An ice-cream parlor is like a choose-your-own-adventure novel, only instead of the inevitable nuclear white-water dinosaur catastrophe, you get delicious ice cream topped according to your whim. Take a journey into the heart of flavor with today's Groupon: for $5, you get $10 worth of custom-crafted ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery, valid at the Sir Barton Way location.

Cold Stone Creamery's ice cream, which is made fresh in stores every day, inhabits a quantum flux between soft-serve and traditional ice cream, with a rich, creamy texture that whispers tales of its superpremium quality as it glides over taste buds. Choose your favorite ice cream from among dozens of silky flavors, such as cheesecake and sweet cream ($3.39–$3.99 for ice cream only). Each serving generously welcomes dozens of mix-in toppings as traditional as crumbled cookies and chopped nuts or as quirky as granola, black licorice, and pieces from magnetic poetry sets ($0.69 per mix-in). If you're suffering from premature brain freeze and can't come up with your own sweet concoction, try a signature sundae creation ($4.39–$4.99), such as the Birthday Cake Remix, which spins birthday-cake ice cream layered with tracks of brownies, fudge, and sprinkles. The Frankencream you desire will be scooped cold off the grill into a freshly made waffle cone or bowl ($0.69). Like the moon's fluctuating mood ring, certain ice-cream flavors and toppings vary between seasons.