Ice cream crawl to hit city streets throughout summer

By James Tubb on July 20, 2024.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Picture of an ice cream sample in front of one of the Sunshine Trolleys.

Anna Smith

Saturday afternoon at 2 pm, the Sunshine Trolleys will take off down Medicine Hat streets, hoping to help its passengers beat the heat and take a closer look at some of the local and seasonal gems.

The Ice Cream Crawl is a relatively new offering from Medicine Hat Tourism, said Jalyce Thompson, but one that’s already seen great success and demand in it’s one earlier outing this year.

“With kids out of school, people have more free time; they’re looking for things to do. I think they’re looking for things to do, and this is a very easy event to attend, especially when you do have a family or you’re planning for visiting friends and family,” said Thompson. “It’s something that you can buy tickets to and the whole thing is planned for you and the transportation is covered.”

Those who have purchased tickets will board the Trolley, and go on one of two tours. One will visit Swirls, Moose and Squirrel Bistro and Camp Ice Cream, where the other will stop by Annegret’s Chocolates, RJ’s Convenience Store and Windmill Garden Centre, sampling some of their Albertamade ice cream at each stop.

At the end of both tours, said Thompson, attendees will get to take home an extra treat from Cream Cult.

“We broke it up into two because we have so many local ice cream shops that feature Alberta made ice cream that we were like, We need to give them their own moment to shine,” said Thompson.

Mo Cranker, who will be driving the trolley, said that the previous tour was well received and that they look forward to hosting not just today’s opportunity, for which there are still a few tickets left online at the time of writing, but on future outings on Aug. 7 and Aug 17.

He suspects that the heat certainly hasn’t hurt the demand for the refreshing outing, which Thompson adds may be a small silver lining to the continued high temperatures, as “ice cream just tastes better when it’s hot out.”

Those interested are advised that it can be very warm inside the trolley, said Cranker.

“Please dress for the temperature. We have bottled water on the trolley that’s cold, but bring your own water, as well,” said Cranker. “Between stops, it can be very warm. Looking at the forecast, it’s going to be 34 in the afternoon.”

It is also advised that the tour does take roughly two hours to complete. Medicine Hat Tourism hopes that this inspires families to visit these venues for Alberta-made ice cream, some of which even Medicine Hat-made, and everything else the city has to offer.