Did snowballs really begin right here in Baltimore?

Ask any BMorean, and they’ll offer something just short of a mischievous smile and say, “Of course, hon. Don’tcha know? For Chrissake. Ev’ryone knows that.”

New Orleans’ residents might disagree, but being a BMorean myself, I might be a little biased. So.

Anyway. Saturday night, we went to The Peggy, a snowball stand (in this case, “stand” just doesn’t do it, but I’ll talk about that more in a second), which is part of The Margaret Cleveland‘s second Baltimore location on the grounds known to most of us as Walther Gardens. They are caught inside the triangular communities of Lauraville, Moravia-Walther, and Waltherson.

The original stand on this property, founded in 1922, claims to be the creator of the BMore-famed Egg Custard snowball.

Again. Who am I to argue that point?

Anyway, The Margaret Cleveland’s other location is in Bolton Hill, which I’ve yet to visit. Trust me, that’s going to change real soon.

We arrived after the nursery closed, so I thought we were just going to get a snowball and call it a night. How ridiculously wrong I was.

Even before we walked up to check out their menu (nothing fake here; it’s all real ingredients), we were greeted by the most genuine smile I’ve seen all week (and I’ve seen a lot of genuine smiles in working with Baltimore City students). I’m killing myself that I didn’t get her name, but she loved what she was doing – making snowballs on a muggy summer night in Baltimore – while the sounds of jazz (I’m going to bet that snowball it was Madeleine Peyroux) played in the quiet garden grounds to our right. Apparently, we had just missed some live jazz entertainment, which I’m still pretty upset about.

I think we might have even seen one of the owners, Christopher, who was on his way out. Let me tell you, that smile? It must trickle down or along the associate line, as he was smiling – a constant beaming like some radiant sun – just as broadly.

Crazy that all of this is carved out of a block in Baltimore City loaded with stories and memories held by generations of BMoreans who have frequented the Gardens and snowball stand for two centuries.

I had to learn more about all of these smiles, so I turned to their website. And after reading what looks like the mission statement, I made the instant conclusion that Christopher and his partner Ryan are the perfect people to take this historic corner to the next level of preservation and heritage.

The Margaret Cleveland is a manifestation of life’s most important things: family, friends, passion, purpose and memories. With so many stories to tell, so many layers to unravel, we are here for the curious and inquisitive, the thoughtful and engaged.

See what I mean?

Anyway, Amy (who gets photo creds for the shot above) got a blue cotton candy (my BMore brain goes to skylight, but blue cotton candy just really works better here) with organic marshmallow (she said it was awesome, like subtly-sweet awesome), and I had the sugar-free chocolate. I concurred with Amy; mine, too, wasn’t sickly sweet like most sugar-free snowballs are, like they are trying to overcompensate for the absence of the already too sweet flavors loaded with high fructose corn syrup.

I don’t know if it was because they were served in bowls and not cups like every other place, but I savored each wooden spoonful as if it were some delicacy.

And the ambiance of the place? My goodness. The environment they’ve created in the small garden area carries you away to wherever you want to be. With the jazz music playing, the large Little Library (oxymoronic, I know, but it actually is a large Little Library) standing tall with an eclectic collection of good reads, and the flowers and candles on each of the pink patio tables, we both felt like we were exactly where we needed to be on a humid summer night in Bmore with other PeggyGoers who seemed like friends on a hot Saturday night.

And that’s why I can’t even really call it a “stand.” So I’m going with The Peggy Lane, or The Peggy Place, or The Peggy in Pink.

I know. Sorry Paul McCartney. Sorry Lana Turner. Sorry Molly Ringwald.

Maybe I’ll just call it The Peggy, A BMore Place to Cool Down, Commune, and Smile.

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The Peggy is located on the grounds of The Margaret Cleveland | Walther Gardens, 4725 Walther Ave. Open daily 1-9pm. Appointments & Information: 410.921.6618.