Halcyon Summers

Even in April, I still want to be at the beach. You can imagine I was pretty excited to have my sister offer her Wildwood condo to my wife and I for a long weekend. This was to be my first real time in Wildwood in about 20 years. For a few summers in my youth, I had only one weekend ‘down the shore’, and it was always Wildwood. My sisters and their friends rented a converted garage for a few halcyon summers in the 80s. I was anxious to revisit many of the places that started my lifelong infatuation with the beach. As a kid, the trip from the Northeast Philly suburbs seemed eternal. Of course, that was because we always went on a summer Friday night. Once you got on the Garden State Parkway, it seemed like every car in front of you was going to Wildwood. I was quite happy, when our GPS got us there in two hours. Gotta love no traffic.

Over the years, I’ve really come to like getting to the shore off-season. It’s almost like you have the whole town to yourself. Arriving onto Pacific Avenue, signs of life were scarce. The traffic lights happily flashed yellow as we drove through. We arrived at the condo, threw our things in, and set off exploring. The full moon ahead of us, the ocean wind whipped down the motel lined street into our faces. A bit chillier than we would like, but, hey, we’re at the shore! As we walked to the beach, it was pretty apparent that we were basically alone. The wind would make a noise here or there. It wasn’t hard to see by the lack of parked cars or houses with lights on, we were the only souls about. It was oddly serene.

We got to the beach, the moon a few degrees above eye level. It was windy and cold, but worth it for a few minutes. We decided to take a walk to check out the area. We started walking north, paralleling the beach. The dunes and hotels were enough to keep most of the wind down. We walked by lots of empty motels. We walked by many darkened houses, both new and old. I prefer the old beach houses, the ones that scream “beach”. They have far more weathered character. Don’t get me wrong, I would get either one if the possibility ever came along. It was getting late, so we headed back, anxious to get to tomorrow.

Tomorrow came the best way it should while on vacation; with a plateful of greasy breakfast. The sun was out, not a cloud in the sky, and actually kind of warm for April. Time to hit the boards. We parked at the south end, and slowly meandered our way up north. There was much more activity on the boards. Bikers, runners, and the locals added life to the boardwalk. We leisurely made our way up; me pausing to get some good beach pictures.

To our right, work was feverishly being done on all the amusement piers. On Easter, they open, so the Boardwalk was full of work trucks and workers doing whatever it takes to get ready. We walked up to the northern end of the Boardwalk, and hit the beach. The temperature was about 60 degrees, with a fair breeze from the ocean, but still warm enough to feel the sun on your face. At a distance around us were families and kids playing. The ocean just did its job; wave after wave reflecting a million tiny suns.

We walked back to the car. I guess we had sweated out the breakfast grease, because I was hungry again. And I wanted to take a trip back in the past. I wanted to go back to see the ‘house’; the place where I spent those brief, formative weekends. To me, this was the most important part of the trip. We drove and parked at the bottom of the street. As we approached, my mind was full of questions. Is it still standing? What will it look like? Has it even changed? We walked up and the first thing I noticed was the driveway had been redone. Pavers replaced the half dead grass and 2 concrete strips that used to lead to the garage-turned-house. My eyes followed the pavers up to the ‘house’. Yes, it still stands! Part of my childhood still exists! Except...except..it looks...nicer. Hmm, this is a surprise.

I don’t see the rundown garage I recalled. Sure, the screened in porch is still there. Beyond that door is the kitchen. One small step up to the right was the astro-turfed living room. Behind that was a small bedroom with a bunk bed and a Murphy bed. Next to that, another small room that barely held its double bed. The garage ‘comfortably’ slept six, but there were often more than six crammed into that small space, with no air conditioning. The bathroom consisted of a small stall shower and sink beneath a 1940’s mirror complete with pin up girl artwork. So what kept a bunch of kids coming down to this house weekend after weekend? Simple, it was a place for good times with good friends in the middle of Wildwood.

The outside had changed; new siding and windows. The pavers now occupy what used to be a small patch of grass for our few ratty beach chairs and hammock. Now it’s all done over. I try to look into the kitchen window to get a glimpse of what the inside may look like. Somewhere in there, almost 20 years ago, I was having the time of my life.

With a little piece of my youth now rearranged, it was time to reclaim another piece. I retraced the steps we took every Friday night. Down on the corner was a phone booth. From there, we would call our parents, and hang up after the phone rang twice. That was the sign we got in okay. From there we went to the nearby pizza place. While waiting for our order, I would blow a few quarters on whatever arcade games they had. Today, we walk in, and, wow, has this place changed. No more loose chairs paired with loose tables. No more uneven floor. Centipede and Mario Bros. replaced by Golden Tee and pinball. Time has certainly marched on, but the food’s still good though. We go back for the requisite vacation nap, eat at Dogtooth, and talk about our plans for the next day.

Well, whaddya know, we woke up to blue skies and sun. We traipsed off to another breakfast. We ate a healthy diet of brownie and chocolate chip pancakes and decided to walk them off on the boards. It’s now Friday, and there are more people on the boards, and a few stores open. And by open, I mean literally opening their store for the first time all year. Nice selection of Senior Week 08 shirts and hoodies still available.

This time we decided to walk further north, past the boardwalk, to the trail for walkers and bikers. We followed the trail to see people walking their dogs. We walked up to the northern tip, where we saw more dogs, frolicking. This appears to be the perfect place to bring our Lab for his first ever trip to the beach. The weather is far nicer than it should be. We have to leave tomorrow, so we stay out in the ocean air for as long as we can. Saturday greets us in all its’ rainy gray. That walk to the car with all your things is never easy, especially in the rain. But it’s perfect weather to go home to; I hate going home when it’s nice. That’s just another tease. We head home, anxious to get back to our dog Bauer. Anxious to share Wildwood with him, very soon.