Even when I venture out of New Orleans, I am always on the lookout for snowball stands. I just…read morehappened to be in Bay St. Louis Mississippi today and was meeting my in laws at a local casino RV park, as it was their inaugural trip in their new ride.
As I turned off Hwy 90 onto Bluemeadow Rd., a "snowball" sign caught my eye, and I made an immediate mental note to stop there on the way home. Well, time passed, as time does, and it was now time to sample a Mississippi Gulf Coast snowball.
The stand is painted in bright pink and aqua colors, so it definitely stands out on the side of the road. As I walked up the stairs to the service counter, I saw a small sign hanging on the "porch" that stated "BUCKTOWN". I thought to myself that this was an interesting sign for a snowball stand in Bay St. Louis. Anyway, I was greeted by a friendly man at the window who introduced himself as the owner, Paule. Paule even installed a small set of kiddie stairs on the porch so that the kids can see over the counter and watch him make their snowballs.
I told him that I had Yelped snowballs in the Bay St. Louis area, but my search results did not reveal anything. I asked if he wouldn't mind if I took a few pictures so I could post them on Yelp. "What's Yelp", he stated. I told him all about Yelp and how that back in New Orleans, I had actually done 12 reviews on snowball stands, as my wife loved snowballs. Paule told me that he was originally from Bucktown (hence the sign) and had lived in New Orleans (Lakeview) until he moved and opened up Paule's snoballs and snow shakes in 1993.
I ordered a dreamsicle as it was one of my favorites. The texture of the ice was a little coarse but not so much as to call it a shaved ice. And even though I am a fan of velvety smooth ice, this texture actually worked for me, as it melted pretty quickly once you started to eat it. The dreamsicle syrup was tasty, without being too thick or "syrupy"; and it left no lingering aftertaste. It was just cool and refreshing.
As I sampled my dreamsicle and gathered some basic info for my Yelp review, Paul
advised me that the "specialty of the house" was his snow shakes. He advised me that it was a blended snowball (yeah, in a blender) with the addition of evaporated milk, and perhaps a secret ingredient that I was not aware of. Since snow shakes was his specialty, I got a dreamsicle snow shake so I could compare it to the dreamsicle snowball. Well, there is no comparison, as snow shakes rule. The snow shake is served in a shake/malt type cup with a lid and a straw, as no spoon is needed. I took a huge sip, and was immediately rewarded with a smooth, creamy styled snowball/milk shake hybrid that was delicious. You get the initial taste of the dreamsicle, followed by the creamy taste and texture of the evaporated milk and with just a small amount if shaved ice texture such as you'd get in a smoothie. What a great concept. The best thing about the snow shakes is you can get right back in your car without having to worry about spilling any since you do not need to use a spoon.
This place is a great hidden gem just off of Hwy 90. I'm glad that Yelpers in the area will now have a link to a great snowball stand.
