Summers in Blount County are long and hot, and there’s no better way to take a break from the heat than to step on out and treat yourself to something cold and frosty. There are plenty of places to choose from in Blount County; here are a few worth checking out!
Scoops & Slices
Alcoa’s Scoops & Slices is a must-visit for fans of pizza and ice cream. Besides classic pizza combinations, they offer a dessert pizza (which is a chocolate peanut butter pie) and all the ice cream sundae, shake, and soft serve combinations that you would expect from a restaurant committed to longtime favorites and good fun.
Bruster’s Real Ice Cream
Bruster’s Real Ice Cream in Maryville offers a big menu of ice cream treats every day – around 40 flavors! They actually make around 150 flavors all together, and one of the company’s signature features is how Bruster’s handcrafts each flavor in the store. Instead of making everything at a central location, Bruster’s ships the cream and other basic ingredients to their locations, where the ice cream is mixed and made locally.
Little River Village Fudge Kitchen and Sweet Shoppe
The Little River Village Fudge Kitchen and Sweet Shoppe is serving up more than just fudge – they’ve got large scoops of Blue Bell ice cream on offer, too. Customers can choose from classics like Rocky Road or new favorites like banana pudding, and chocolate-dipped cones are also available. Check them out in Townsend!
Capitol Coffee & Ice Cream Parlor
This treat stop located at the Capitol Theatre in Maryville offers gourmet coffee and blended drinks, as well as ice cream delicacies. Everything on the menu has its own old-timey cinema theme, with beverages like the Here’s Lookin’ at You Kid, an espresso drink with caramel and macadamia nut, and sundaes like the The Midnight Showing, which features chocolate ice cream with Ghirardelli dark chocolate, dark chocolate chips, whipped cream and a Ghirardelli chocolate square. Now that’s some movie magic!
Maryville’s Dairy Queen
Sometimes there’s nothing like an American classic. Dairy Queen was founded in 1940 in Joliet, Illinois, and it’s been spreading cheer across America ever since. The Grill & Chill location on West Broadway in Maryville offers everyone’s favorites, from Dilly Bars to Peanut Buster Parfaits, and it also keeps up with the latest DQ trends nationwide.
Now that you’ve gotten to know a few of the local joints a little better, why not plan your next visit to one of Blount’s hot spots for sweet treats?
Tag: summer
Beat the Summer Heat
Summer on the Peaceful Side is often reminiscent of that scene from Wizard of Oz when the Wicked Witch of the East exclaims, “I’m melting! Melting! Oh, what a world, what a world!” A cool escape is necessary between the heat and humidity here in East Tennessee. Here is our cheat sheet to help you beat the summer heat in the Smokies.
Tubing the Smokies
Lazily floating down the Little River is an adventure for the whole family, including your fur babies (at participating businesses). The cold mountain water, the sweeping summer foliage, and the freedom to work out youthful energy are superb ways to beat the summer heat.
Phone: 865.448.8888
Phone: 865.448.3500
Phone: 865.448.8000
Tuckaleechee Caverns
Phone: 865.448.2274
What better place to cool down than the “Greatest Site Under the Smokies,” where the average temperature is a comfortable 58 degrees year-round? Voted the highest-ranking cave or cavern in the Eastern United States, Tuckaleechee Caverns is a great all-weather option for your Smoky Mountain Vacation. The cave is open from March to November. It will give your family a great escape from the summer heat or one of those pesky pop-up thunderstorms for which East Tennessee is known. It will not only give you a break from the weather but will also give you a unique glimpse beneath the mountains and into a national treasure!
I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream
The memories you make on the Peaceful Side will stay with you forever. Another piece of nostalgia that is suitable for any time is some good, old-fashion ice cream. Beat the summer heat at one of these tasty spots.
Phone: 865.518.6300
Phone: 865.448.8408
Phone: 865.448.9433
For more summer fun in the Smokies, check out these blog posts:
It’s Camping Season: Places to Stay in the Peaceful Side of the Smokies
Waterfalls in The Great Smoky Mountains
Beat the Summer Heat with a Refreshing Treat at Bruster's Real Ice Cream
Some summer days are just too much to handle. It’s too hot for anyone to be comfortable, the humidity is heavy, and it seems like the sun is never going to give in and retreat behind the clouds. There’s only one thing to do with weather like this: grin and bear it.
How on earth, though, are you supposed to come up with a reason to grin? When excessive heat and the suffering it brings seems never-ending, what do you have to smile about?
Luckily, There’s One Thing That’s Better in the Heat
Ice cream was made for days like this, and Bruster’s Real Ice Cream in Maryville has dozens of flavors!
