Bubble Gum Ice Cream

It's not my favorite flavor... but it definitely reminds me of my favorite story about ice cream. And after all, isn't life just one story after another?

When I was a kid, I belonged to a funky hippy little Blue Bird troupe. It was run by a lady named Cheryl who looked an awful lot like my Kindergarten Teacher, Ms. Bowden and Cher without all the make-up and leather. Sometimes, her friend Popcorn (swear to God) would come and teach us dances like The Hussle in order to earn patches. What can I say... it was the 70s.

We'd occassionally venture out into the world with Cheryl and some of the moms. Because we were a smaller group, we got to go to places that you wouldn't regularly be able to go with a class from school. One trip in particular was to an Ice Cream Shoppe. Big deal, right? Well, we were eight. At that age, ice cream is way more exciting than tar pits with old dinosaur bones. The Ice Cream Shoppe was one of those old-fashioned kind where they made their own ice cream in-house. They also had some really neat flavors that we had never heard of. We walked through the whole place ooh-ing and aah-ing all the way. The final stop of our tour was to try out the newest flavor... Bubble Gum.

I was a shy type and would sometimes not assert myself in group situations. Luckily, I had an equally unassertive friend, Julie. As soon as we were told that we would get a cone, the other girls clamored and clawed to be first in line ignoring the bodily injury that might be caused by such a rush of humanity against plexiglass. My friend and I cautiously stepped aside and quietly went to the back of the line. By the time we got to the front of the line, most of the ice cream was gone.

Our hearts sank...

But wait! What to our wondering eyes did appear? All I could see was a little bit of cream and a whole lot of round colored bits of sweetness... It seems that the density of the gum balls was too much for the ice cream. The majority of the candies had migrated south during the freezing process. So Julie and I got all "neener-neener" on the rest of the troupe. Have your ice cream, we giggled. WE have the GUM!

On the drive home, while the rest of the girls were whining about their tummy aches, Julie and I were all smiley faces as we blew the biggest bubbles you ever saw!

Good things come to those who wait!

I didn't really learn that lesson until much later. At the time, the only lesson I got out of it was that the bottom of the barrel of bubble gum ice cream was the best! These days, I am a supreme fan of Ben & Jerry's Lighten Up version of Cherry Garcia. If, for some crazy reason, a restaurant is serving the not-so-light version, I partake. I mean, how many restaurants (fish restaurant, no less) do you know that serve Cherry Garcia? Seriously?!

So what's your favorite flavor? I'm going to be all (pardon the pun) vanilla on the poll. Just pick your favorite of the list... but do comment on your favorite brand and flavor in the comment section below. Can't wait to hear!

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