix ins. :)

[stephanier.1765]

We live within a quick drive of a Brusters so as a once in a while treat we will go out for ice cream after dinner or send someone out to bring it back home.

Edited September 6, 2016 by slr1765

[frogger]

I typically don't even buy ice cream for at home because of the expense. We do like Cold Stone but only go for special reasons AND the kids received a gift card for Christmas or birthdays or something from Grandparents or Uncles.

[Bambam]

A friend and I met for lunch one day. We both had our kids with us. After lunch, they wanted some ice cream. We were at WalMart (no judging here, there was a limited number of restaurants available, and the Subway in WalMart was the only place that didn't have a line out the door, and we did have four super hungry kids with us).  I gave them $10 and told them to have fun. They searched for a long time before they figured out that it would be cheaper to purchase a regular container of ice cream, Styrofoam cups, and plastic spoons than purchasing individual treats. And they would have more too. Lesson learned!

[MEmama]

Ice cream is taken pretty seriously around here and all of the local kinds are fantastic. Sometimes we will walk or bike downtown to the (amazing) gelato shop, or we'll bike down to the marina and enjoy a cone while sitting out over the ocean. We've even been known to drive out to a local lobster pound just for the ice cream they serve.

 

Summer is too short here not to have ice cream as frequently as possible, any time of day. After dinner, for dinner, it's all good. :)

[Katy]

When we lived half a mile from an ice cream shop, we'd walk or bike there after dinner maybe once a month in the summer.  It was cheap (we'd get the cheapest option or one scoop), it was an easy way to motivate a little extra exercise, and it was fun.  Plus, kiddos got ice cream without having it in the house for me to eat too much of OR for them to fight over.  Somehow at a store they're much less likely to argue over who got the bigger scoop.

 

It's a pleasant family outing in the summer.  Nice memories.  When I was a kid my grandparent's house was near a dairy queen.  Grandma would hike through the woods with us to get to the Dilly Bars.

[AnniePoo]

We don't keep ice cream (or other desserts, for that matter) in the house.

 

We go out maybe 4-5 times each summer.  I thought that was normal.

[Farrar]

Since we can walk to several ice cream serving places, it would be weird to drive, but we do take a walk to one after dinner every once in awhile in the summer, especially if there's company. Dh's parents live near a super good ice cream place (the best in their area - they used to like to drive there before they moved to that home) - it's just a five minute walk. So that feels like a must at least once when we visit them.

[slackermom]

We don't actually drive/boat/bike if we go out for ice cream, because we can walk to a half dozen places from where we live.  We sometimes go for a walk in the evening after dinner, and occasionally one of us will suggest stopping for ice cream, especially in the summer.

[raptor_dad]

I'm curious about this, having just returned from a weekend at the family beach house with various in-laws. We had an absolute feast in the evening. Very enjoyable. Afterwards, the rumor was a few of the kids were trying to get the dads on board with going out (by boat) to get ice cream. 

 

We never go out for desert but this seems normal to me. Kids love treats and staying up late on vacation. Dads and others like messing about in boats. As a kid, trying to get dad to use your desires as an excuse to go out again seems like an obvious tactic.

 

I can remember walking the 3/4 mile down to the pier after dinner and getting either ice cream or sno-cones at the beach... maybe even playing some skee-ball. None of which happened at home.

 

We were up on the North Shore on vacation just before school started. We went out on a walk on the beach or out to the point every single night. I would have gotten the kids a frozen treat if there had been anything dairy free.

[raptor_dad]

Ice cream is taken pretty seriously around here and all of the local kinds are fantastic. Sometimes we will walk or bike downtown to the (amazing) gelato shop, or we'll bike down to the marina and enjoy a cone while sitting out over the ocean. We've even been known to drive out to a local lobster pound just for the ice cream they serve.

 

Summer is too short here not to have ice cream as frequently as possible, any time of day. After dinner, for dinner, it's all good. :)

 

The mention of gelato reminded me... The year before DS9 started school we were on vacation in DC and had rented a basement flat right off Capitol Street in the Eastern Market. That was maybe the 2012 heat wave. I remember being unable to scamper around on the rocks out at Great Falls without getting burnt. It was over 100 several days... DW walked the five blocks down to Pitango Gelato most nights after getting the kids to bed. That's what vacation's for.

[Lady Florida.]

I wasn't quite sure what answer to choose so I said rarely but will go along if someone (dh) suggests it. We rarely eat dessert and when we do it's not right after dinner. There were times when ds was young if we were on our way home from somewhere, that we'd stop for ice cream. Occasionally dh would suggest we go out for ice cream out of the blue. Sometimes we did that in the middle of the day though, so it wasn't always an after dinner thing. It was just an occasional and rare treat. 

 

Your poll said go out for dessert but it seems you're mostly thinking of ice cream. We've never gone out for any other kind of dessert - only ice cream.

[Allearia]

Not normally, but it sounds like it would be really fun, going out by boat to get ice cream? More like a vacation, once a year activity. A typical night? We would never do that. But definitely if it were a special occasion, with friends or family, or one night if we were on vacation.

[HS Mom in NC]

No never.  Sometimes someone brings home donuts but we usually eat dessert that's already here.

[Denise in IN]

When we are at home, no, unless it is a special occasion or special treat.

 

On vacation, sure!  Especially if there is a good place to go.  And I probably wouldn't be hungry, but my boys can eat humongous bowls of ice cream at any time of the day or night.   :laugh: