Much Ado About Nothing: The call of sand, sun, and salt water

This morning on my bike ride I smelled the distinct scent of suntan oil mixed with heat. I don't know how else to describe it, but that smell immediately brought back memories of all the summers I spent at the beach. Growing up only two hours away from the New Jersey and Delaware shores and having beach loving parents, I was able to go to the beach frequently.

We'd spend two weeks every summer at a beach house on Long Beach Island, Beach Haven, New Jersey. Our house was only one house away from the beach. I remember spending days on the beach playing, going with my mom to the fish market for crabs for dinner (no, I never ate them), and hitting the amusement park at night for rides and token prizes. A few times my sister and I even dared to go crabbing at the bay, though we were never successful. I remember being pulled out by the undertow a few times and at least one shark sighting a summer. But I loved it all.

Almost every summer we'd also go to Stone Harbor, New Jersey with my dad and step-mother. I remember spraying lemon juice in my hair with my step-brother before we hit the sand to get that blonde beachy look. We'd rent bikes every year to ride along the island, hit the famous Springer's Ice Cream Parlor, and peruse all the fun shops that lined the quaint main street. We'd drive down to Cape May to eat at the fancy lobster house and climb the light house, which usually had me and my step-mother inching along the interior wall of the look-out. We were not a fan of heights!

As a young child, we'd hit Rehobeth Beach, Delaware every summer and rent a cute little white cottage. We'd go to the beach daily and at night go to the boardwalk for salt water taffy, funnel cake, and rides at the boardwalk amusement park. Throughout the years growing up, I'd get the chance to go back once in a while and visit Rehobeth. All the big old Victorian beach houses and the smooth beach that seemed to extend forever.

Needless to say, I love the beach! Since being land locked as long as I have been married, staying at the beach for a few days has yet to happen. I hope some day I can take my kids on beach vacations like we once did when I was younger. Until then, the smell of suntan lotion, salt water, and sand will always call to me each summer, reminding me of the beach and sweet memories.