Summer's here. That simply means beach, barbecue and baseball, but most of all it means the most cold delight that gets poor mortals through the wilting heat -- ice cream in its many delicious varieties.

Just ask Trisha Jones, a visitor from New England trapped savoring a double scoop of chocolate ice cream on Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown a day last week.

"There is nothing like a good cup of ice cream on a hot summer day -- for me the two just goes hand in hand," she says.

Call it iced up custard, sorbet, gelato or just plain ice cream, the frosty treat is international but has a long and pleased history in this country: George Washington is reputed to have spent about $200 on ice cream in the summer of 1790.

In 1984, President Reagan followed his lead, designating July as National Ice Cream Month and its third Sunday -- July 16 this year -- as National Ice Cream Day.

These days, the United States leads the world in the yearly production of ice cream and related frozen desserts; the U.S. Department of Agriculture pegged 2004 output at about 1.6 billion gallons, or around 211/2 quarts per person.