Water Ice Addiction

So, I am not a life-long Philadelphian and am still getting used to all the Philly traditions. (We moved here almost a year ago.)

One part of Philly culture that I am finally embracing is the food. Everyone knows Philly is famous for the cheese steaks (which I actually am yet to experience really), but there are other foods that are especially loved here in Philly.

There are the pretzels. Not the small, crunchy ones. The big, soft, freshly baked ones. I mean, they don't just have the occasional soft pretzel at the theatre counter or the lone pretzel stand in the mall.

They have pretzel shops on main streets, almost entirely devoted to pretzels. Regular pretzels. Cinnamon and sugar pretzels. Chocolate pretzels. Pretzel dogs (which I highly recommend.) Pretzel breakfast sandwiches. Even pretzel pizza! (Not so good, though.)

And you can even take the kids to watch the pretzel maker effortlessly twirling and twisting the dough at an amazing speed as the next stripe of dough comes racing down the belt.

So, I always got the pretzel thing. I've always liked soft pretzels.

But one Philly food that I did not understand is water ice. I had never heard this term "water ice" before moving here. I still think it's a dumb name. Water ice. That sounds like water with ice to me. Ice water. Big deal.

So, in case you are as clueless about this as I was, water ice is actually flavored, colored, crushed ice. It's like what I would have called "Italian ice" or "shaved ice." Kind of like an Icee or Slushie too, but not thin enough to drink. You eat it with a spoon.

"Water ice" doesn't make much sense to me. Yes, it's ice, but not water really. It's really flavored ice.

So, anyway, besides it having a dumb name, I just never found something like water ice to be exciting. It's not very filling. It's not all that tasty. So, it's cold, colored, crushed ice. So what? A waste of my time. If I'm hot and I'm hungry, I can get ice cream. I'm more of a chocolate person than a fruit flavored one anyway.

So, I didn't often eat this "water ice" that so many Philadelphians partake in all summer long. Until someone mentioned the water ice at the pretzel place. They talked about it as if it was a miracle. I didn't even know the pretzel place had anything but pretzels.

So, okay. I'll try anything once. Any excuse to eat. I think my first was watermelon flavored.

OH MY GOD. Unbelievable. Like eating a fresh watermelon with a spoon. And the consistency! Heaven. Not too thick. Not too thin. Smooth as butta! No crunch at all. Just smooth, cold, and lovely.

And then began my obsession. Lemon was next. Amazing. Tart and wonderful. Seriously, these flavors are like jelly belly jelly beans. I don't know how they get so much flavor stuffed into ice!

And next I met my true love: Mango. I don't even like mangoes that much. But, this mango water ice. OH MY GOD. Pure genius.

So, now, I don't care what they call it. Water ice, fine. I just want it. Day and night. Sunny or storming. I am OBSESSED. I spend literally every day trying to think of excuses to drive past the pretzel place. I will drag my poor sleepy children out of the car just to go in and get my water ice.

And what in the world am I going to do when summer is over??? Because I'm pretty sure these places shut down during the cold months. How will I survive?? More reason to eat as much as possible now.

So, now I get it. I get the whole water ice thing. I am becoming more and more a Philly lover every day because of little things like this. Okay, now I have to figure out how to get some water ice, because all this writing about it is making me want it!