When school ended in June I declared that this would be The Summer of Ice Cream. I love the memories from growing up of going out for ice cream on summer days, but it’s not something my husband and I have done too much with our boys—for many years, it was just too complicated, too messy, and too much of a headache—more of a chore than a treat.

But this year, everyone can feed themselves and not make a mess! The big boys can even help carry the ice cream from the order window to their little brothers, so the whole process goes quicker and more smoothly, and my husband and I can enjoy our ice cream before it melts, since no one needs our help (especially since the baby’s still little enough that he doesn’t expect to have any). We’ve made a point to visit several of the local ice cream places over the past month and a half, and I thought you all (especially our summer visitors) might like a quick rundown, presented here in alphabetical order:

Dairy Haus 
We avoided Dairy Haus for years because of how busy it always is and how big our van is for its small parking lot, but we’ve figured out how to make it work by going during off times. Not only is the ice cream delicious, made fresh on the premises, but one of my boys doesn’t care for ice cream, and was thrilled to see they have “Edible Cookie Dough” on the menu. Several of my boys—even ones who like ice cream—have gotten the cookie dough and love it.

Website: dairyhaus.com
Hard Ice Cream: Yes
Soft Ice Cream: Yes
My Favorite: Peanut Butter and Jelly

Farmer’s Daughters’ Drive-In 
We’ve actually found Farmer’s Daughters more manageable than other places in the past, and so we hadn’t gone this summer until last week, having favored the newer options in our quest to try as many places as possible. I’m so glad we finally went! They have both hard and soft ice cream, which made all the ice cream eaters happy, and my non-ice-cream boy was happy with a soda. We also enjoy riding out to it—I love that we live so close to more rural areas.

Website: farmersdaughtersdrivein.com
Hard Ice Cream: Yes
Soft Ice Cream: Yes
My Favorite: Peanut Butter and Jelly

Humpty Dumpty
Like Dairy Haus, we’ve always avoided Humpty Dumpty because of its constant crowd and extra small parking lot, and also because they only serve soft ice cream (I prefer hard). But I brought the boys there recently at around 11 on a Wednesday morning and there were no lines and lots of parking (take note!), and the boys loved the soft serve—they’ve been begging me to take them back, as they all want more of the mango ice cream. (My non-ice-cream boy wasn’t with us that time.)

Website: humptydumptyicecream.weebly.com
Hard Ice Cream: No 
Soft Ice Cream: Yes
My Favorite: Still deciding

King Brothers Dairy
Reading about King Brothers Dairy’s new on-site store with its daily homemade ice cream was actually my incentive to making this The Summer of Ice Cream. I’d done a spotlight of the farm and the family for the 2013 Holiday Edition of Simply Saratoga and remembered being impressed with its business and products, so I couldn’t wait to try its ice cream. We have not been disappointed! My non-ice-cream boy has beverages and baked goods to consider instead, and there’s meat and other local items to buy as well.

Website: kingbrothers.deliverybizpro.com/our-farm-store
Hard Ice Cream: Yes 
Soft Ice Cream: No
My Favorite: Nutter Butter Blast

Stewart’s
Stewart’s is my usual go-to spot for ice cream year-round—sometimes a girl and her boys just need some ice cream or a milkshake, no matter what season! It never disappoints, and its multiple locations makes it easy to go to. My non-ice-cream boy is happy to get a drink or a bag of chips instead.

Website: stewartsshops.com/ice-cream/flavors
Hard Ice Cream: Yes 
Soft Ice Cream: No
My Favorite: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup

This is certainly not a comprehensive review of each of these places, nor even of all the ice cream places Saratoga Springs and surrounding areas has to offer, but if you’re in the mood for ice cream, you can’t go wrong with these.

Kate and her husband have seven sons ages 14, 13, 11, 9, 7, 5, and 10 months. Follow her at facebook.com/kmtowne23, or email her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..