circa 1955: A young girl carrying a large plastic ice cream cone.
(Photo by Jacobsen /Three Lions/Getty Images)There is always at least one thing that everyone has in common, and that one thing is a love of ice cream. Adults, kids, tweens, teenagers, Gen Z, Baby Boomers—every human being loves ice cream. If you don’t, then you may not be human.
The one thing we disagree on is a favorite flavor. There’s a reason that there are well over 1000 different ice cream flavors available on Earth. Even with all of that variety, my number one choice is always vanilla.
I’m told that it’s boring, and maybe it is but there’s something about vanilla that always tastes better than any other. I love it by itself or with some caramel drizzled over the top, it is, by far, my favorite dessert.
It always takes me back to summers when I was a kid and chasing down the Mister Softee ice cream truck to get a giant cone of vanilla soft serve. Sadly, Mister Softee trucks seem to be an endangered species. There was a time when there were over two thousand of those mobile ice cream shops cruising all over America. Now, there are less than six hundred.
Free Dairy Queen Ice Cream
If you’d like to score some free ice cream, Thursday, March 20th is “Free Cone Day” at Dairy Queen which also happens to be the first day of Spring.
According to their website, you can stop by Dairy Queen “to get a free cone featuring our world-famous DQ soft serve. Free small vanilla cone at participating US non-mall locations and at participating mall locations with purchase. All day, limit one per person. While supplies last. Not valid on delivery or mobile orders.”
Free Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream
If you miss the March 20th free cone, you can look forward to April 8th when Ben & Jerry’s hands out free cones. Their Instagram post reads, “Did you know we’ve been celebrating Free Cone Day since 1979? It’s true! One year, after they opened their very first Scoop Shop, co-founders Ben and Jerry, decided to celebrate their community with a day of free scoops. And the tradition stuck! Learn more about the sweet history of this global celebration at the link in our bio and join us for this year’s Free Cone Day on April 8.”
New Jersey’s Favorite Ice Cream
Last year, MRO did some research to find out the favorite ice cream flavor in New Jersey and each state in the country. Four states agree with me, Arkansas, the District of Columbia, Oregon, and Vermont, that Vanilla is the best.
However, New Jersey’s top choice is mint chocolate chip. It’s also the most popular flavor in Pennsylvania and Delaware.
Check out the full study of all states, flavors, and brands here.
