Gina's the Great

When the weather started warming up, Gina's Italian Ice would open and start scooping lots of delicious, fruity ice flavors.

Here's my first Gina's Italian ice of the final season in 2023--I think it was guava.

In recent years, I came to enjoy Gina's even more, especially as they created a larger variety of flavors, like mango, guava, and country lemonade, a combination of peach and lemon.  I would go there often to make my way through many of the flavors.  And I became so much of a regular that usually at least once every season, Gina or her son--I think his name is Mike--would give me an Italian ice on the house.

Gina's drew a significant fan base in the local area, and she was loved to the end.  My brother and I stood in a long line for 40 minutes on its final day of the last season, Sunday, September 24, 2023, concluding over 40 years in business.  And then they ran out of not just the Italian ice flavors, but also the ice cream they served, too.

We hadn't quite reached the Gina's location on the sidewalk along Roosevelt Road when they dished out their final scoop.  Yet I wanted to go inside and give them a note to thank them.  Inside, I noticed dregs of Italian ice on the sides of the buckets.  I asked for a spoon of dregs.  At first, Gina's son tried to convince me otherwise, saying I wouldn't be getting the true Gina's quality of product for my final experience of it.  Aware that I had already enjoyed full cups of Italian ice twice earlier that month, I insisted on getting at least a spoon on the last day.  So he relented, and one of the servers gave me two spoons with a red flavor, one for me, and one for my brother.

I am so grateful for the many wonderful memories at Gina's.  It was a nice family outing for our foursome on a warm summer day to walk about 5-10 minutes to get a sweet treat.  Relatives in my extended family enjoyed it, too.  When my Aunt Terri transitioned out of the Chicago area, she looked forward to stopping at Gina's when she came back for visits.

My Grandma Dottie enjoyed it, too.  One time, she came to visit us on Labor Day in Oak Park.  On a later day, she told my Mom that traffic was so good going back to her residence that she almost turned around and to head back to Gina's.

When our family got word that she was near the end of her life, I went to visit her, and I took some lemon-flavored Gina's Italian ice.  After waking up a few minutes following my arrival in her apartment, I gave her some of the treat.  And that was the last visit I had with her before her passing a few days later.

And then, a few days afterwards, my good college friend Matthew came to visit and I offered to take him to Gina's, remarking when I showed up at the window that I brought a friend, which I did on other occasions, too.  During a summer during my college years, Roy came to visit, and I took him there.

This past May, Heather and Zach came to visit and they took me up on my suggestion to get Gina's after we had dinner--in the photo below, by either Mom or Dad.

Yes, indeed, I have so many great memories of Gina's of enjoying good flavors and doing so in wonderful company.  I'll be delighted to carry them with me always.