I spent last week in Virginia with my family. One of the places we stopped by was Virginia Beach. It was a fairly short trip from our hotel in Newport News, even though there seemed to be a ton of traffic. Luckily, it was a nice day so we didn't mind it.

Virginia Beach doesn't rank very high on our list of favorite beaches. My husband had read that there was a boardwalk and he was really looking forward to it. In his mind, a boardwalk means shops and arcades and fun things to do. In Virginia Beach, a boardwalk means an area not covered in sand for you to walk with a few benches for old men to smoke their montecristo cigars. The shops were a block away from the beach and, while we did manage to find one arcade, there wasn't a lot to do.

We ended up only staying for about 3 hours. That included trying to find a decent parking spot that didn't cost an arm and a leg (I believe we paid $15 for 'all day' parking), eating lunch, and playing in the arcade. We did stop in a few shops but they were typical beach stores. Virginia Beach was a nice town (with an anti-bad behavior policy) but I would rather go to Ocean City, MD instead.

Heading back into time management games after a short break from the genre, Ice Cream Mania caught my eye. After all, I like ice cream so it can't be that bad, right? And, to tell the truth, it's not. You play Cindy, one of the heirs to an ice cream mogul. Cindy is competing with her sisters to win her deceased father's fortune. The gameplay is fairly easy. Make a scoop of ice cream in your machine, put it on a cone (or in a bowl, whichever the customer prefers) and top it off with some flavored cream-type stuff. As the levels get harder, you'll gain the ability to add things on top, such as orange slices or gingerbread men. The customer will also be able to order two scoop sundaes as well.

For the most part, the game is easy. It gets a little more difficult when you get to the two scoop levels but that is mostly because it can be daunting keeping track of which order the scoops go in. Otherwise, the game is fun. I found myself buying new toppings instead of upgrades to my ice cream machines, which may have hindered my progress a little. Considering I made it to the second store before my trial ran out, I didn't notice any hindrance if it existed. Since your character doesn't move around any, the graphics can get a little boring. It's basically just a row of customers sliding into place in front of you with either a daytime or nighttime beach background. So it wouldn't be a game that you could play for hours on end. But it's a nice time distraction for a half hour or so at a time.