Massachusetts has a long ice cream history, dating from the first Howard Johnson’s that opened in Quincy, Mass. in 1925 to Friendly’s in Springfield in 1935. With two of the second wave of legendary ice cream stores now open locally, we can enjoy the best of Boston right here on Long Island.

Way back in 1973, when Ben and Jerry were just a couple of Deadheads from Merrick, Steve Herrell had a brain-freezing brainstorm to mix Heath toffee bars and Reese’s peanut butter cups into freshly made ice cream. Friends I was crashing with then in Boston insisted-after waiting in line at No Name Seafood-that we had to join the line which wound its way around the inside of the original Steve’s Ice Cream in Somerville, for his delicious Mix-Ins. Boxes of M&M’s and Oreos were stacked on high shelves and part of the evening’s entertainment was watching the people working there fold in whatever sweet you wanted into your chosen flavor, flattened out on a marble slab right before your eyes. After his wild success, Herrell sold Steve’s, but in 1980 he returned to the action with Herrell’s. There are only six Herrell’s in existence, with five in Massachusetts and the sixth one newly opened, across from the movie theater in Huntington Village. All flavors are made fresh in the store and there’s even homemade whipped cream. Mix-Ins are now known as Smoosh-Ins, but the high quality and unusual flavors may have you opting for a plain dish with no extras. Malted Vanilla blew me away, as did the deeply flavored Coffee. Burnt Sugar and Butter reminded me of crème brûlée and Twinkies was infused with the venerable snack cake throughout; Smoosh-Ins would have been superfluous. There’s small-batch hot fudge sauce, an orange milk shake, sorbets, and much more to explore. But the chocolate flavored-whipped cream is so good it’ll have you saying, “Cold Stone who?”

In mid-1970s Boston, with nowhere to hang out after a night at rock clubs and concerts (the city’s “blue laws” closed down businesses at midnight), music lawyer Bob Rook rented out a basement, brought in ice cream-making machines and invited his musician friends to hang out and relieve their munchies. Emack & Bolio’s-named after two homeless gentlemen-became the rock ‘n’ roll ice cream store, like a kind-of Hard Serve Café, with autographed guitars and photos on the wall and homemade flavors like Deep Purple Cow and Trippin’ On Expresso. Vanilla Bean Speck has deep flavor derived from marinated Madagascar beans and an egg custard base. The original party atmosphere of this store’s founder lives on in the boozy enhancements to Chocolate Moose, which gets some of its rich taste from chocolate liqueur and Myer’s Rum Raisin, featuring rum-soaked raisins. This franchise opened three years ago at the far end of Manhasset’s business district and is set to close this winter. The new location hasn’t yet been chosen.