Summer is the best excuse to eat ice cream in shameless volumes.
This year, you can mark the season with bicycle-churned scoops in L.A., cones filled with Thomas Jefferson's recipe at Mount Rushmore, and a blindfolded tasting gamble in Vegas.
Here are nine great places worthy of screaming for more ice cream this summer.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota
Why Go: Mount Rushmore National Memorial is giving you a taste of history this summer, dishing up a special batch of ice cream made with Thomas Jefferson's original recipe.
The Scoop: You know that Thomas Jefferson authored the Declaration of Independence, but what you didn't read in history books is that he also wrote the first known ice cream recipe in the country. Yes, Jefferson's official handwritten recipe for the vanilla treat he served guests at Monticello during his presidency is actually kept in the Library of Congress. To make the ice cream, Pride Dairy carefully researched the ingredients, even using vanilla beans from Madagascar just as Jefferson did. The only difference between 2013's scoops and those eaten in the 1800s is that today's eggs are pasteurized.
Don't Miss: Your chance to pose, ice cream in hand, with a poster that features Jefferson's portrait and his handwritten recipe. Find "TJ's Ice Cream" at the Memorial Team Ice Cream stand just inside the main entrance to the park's dining room.
Velvet Ice Cream's Ye Olde Mill, Utica, Ohio
Why Go: This Ohio ice cream maker is celebrating National Ice Cream Month with cheap treats and events on the farm.
The Scoop: A perennial favorite on America's ice cream-factory circuit, Velvet Ice Cream is throwing a month-long party in honor of National Ice Cream Month and the company's 99th birthday. Get 99-cent cones on July 6 and buy-one-get-one-free sundaes on July 15. Check out the events calendarfor the full lineup, which includes clowns, magicians, dog shows, and live music. Free public tours run on weekdays from May through October and let you sample ice cream as it comes off the line.
Don't Miss: All the fun on this 20-acre property, which includes an authentic 1800s mill. After a treat in the old-fashioned ice cream parlor, visit the Milling Museum or the Ice Cream Museum. Kids love playing on the playground and feeding ducks in the pond.
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin
Why Go: On your way to the Wisconsin Dells or the North Woods, you can relish college life and campus-made ice cream on the Memorial Union's sunny terrace overlooking Lake Mendota.
The Scoop: Produced on campus with milk from UW-Madison's dairy herd, Babcock Dairy Ice Cream(named after Stephen Moulton Babcock, a pivotal UW-Madison researcher in the department of Agricultural Chemistry) is sold in the student union and the Babcock Hall Dairy Store at student-budget prices. Indulging in it is a longtime tradition among visiting alumni. Tour the dairy plant and learn how the program turns out the treat that's frequently voted the best ice cream in Madison byMadison Magazine.
Don't Miss: Two other university creameries for tasty ice cream and visits with dairy cows. Watch ice cream being made through the UConn Dairy Bar's observation window. Choose from 100-plus flavors at Penn State's Berkey Creamery or register for the renowned seven-day cow-to-cone Ice Cream Short Course, taken by the who's who of ice cream makers in America.
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