Ah summers in Maryland… the humidity, the snowballs, the crab feasts, the Orioles and of course, ice cream. In my family, the first day of summer is usually marked by going out to get ice cream. Just the four of us, the lightning bugs and our favorite form of dairy products.

Maryland actually has a rich ice cream past, deeper than just my family traditions. It was during a dinner party in Maryland in 1744, hosted by Maryland Governor William Bladen, that ice cream was first served in the "new world." Maryland's involvement in ice cream didn't melt from there though. A decade before the civil war, Jacob Fussell, a Harford County, Maryland native, converted his Baltimore milk plant to the first large-scale ice cream factory in the United States; the reason why Ben and Jerry's is able to be in your freezer right now.

Now., I'm extremely grateful that I'm privileged to be no more than 15 minutes from my grocery store's ice cream at any time, but there’s something about a local hand dipped ice cream cone that you can't get from the frozen food aisle. Trying to finish your ice cream before it drips down your cone and your hand while sitting outside just screams summer. The folks at Maryland’s Best Agriculture seem to appreciate it too. Nine dairy farms in Maryland that offer incredible on-farm ice cream have come together to make a trail that is the stuff of dreams: The Maryland Ice Cream Trail!

Yes! Now you can support Maryland Agriculture and your sweet tooth by visiting these farms:

1. Prigel Family Creamery

Located in Glen Arm in Baltimore County, this is the only farm of the nine that I've been to. And holy moly, it's so good. Chocolate cherry is my favorite here! The also creamery plays hosts to events like live music, art galleries and picnics over the summer.

2. Kilby Cream

The Kilby's have been dairy farmers for more than a century. They began farming in Rising Sun, Cecil County in 1961 and served ice cream at the farm for 11 years. The farm boasts that its ice cream goes "from cow to cone in two days." That's fresh. Kilby Cream also has the Moo Mobile that brings the ice cream to events and festivals.

3. South Mountain Creamery

South Mountain Creamery, in Middletown, Frederick County, is Maryland's first on-site dairy processing plant. The creamery offers home delivery of their products and guided tours of their land, and lets their guests feed their calves or watch the cows being milked. Karen's Kountry Store sells the ice cream and is open seven days a week.

4. Rocky Point Creamery

This farm in Tuscarora (Frederick County) offers hand dipped freshly made ice cream, soft serve, brownie sundaes, milkshakes, ice cream sandwiches...the list goes on. Rocky Point is located in beautiful Maryland farm country along the Potomac River.

5. Broom's Bloom Dairy

Broom's Bloom Dairy is found in Bel Air (Harford County) and offers more than 100 flavors of ice cream, artisan cheese and sausage, seasonal veggies and homemade lunches. Wondering about the name? The "Broom" comes from the colonial land grant the area was a part of and with the original owner of the land, John Broom. The "Bloom" comes from the crops that flourish and bloom on the land.

6. Keyes Creamery

Keyes Creamery uses their own grass-fed cows to make cheeses and ice cream in Aberdeen. Farmer David Keyes jokes that the fun starts at 3:30am everyday when he wakes up to milk the cows. Personally I think the fun starts once I can eat one of their 40+ ice cream flavors, but hey- to each their own.

7. Woodbourne Creamery at Rock Hill Orchard

John and Mary Fendrick have owned the Creamery in Mt. Airy (Montgomery County) since 2010. Since then, Mary has earned a cheese making certificate from the University of Vermont's Institute of Artisanal Cheese making and attended "Ice Cream College" at Penn State. The dairy and creamery were built in 2012 as the first all new dairy in MoCo in almost sixty years and the first all-pasture robotic milking dairy in North America (Impressive!). The creamery concocts their ice cream in small batches made from the milk from their own grass-fed cows, right on the farm!

8. Misty Meadows Farm Creamery

Smithsburg in Washington County is the home of Misty Meadows Farm Creamery. The farm is home to almost 40 different flavors of homemade ice cream (including gluten free, peanut and tree nut free flavors), miniature horses, sheep, cows, hayrides, pedal tractors, a corn maze and a pumpkin patch. There's something for everyone!

9. Chesapeake Bay Farms, Inc.

Last but certainly not the least, are the two Chesapeake Bay Farms, located in Pocomoke and Berlin (right outside of Ocean City) in Worcester County. They're the Eastern shore's only cow-to-cone, on-farm dairy stores! You can stop in the store and get ice cream in a cup, cone or packaged to take home (Put those coolers from the beach to work!). Chesapeake Bay Farms also offers freshly made cheese, butter, eggs, pork, beef, jams, local honey and desserts made from scratch.

If you visit all nine farms, make sure you bring along your Ice Cream Trail Passport! If you complete the passport before September 26, 2016 you will be named an Ice Cream Trail Blazer! (Imagine how that will look on a resume!)

Here is a map with the locations of the farms! Happy Trail Blazing!