Warming Up to the Ice Age

Like a lot of Jersey families, warm-weather sports started for us long before the “spring forward” of the clocks. We were still sipping hot chocolate when my daughter made her first shaky attempt at travel softball on Sunday nights this winter at the Jack Cust indoor sports dome in Flemington.

In those chilly months, our after-practice ritual was to head home for hearty crock-pot stew, followed by a quick bath, then bed.

Fast forward to May. The sports bubble has been deflated and moth-balled for the summer. The girl who once had trouble catching fly balls under the dome is now confidently patrolling her position under the changeable skies of spring.

Our after-game ritual has changed too. Before the final pitch of each game is thrown, my daughter will inevitably glance from her third-base position and mouth to me the two words that best describe the true meaning of spring for me: Rita’s Ice.

Like eggnog is to Christmas, Rita Ice’s is to spring. We are not alone in this springtime pilgrimage. On any given weeknight, a kaleidoscope of team colors from local baseball, softball, and soccer teams is evident at Rita’s. Friends and neighbors, many of whom we have not seen since the windows closed last fall, also head to Rita’s for the “low fat brain freeze” fix.

The line grows. The flavor choices are ever-changing. But we never alter our warm-weather mantra: Gotta go to Rita’s.

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