I was driving around Pittsfield yesterday and even though it has not been summer hot there were masses of kids at the local ice cream places. Most people's ice cream preferences are pretty boring but I guess they're not AS boring as they could be.  Because a new survey found the most popular ice cream flavors in the country, and vanilla only finished fourth.

Here are the nine most popular flavors of ice cream right now.

1.  Mint chocolate chip, people say it's their favorite flavor.
2.  Chocolate. Here’s a little known chocolatey morsel of info—chocolate ice cream was actually invented before vanilla. that's right—the earliest ice cream flavors were modeled after drinks so chocolate naturally came before vanilla because hot chocolate was very popular in 17th century Europe.
3.  Cookies and cream.
4.  Vanilla.
5.  Butter Pecan.
6.  Rocky road.
7.  Strawberry.
8.  Chocolate chip.
9.  Neapolitan.

Did your favorite flavor make the list?

Some ways to celebrate national chocolate ice cream day

Visit an old-fashioned ice cream parlor
Head on over to your local ice cream parlor and order a milkshake or sundae. Whatever chocolate flavor you desire, a day at a classic parlor will be a sweet time when you're transported 60 years into the past.

Go crazy, Load up on toppings
The best way to make your ice cream double the chocolatey goodness is to cover it in chunks of your favorite chocolate candy bar or douse it in a fudgy chocolate sauce. Double the chocolate, double the fun.

Have an adult dessert-themed cocktail
After a long day at work, nothing is better than a drink or a bowl of ice cream to take the edge off a stressful day.  A boozy chocolate cocktail will leave both drinkers and chocolate lovers satisfied—nothing beats a chocolate buzz.

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