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Cup, Cone, or Karma?

 



Once upon a time, if those stories I’ve read are true, ice cream was an event. You made it, you ate it. It was a big deal. Refrigeration, then freezers - - then home access to the same - - changed the ice cream experience. Folks could now purchase and eat ice cream year round. 

When I was little all home ice cream was to be scooped into individual servings and eaten at the kitchen table. Bowl, spoon, napkin. Ice cream cones were a summertime treat. Now it’s not uncommon to enjoy the flavor of your choice right from a pint container while sitting on the couch watch tv/binge watching shows via streaming, etc. 

I treated myself to a mint chocolate chip cone from Baskin Robbins this week. When the clerk asked what kind of cone I wanted, I said, “A soft cone.”

“We have cake cones or sugar cones.”

I guess my cone terminology is off. It was soft cones vs hard cones in Connecticut. My mother always called soft cones “wastebasket cones” but that was a Mom idiosyncrasy, I think. 

A word to the wise: in theory, it is not impossible to eat an ice cream cone while driving. It will be impossible if the store clerk gives it to you planted upside in a cup. 

That was an adventure.

Anyway, this is your annual “summer is upon us” local ice cream post. This is not to be confused with a “too hot to live” local snowball post. That will be coming later on. 

There are national chains, smaller chains, and a few mom and pops. What is your favorite? Off the top of my head, with no peeking, here are the local ice cream places I can think of:

  • Baskin Robbins
  • The Meadows
  • Charmery 
  • Cold Stone Creamery
  • Crazy Mason Milkshake Bar - - does that count?
  • Brusters 
  • Good Karma Creamery 
  • Cindy’s Soft Serve
  • Mike’s Gelato 
  • Soft Stuff
Park Ridge Creamery has closed, alas. That means no more local Taharka scoops. Is there an ice cream place at the Mall these days?

My husband wishes we had a Dairy Queen in Columbia/HoCo proper. I miss the old school Friendly’s offerings and, if you want to get truly ancient, Howard Johnson’s from way back in the last century had pretty great ice cream, too. 

I came across a place called Good Karma Creamery while I was searching for local ice cream places. Do you know anything about it? (They don’t scoop and serve. It’s an order and deliver operation.)

What’s your “go-to” HoCoLocal ice cream and why? Also, what’s your favorite flavor at that place? Let me know.


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  1. Julia A. McCreadyMay 27, 2026 at 12:55 PM

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