If you like ice cream, then you want to be a Hillionaire, which is when you eat ice cream at all nine Ample Hills ice cream shops in New York and New Jersey in a single summer.
Jenna and I really like ice cream, so we wanted to earn the titles of Hillionaires Extraordinaire, which is when you visit all nine ice cream shops in a single day. The feat is a logistical puzzle. In 12 hours, you must eat an ice cream at nine unique parlors spread over about 50 miles.
We accomplished this by foot, bicycle, and ferry. The prize: a sticker, pin, $5 gift card, cookbook, tote bag, frisbee, water bottle, free scoop of ice cream… and eternal glory.
10am: Our Tour de Hills began in Brooklyn Bridge Park on a humid Saturday morning in mid-August. We ran there from Park Slope with Orbit. Distance covered: 2.5 miles.
11am: Our tour continued continued through Brooklyn to Dekalb Market Hall. Distance covered: 4 miles.
1pm: Our next stop was Ample Hills’ beachside location at Jacob Riis Park in Far Rockaway, a 15-mile bike ride. Total distance covered: 5 miles on foot, 15 miles on bike.
From there we took ferries back to Manhattan and up the East River to Queens, arriving to our fourth stop by 3pm, in Astoria. Total distance covered: 5 miles on foot, 15 miles on bike, 25 miles on ferry.
From Queens we biked another 25 miles, including over three major bridges — the RFK to Randalls Island, the Triboro to Manhattan, and the George Washington to New Jersey — to get to the fifth location, in Jersey City. Total distance covered: 5 miles on foot, 40 miles on bike, 25 miles on ferry.
6pm: From Jersey City, with the daylight waning, we raced to catch the 6:45pm ferry across the Hudson River to midtown Manhattan, arriving to Ample Hills at Gotham West Market at 7pm. Total distance covered: 5 miles on foot, 42 miles on bike, 30 miles on ferry.
8pm: We sped down the West Side to Ample Hills at Bubby’s in the West Village. Total distance covered: 5 miles on foot, 45 miles on bike, 30 miles on ferry.
9pm: We pedaled across Manhattan and over the Manhattan Bridge back to our home borough of Brooklyn. I was at Ample Hills in Prospect Heights just before 9pm. Total distance covered: 5 miles on foot, 55 miles on bike, 30 miles on ferry.
10pm: Finally, after stopping back home to retrieve Orbit, we reached ice cream shop number 9, in Gowanus, a few blocks from our apartment. Orbit even got his own bowl of celebratory soft serve. Grand total distance: 10 miles on foot, 55 miles on bike, 30 miles on ferry.
For proof of our feat, you can find our photo alongside the select few who also became Hillionaire Extraordinaires this summer.
