Snowballs -- Staying Cool With The Basics: Shaved Ice And Syrups That Aren't Organic Or Local!

Lemon-blood orange snowball in Clarksville

You may not realize but the rest of America doesn't let people just throw up a wood shack, fill it with artificial flavors and sell snowballs out the window.

Snowballs were new to me when I was lured up to Howard County.  I remember an old man who made Italian ice near my grandparents in New Haven, but I don't think I ever saw a stand carving ice off a block and just dumping your choice of flavors on top.

Lucky for us, you can see them all over the county.  To me, they mostly seem to offer the same treats, but each one is a great way to cool down in a hot season.  Plus, they qualify for a date, a special run with the kids, or a break while you're driving on errands.  These are the summer moments that you'll remember.

These are some stands to start you off:

Pete's Snowballs in Columbia

• Snowballs right outside Kendall Hardware in Clarksville
• The Snowball Stand on Rte 99 in Woodstock (an instituion with a Facebook page) (Update: I fixed the city name.)
• Pete's Snowballs off Oakland Mills Road in Columbia
• Williamson's Nursery on Frederick Road in Ellicott City (as reported by Wordbones)
• A stand on U.S. 1 in Elkridge near the former SuperFresh (as mentioned in 2010 comment)

In the end, a snowball is just shaved ice doused with a flavored syrup.  My local is the Snowballs in Clarksville, but that's mostly because it's right outside the hardware store where I often find myself doing weekend errands.  You can add marshmallow, sprinkles and other toppings at some locales.  But I'm pretty happy with just syrup.

On Monday, I stopped by Pete's, which is definitely a local spot worth checking out.  It's a piece of land that appears to have pre-dated the Rouses.  Oakland Mills deadends there, and you sit on a picnic bench outside the stand.  Ask if they have honey to sell.  I forgot to ask this week, but in previous years, they had honey from their own hives.

Snowballs in Clarksville

Where else are there stands?  At various times, there have been KyKy's Hawaiian Ice stands in parking lots in Elkridge and Ellicott City.  Are those back this year?  What's your favorite place?  And what's your favorite order?

Speaking of Hawaii, I'd really love to know if anyone knows where to get shave ice.  Shave ice is a variation on snowballs where the ice is shaved far thinner.  It's almost like snow.  We found it once at a festival in Baltimore, but otherwise, I have never seen it near here.  Any luck?

This is the first of three posts about staying cool in the summer.  Watch for an update on the frozen yogurt explosion and one about other ice cream options.