Chocolate Covered Ice Cream Takes Me Back To The 90s

Some of my most fond memories take place during the summer in the 90s, back when I was in elementary school. In the summer, school was out for two months, so I could truly enjoy my hobbies without thinking about school or homework. Even the days leading up to summer were relaxed and filled with excuses to be outside. There were plenty of walks, field trips, and festivals. Sometimes, our teachers even allowed us to bring music and food so that we could have a picnic.

I don’t remember what we ate during these picnics, but the food was another thing that I considered special during the summer. I remember simple things, like sandwiches and chips on rainy summer days and eating cereal while watching Saturday morning cartoons. There was Mo’s Pizza, where I played Mortal Kombat while I waited for my dad to pick up our delicious food. Sometimes there were trips to McDonalds when the toys were based on Disney movies, but my favorite summer food was a vanilla ice cream cone that had been dipped in a thick layer of chocolate.

I considered the ice cream a special treat because I only got it on days when my mom took us to the park. There was a walking trail at the park, and we’d walk the trail a few times before going across the street to a local snowball stand. The treats at the snowball stand were better than anything we could have gotten from the grocery store. My mom and sister usually got snowballs (shaved ice covered in syrup), but I always wanted a chocolate-coated vanilla ice cream.

At the time, the liquid chocolate coating fascinated me by turning into a solid chocolate shell, so I always stood on my tiptoes and tried to watch them dip the ice cream through the window. After we got our ice creams, we’d sit on the bleachers that overlooked the baseball diamond and eat them. I can still remember the thickness and the crunch of the chocolate shell as I took the first bite of my ice cream.

After we were done, we’d usually go play on the swings or slide and then we’d either go home to settle down with a video game, to the library for me to get a new Goosebumps book or to the video store. I didn’t have any errands to run or things that I had pending to do, so it truly was a carefree time for me.

A chocolate-dipped vanilla ice cream cone is still a special treat for me because I don’t have it often. I haven’t had it in years, but I’m sure if I did it would remind me of those special summer days when I went to the park and then got ice cream before doing something else that was fun. I didn’t have to worry about work or bills, and I had time for my hobbies. It would remind me of a time when I could stay up late playing video games. A time before the internet, when you went to the video rental store when you wanted to watch a movie or the library when you wanted a book.

If I ever get the chance to visit that local snowball stand again, I plan to get a chocolate-dipped vanilla ice cream cone. I’m going to sit on the bleachers that overlook the baseball diamond and enjoy my ice cream as the summer breeze whips my hair around. It’ll be my brief moment in time to remember the way things were before work and technology changed them.