I haven’t written here for a long time, but I couldn’t resist penning my memories of trips to Jones Beach in the 1950s.

Excitement mounted when mom informed me and my little brother that we were going to the beach. We ran around in circles, chasing each other and laughing, til Dad yelled at us to stop. Dad wasn’t going…he hated getting sand in his shorts…and that made it all much more fun. Auntie Ann and cousin Jamie were going with us, too. That was super fun.

Mom started packing up fruits and sandwiches in a big old plastic cooler, and filling a giant red and white thermos…for some reason I remember the spigot…with Koolade and ice cubes. We searched through our summer clothes, pulling everything out of the drawers, looking for our bathing suits. Dad dug up his old khaki grren Army blanket and folded it into the trunk of the car. I packed my transistor radio.

Auntie Ann showed up in her white short shorts and red halter top, already tanned. I wanted to look like her. I didn’t have the word for it then, but when I think back, she looked sexy. She and my mom were twins, but she was the beauty and my mom was the brains…and the heart. Still, I loved looking at my aunt. Years later she told me she never left the house without makeup. She probably wore makeup to the beach.

The drive to the beach couldn’t have been long…we only had to cross Long Island and then Drive east on two parkways…but it seemed to take forever. We could hardly sit still, us three kids sliding around the back seat of the black Ford sedan and carrying on. This was before seatbelts of course. Who knows how we ever survived.

When we finally parked in the lot, we ran, barefoot, our feet burning, carrying (and repeatedly dropping) all our beach stuff. Towels and cooler and thermos and blankets. We walked under the highway and through a tunnel which cooled our feet and seemed to be designed to echo the screams of kids. We made as much noise in there as possible, running back and forth before emerging with Mom and Aunt Ann on the other end. There, flower beds of purple and red pansies greeted us, along with the vast expanse of fine, white sand and the endless ocean with its booming crashing waves. Even as a child, and still, today, that sight takes my breath away.

The sand was hot. We quickly laid our blankets out and set the coolers on the corners to keep the blanket flat. Jamie and I ran into the water to cool our feet and jump the waves. The ocean was cold and scary, but I wasn’t about to be intimidated. I tried to pick my waves but I sometimes missed and was sucked under by waves I had misjudged. Could I hold my breath long enough? I was twisted and turned by the ocean and dragged along the rocky, sandy ocean floor until the undertow pulled the sand and water away and finally released me so I could surface, dizzy and trying awkwardly to stand. But I kept going back for more, intent on defeating the Atlantic Ocean.

After enough of that fun, I located my mom and Aunt Ann on our blanket. Ann was lying on her back, sunning herself, probably listening to my radio. My brother was making sand castles. Mom was sitting up, looking anxiously in my direction. When she saw me, she got up and ran toward me with a towel and a peach. I was shivering. Jamie was laughing at me. Mom wrapped me in a towel. I took a big bite of the sweet, juicy peach. Juice dribbled down my chin. The peach tasted sweet and salty.