Nothing says springtime around these parts, especially online, like those waffle or sugar cone-centric posts on social. You can take a photo like that anywhere, of course. But why waste a treat day on ice cream that’s less than great? With that in mind, I highly recommend scoping (or scooping) out these spots for some of the best locally made cold stuff.

1. Share With Someone Sweet: Okay, so The Ice Cream Barn, up until 5 or so years ago, was squarely in the hidden gem category, somewhere people would rather not tell their friends about for fear of it becoming overrun. Yes, it is fashioned to look like a barn and it does indeed sit on an actual farm in Swansea, Massachusetts. And their coffee is made with real coffee and local milk. They also offer special limited run flavors, frozen yogurt, and sundaes. Soooo many choices! Rather than rambling on about menus and such, allow me to highly encourage you to grab the dessert lover in your life and take a spin over. (They reopened for the season on April 20th.)

2. The Best Time For Ice Cream HERE Is Always: Add Gray's to your bucket list of ice cream places in lil Rhody: It's mayyy-jor among those who consider themselves connoisseurs. It's the sorta place, open 365 days a year and offering a lengthy menu of homemade flavors, that practically everyone talks about when listing their East Bay faves. If you’ve been reading the blog from when we first launched, you probably recall it being mentioned as a go-to by more than a few people featured in those "My RI Life" posts that I used to run every Tuesday back in 2015 and 2016.

3. Bookmark This One For NEXT Month: As if, we need an excuse for a jaunt over to Watch Hill, Rhode Island. My family and I have been enjoying St Clair's handmade-on-the-premises (by the same family since the late 1880's, by the way), incredibly fresh ice cream for the last 30 years or more, so I'm definitely biased. Hands down, our favorite flavor as a group is the peach, with bits of real peach, but there are literally dozens of others to choose from and hey, they are all scrumptious. Sometimes, they add in special, limited edition flavors too.

*St Clair Annex usually opens for limited hours starting in the month of May, before launching into their regular schedule come June.