Museum of Ice Cream: The Pint Shop
We missed the original Museum of Ice Cream installation when it first toured NYC but, lucky for all of us, there’s now the newly opened Pint Shop, a miniature version of the now iconic pioneer of experiential fun exhibits. At The Pint Shop there’s still plenty of Instagram-worthy ops, a (color blocked) over-the-top gift shop with items like sprinkle crowns and plush piñatas, or as they call it, “an interactive grocery shopping destination. Because you can sample and buy their new ice cream pints, exclusive to Target, that debut July 8th. Flavors like Sprinkle Pool, Nana Banana, Vanillionaire (Lilly’s favorite) and, of course, Piñata.
There’s also The Tasting Room, a reservation-only experience with an in-depth look at what makes up ice cream and how to properly taste it along with sampling all seven flavors. You don pink lab coats, sit in a private room with beakers and an ice cream expert leads you through an “immersive experience”. It’s $33 per person an reservations book out so plan ahead. They strongly discourage kids under 8. We were, surprise surprise, late to the game anyway and they day we spontaneously went, it was sold out anyway, which was just as well because I’m not sure Lilly would’ve had the patience to sit through the 30-minute “lesson” and was able to sample the flavors without the VIP experience and run around the gift shop, play in the installations, which is all she really wanted to do. I could just see us, having made a reservation, paid, waited for our seating, gotten in there and she would’ve refused to wear the coat, sit still, asking me every few minutes when it was over, complaining that she didn’t want to “waft”… I think we’ll be much better served to return when she’s six- or sixteen. It would make for a fun (older) girls outing though!
What else does one wear to a MOIC and Target collaboration than a scratch and sniff banana shirt? This is technically billed as a boys shirt but we don’t abide by that stuff and think it looks just as cute on little ladies (here’s the “girls” version though- just as cute)! Her pants are no longer available but there are similar styles here and here. And, of course, in true Lilly fashion (pun intended), she begged me for the headband and then refuses to keep it on longer than thirty seconds. Every. Time.
Don’t tell her germaphobe dad that she laid in a pint of cherries that plenty of others did too!
The exhibit lasts through August so book your experience now!