Cruisin' For Cones (...Kinda)

Remember when, as a little kid, you'd bike over to a friend's house on a warm summer day and the two of you would take off and ride the afternoon away?  At some point, you'd hear the chime of the ice cream man coming down the street, and with the last bit of money you had left over from your allowance, you'd buy a treat to cool you down from a hard afternoon's day of biking? 

OK, now imagine you were actually making your own ice cream as you rode off into the sunset?

Today is National Ice Cream Cone Day...and in the spirit of warm summer days, spending time with your best friend and working hard for your dessert, we found ourselves an ice creamery that combines them all.

When you walk into Peddler's Creamery in downtown Los Angeles, you're met with an awesome cycling contraption and a case of magnificent home-made ice cream

Actually, it's not just homemade...it's also hand made.  Or more specifically, pedal-made.  See the bike along the wall isn't just for decoration - it's for churning the ice cream maker tucked away in the back.

"Well isn't that nifty," you think.  But wait, it gets better.  YOU actually have the opportunity to sit on the bike and help the store make their tasty batches of ice cream! 

Seriously!

You can let the awesome people behind the counter know you'd like to pedal and they are more than happy to relinquish the reins for awhile and let you churn away. Now, you have to be able to complete a 20 minute churn cycle, but you can split your time amongst friends in case you're not in optimal Tour de France condition (or if you and your husband just stuffed yourself on dinner at a restaurant around the corner). 

So churn we did.

 

And it was as much fun as it was easy.  It takes a little bit of effort to get into a good rhythm - the ice in the machine gives you a strange circular-type resistance - but once you get into it, it's as easy as any flat street you'd cruise down. You're positioned right in front of a window facing DTLA, so you can pedal your minutes away while people-watching.  Plus, as the customers came in and looked at us pedaling away and at the employees behind the counter, it was fun to watch them put two and two together and realize we were customers actually helping make the ice cream.  I overheard a few people asking about when they could come back and give it a try...so who knows, maybe next time we'll be trying their hard-pedaled flavors (we made Salted Caramel, by the way). 

So when you're in DTLA on a hot afternoon - or just looking to burn off a few extra calories after a heavy lunch, swing by the Peddler's Creamery on Main Street.  You'll have an absolute blast (and enjoy some really tasty ice cream to boot)!