Cooling off with a New Orleans snowball

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

NEW ORLEANS (Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009, 10:30 p.m.) – The line snaked through the small store, out the double doors and around the corner from Tchoupitoulas Street in Uptown New Orleans, with some folks waiting 30 minutes or longer – all for a snowball.

Well, let me rephrase that: A snowball from Hansen's Sno-Bliz, probably the best snowball stand in metro New Orleans. This isn't just shaved ice. This is a snowball made with fine ice the texture of powdery snow, perfect for use with Hansen's homemade syrups.

I remember visiting Hansen's as a child when my family lived a few blocks away on Jena Street, just off Magazine Street and Napoleon Avenue. My mother used to take me and my sister for a snowball during New Orleans' often cruel, stiflingly hot summers.

On Sunday, I did the same thing for my two children. With my mother joining me on the trip – Pam wasn't feeling very well and stayed home in Pearl River – I packed Camryn and Matthew into my car and trekked across the lake to New Orleans.

Our original plan was to visit the Audubon Zoological Gardens. But after getting off to a late start (we left home about 1:30 p.m.) and seeing the vast crowds at the zoo, we decided to wait until later in the year despite incredibly nice weather for August (temps in the mid-80s and humidity at 50 percent.

So we drove through Uptown, stopped at Hansen's and bought a snowball. I had Cream of Nectar, my mother had Cream of Chocolate and Camryn had Cream of Strawberry. They were very good. Camryn made it through half of hers, letting Matthew take the rest. Matthew also ate most of mine.

After the Hansen's visit, we headed down to the French Quarter and the Flea Market. After finding a parking spot for $5, we unpacked the two strollers, transferred the children from the car to the strollers and then spent a couple of hours walking through the Quarter.

All in all – a nice Sunday.

Copyright 2009 by Terry R. Cassreino. All rights reserved.