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Missouri has some great ice cream and with July being National Ice Cream Month, it’s the perfect time to include a scoop or two in your Missouri travels. To get you started, here is a list of options for every day of this delicious month. Enjoy!
1. Have an ice cream cone on the lawn of Forest Park. Why? This spot is the birthplace of the ice cream cone. At the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904, when the ice cream vendor ran out of paper cups and spoons, he placed the ice cream in a rolled up waffle that the man in the next booth was selling.
2. Visit the state capital of Jefferson City and raise your ice cream cone in a toast to Missouri’s official state dessert. Be sure to tour the Capitol. It’s been noted as one of the nation’s most beautiful.
3. Cool off with cantaloupe ice cream from Serendipity Homemade Ice Cream. The Riverfront Times readers selected Serendipity the Best Ice Cream in St. Louis.
4. Go nuts choosing between three great ice creams made with Missouri Ozark black walnuts: black walnut, caramelized black walnut, and black walnut turtle – all at Hammons Black Walnut Emporium in Stockton.
5. Pamper yourself with a classic milkshake and homemade diner fare at Soda Fountain Square. Pure comfort food and drink in St. Louis’ historic Lafayette Square.
6. Get a taste of thick, creamy sweetness at Custard’s Last Stand, high-quality shops located in Lee’s Summit, Warrensburg and Blue Springs.
7. Soar on a sugar high with a Skyscraper Shake at Winstead’s, an authentic 1940s diner, complete with a soda fountain and jukebox, at Kansas City’s classy Country Club Plaza.
8. Lick up the cake batter malt at Hannah Banana’s Gourmet Ice Cream in Springfield. Then head to the ballpark for a Springfield Cardinals minor league game.
9. Meet up with friends for a spiked milkshake at ChefBurger, and then dance off the calories at one of the nightclubs in Kansas City’s hot new Power & Light District.
10. Groove out at Emack & Bolio’s in Springfield – an ice cream shop featuring outrageous flavors like Deep Purple Cow and Meyer’s Rum Raisin.
11. Discover the newport sundae (whipped cream and nuts) at Crown Candy Kitchen. A St. Louis landmark since 1919, Crown Candy Kitchen’s flavorings are blended in an antique copper candy kettle.
12. Experience a rich, homemade lumpy or smooshie at Murray’s Ice Creams & Cookies in Kansas City’s Westport. Allow time to do some shopping in this interesting neighborhood.
13. Ask for a “grown-up” shake at City Diner in St. Louis. These creamy, thick milkshakes include a shot of your choice of liquor.
14. Reach out for an upside down concrete at Ted Drewes Frozen Custard. For nearly 80 years, this St. Louis shop has been serving shakes that so thick they won’t fall out of the cup when turned upside down.
15. Break from tradition with tantalizing flavors such as green tea, pineapple upside-down cake or wine at Sparky’s Homemade Ice Cream in Columbia.
16. Hang out in Branson for a banana split at the 1950s soda fountain-style Cakes ’n’ Cream Dessert Parlor and a show Dick Clark’s American Bandstand Theatre.
17. Order a Mississippi Float at Fitz’s American Grill & Bottling in St. Louis – and taste what happens when chocolate ice cream meets the incredible smoothness and thick, creamy texture of Fitz’s Root Beer.
18. Accept no impersonations. Go to a St. Louis area Silky Freeze for the Elvis, a Vanilla frozen custard with pretzels, caramel, and melted chocolate.
19. Take the whole family to Central Dairy in Jefferson City, an old-fashioned ice cream parlor serving up the finest sundaes, malts, shakes, banana splits and other ice cream concoctions. Something for everyone!
20. Treat yourself to ice cream made the truly old-fashioned way: churned in an oak tub packed with ice and rock salt at Riddle’s Penultimate Café in St. Louis.
21. Learn just how good fresh ice cream can be at Buck’s Ice Cream Place, a long-time educational establishment on the University of Missouri campus in Columbia. Tour the campus museums and Botanic Garden while you’re there.
22. You gotta taste it to believe it: Buck’s Tiger Stripe Ice Cream is dropped into a hearty handcrafted stout to create the wild tiger float at Flat Branch Pub and Brewery in Columbia.
23. Go in search of a regional favorite: Shake’s Frozen Custard in Carthage, Columbia, Joplin and Webb City. Great places, great ice cream.
24. Top off a delectable dinner at Lydia’s in Kansas City with a dessert served warm with grappa-cherry ice cream. It’s the perfect way to kick off an evening on the town.
25. Travel back in time for hand-dipped ice cream at Becky’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlor in Hannibal, the hometown of Mark Twain and an antique-shoppers’ delight.
26. Stop into After 24 Hour Diner & Games in St. Louis for the house specialty: a white-chocolate milkshake laced with caramel. Then make your way to more fun at the zany City Museum.
27. Savor fresh-from-the-hive honey ice cream during a visit to Walk-About Acres in Columbia. An ideal way to spend a July day.
28. Host a happy hour featuring wine floats. Adam Puchta Winery in Hermann suggests pouring Riefenstahler (a sweet red wine full of rich blackberry jam characteristics) over ice cream. Cheers!
29. If you’re feeling really adventurous, try Stilton Bleu Cheese Ice Cream With Black Truffle Honey and Fried Salt-Cured Bacon, a recipe of Anthony Devoti, owner and executive chef of Five bistro in St. Louis.
30. Create your very own ice cream specialty. Start with farm-fresh milk direct from Shatto Milk Company Country Store in Osborn or Heartland Creamery in Newark.
31. Wrap up National Ice Cream Month by making plans to enter your homemade ice cream creation in the Annual Fayette Freeze Off, August 2 on Fayette Courthouse Square. Or just go for the flavorful fun. There will be food, entertainment and a homemade ice cream competition.
To discover more places to chill out in Missouri this summer, go to http://www.VisitMO.com or call 800-519-4800 to order a free Official Missouri Vacation Planner.