They’ve got classics like rocky road and strawberry, as well as new flavors, like “Pucker Up,” which is lemon ice cream with blue raspberry and sour cherry ribbons, plus Nerds candy, and “Cotton Candy Explosion” a cotton-candy-flavored ice cream with popping candy, so there’s plenty to choose from at Bruster’s.
In fact, Bruster’s recipe book contains about 150 different flavors, and there are around 40 flavors to pick from daily. This wide variety is possible because of the way Bruster’s ice cream is made, which is also one of the company’s hallmarks. Basic ingredients are delivered to each Bruster’s shop, and the ice cream is handcrafted right there in the store. It never sees the inside of a deep freezer, which is why it has such a rich taste. It also has a short shelf life, but it always disappears before that becomes an issue!
More Than Just Ice Cream Cones
There’s more to choose from at Bruster’s than just a couple scoops in a cone. Bruster’s also offers sundaes and splits, both available in either a waffle cone bowl or a regular bowl. Love banana splits? Every Thursday at Bruster’s is Banana Thursday, where customers can bring their own banana and get ½ off the price of a banana split. Other treats include blasts – soft serve with mix-ins like Oreos and Reese’s Pieces – milkshakes, freezes made with sherbet or Italian ice, and ice cream sodas and floats. Even your dog can join the fun! Bruster’s offers free “doggie sundaes” every day they are open.
Looking for something to suit a crowd? Bruster’s will hand-pack pints, quarts, and half gallons of their ice cream for you to take away, and they also offer pies and ice cream cakes. Ice cream cakes are available for pickup anytime, but they can be easily custom ordered with different flavors of cake and ice cream, as can the pies. Both are iced with Bruster’s vanilla ice cream, so there’s more than enough good feeling to go around.
Where to Find Ice Cream in Maryville
Bruster’s is located on 1400 W. Broadway in Maryville, Tennessee, and is open from 11 AM to 11 PM, 7 days a week. Next time the heat gets to be too much, you know where to go!
Smoky Mountain River Rat Tubing is a Great Way to Beat the Summer Heat
In the heat of the summer months, there’s no better way to cool off than river tubing in Townsend, at the entrance to Great Smoky Mountain National Park
The next question, though, is a little harder to answer. What are you going to do about the heat?
Give Tubing a Try!
Tubing? Yes, tubing! You might have heard of tubing, or you might not have. Either way, the team at River Rat Tubing will answer any questions you may have and get you ready to get out there and enjoy the Little River.
While you’re here, though, we can let you in on a little more info about tubing. Tubing is a great way to relax; you just get on your swimming gear, add a lifejacket if you’re a younger kid or not much of a swimmer, grab a tube, drop it in the river, lie on top, and relax as the Little River takes you around its bends and curves. It’s fun, it’s as adventurous as you’d like it to be, and it sure beats sitting inside and giving the air conditioning a workout.
You’ve Got a Choice of Routes
Everyone ages 2 and up is welcome to tube, and those 6 and up have a choice to make. River Rat Tubing has two tubing outposts: the first, for their “family float” route, is for anyone 2 or older, and includes scenic views, calmer rapids, private beaches, and even a rock jump. Cowabunga!
The second outpost, their “adventure float,” is for ages 6 and older, and includes rapids that will get your heart pumping, some refreshing swimming holes, and private cabanas at the outpost that are available to rent after you’ve finished taking on the river for the day. Pretty fancy for a river rat, don’t you think?
Not sure which route is right for you? No problem! Tubers 6 and older can take on both routes in a single day. River Rat Tubing allows you to keep tubing until it’s time for their last trip of the day, so just one ticket gets you plenty of time on the water!
The Whole Family Can Go (Even Fido!)
When people say, “whole family,” they usually mean just the people – and this can leave someone pretty special feeling left out. River Rat Tubing allows dogs to go tubing, too! Just bring your water-loving dog, get ‘em in a doggie life jacket, and set them up with you in the tube (if they’re small) or in their own tube (if they’re up to 60 pounds, because doggie toenails can pop tubes), and you’ll have the recipe for a great time, not to mention some amazing snapshots. Dogs tube for free, and tethers connecting dog tubes to “dog parent” tubes are available for rent.
Go Ahead, Make Your Summer Tubing Plans
River Rat Tubing is open from Memorial Day to Labor Day, 7 days a week, from 10 AM to 5 PM, and with shortened hours after Labor Day. If you can’t get enough of relaxing on the Little River, they’ve got you covered with the Smoky Mountain River Rat Season Pass, which includes unlimited tubing all summer long, as well as your choice of one of two river rafting adventures at their rafting outpost in Hartford, Tennessee. So make a splash – the season won’t last forever!
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