Sun Surf Soul Blog - Wildwood

Hello Everyone, I hope the new year finds all of you happy and healthy. I am looking forward to starting fresh with a clean slate. At Island Soul we are gearing up to start restocking the store for the summer. Being such a rainy and gloomy day it was hard to even imagine what summer feels like. So I closed my eyes and thought of all the sights, sounds and smells that I miss about being on the Seaside Heights boardwalk. But, instead of bringing me back to last summer my mind decided to drift away thinking of my childhood on the Jersey Shore. When I was a child my family and I would spend our summers at my grandparents house in Wildwood, New Jersey. Those are some of the best memories of my entire life. My very first time on the beach I was only two months old. My dad would carry me into the surf and let the waves splash up on us while my mom snapped photos. Obviously being so young I don't recall these memories but the photos have preserved those moments for me and for that I am grateful. But, in the years to follow I sure do remember a lot. We would pack ourselves into my dad's station wagon and embark on our journey "down the shore". It was the 1970's and I'm pretty sure just about everyone's dad had a station wagon. I can remember the sound of dad's tires rolling over the concrete seams on the parkway making that sound over and over again. The windows were rolled down and the warm summer breezes kept us cool since we didn't have air conditioning back then. I would stare out the windows when we drove through the Pine Barrens hoping to catch a glimpse of the legendary Jersey Devil. I even fibbed to my fifth grade classmates that I actually saw him once. That trip from New Brunswick to Wildwood seemed like forever to a little kid but reaching Exit 4B was when my excitement would start to grow. My dad would always say the same dad joke every year, Exit 4B or not 4B, that is the question. Next was passing the motel next to the ramp, then the shanty houses and the go-kart track down that long road and finally to Rio Grand Avenue. That was home to the only Wawa we had ever known at the time. Soon we would be pulling into Grandmom and Grandpops driveway. Out of the house came grandmom Sue (Assunta) and she would squeeze my cheeks and hug me so tight. Mom and dad got out and stretched from the long ride. The smell of basil and tomato plants filled the air. This was what we had been waiting for. Next it was in the house for a big, delicious Italian lunch. Grandmom would pile your plate high and say "you to a-skinny, you eat-a like-a bird. My grandparents house was a cute ranch with a 1950's feel, no air conditioning and a big velvet picture of a matador on the living room wall. The front house was a two story house with two apartments that my grandparents rented out to vacationers. In the middle of the two houses was a small courtyard with a picnic table. We liked to play out there but Grandmom would tell us to be quiet, Grandpop is nervous, whatever that meant. Every day we would have the same routine. Wake up, have breakfast and then head to the beach. We would spend the entire afternoon on our blanket under our wooden, red and white stripe beach umbrella. I would build sand castles, jump waves and collect sand crabs in my pail. After a day of fun in the sun we would head back to take showers in the outdoor shower. Grandmom definitely didn't want us kids tracking sand through the house. After we were nice and clean it was time for another large Italian meal. Before dinner Grandmom would send us around the corner to the bakery for fresh bread. I will never forget how wonderful that bakery smelled and how good that warm bread tasted dipped in homemade sauce. Grandpop would sit at the head of the table drinking cans of Yuengling beer. After every swig he would say ahhhh so being my silly self I did the same thing with my cola. Everyone had a good laugh at that. After dinner we would dress in our nicest clothes and head up to the boardwalk. For the first few years I was traveling by stroller and good thing because my little legs would never make 2.5 mile walk to the end and then back again. When the lights of the rides first came into sight I couldn't wait to get on them. The carousel, the glittered cars that go in a circle, the boats with the bells you get to ring. My father would take my brothers on the bigger rides, the Jumbo Jet, the Golden Nugget, the Wacky Shack, the Keystone Cops, the Jackrabbit rollercoaster and Dracula's Castle. It would be years until I was big enough and brave enough to try any of those rides. Mom and dad would let us play some games but never too many, we had to make our money last. One year they gave me one dollar to play a dime throwing game. To win you had to throw a dime into a circle barely bigger than the dime itself. I had ten tries to win a jumbo stuffed toy. On my ninth try I looked down at the dime in my hand and it had the year of my birth on it. Coincidentally I was nine years old at the time too. Well, I tossed my dime and sure enough it landed perfectly inside that little red dot. I chose a big, white bull as my prize and named him Lorenzo. I don't think I could contain my happiness but my poor dad wasn't so enthused. He had to carry Lorenzo those 2.5 miles back to the house. He decided to head back early so mom could put us kids on more rides. He made the best of it and cracked jokes all the way back home  His favorite was telling folks "thats a lot of bull". Each night after we got back to the house we would spend some time rocking back and forth on the glider on the porch. It was so nice to spend quiet moments just before turning in. But each day we would repeat all the fun until it was time to pack up the station wagon and start our journey home. I was always so sad to leave and have to wait another whole year before we could come back again. For years I dreamed of living at the beach and in 2005 I was blessed to be able to buy a beach house of my own in South Seaside Park. Then I was blessed again in 2011 when I moved to the beach permanently. I began working for the most iconic store in our area, B&B Department Store and then the most amazing thing happened. I stumbled upon the opportunity to open my own store on the Seaside Heights boardwalk. It has been an amazing 5 years and I cannot wait to continue to grow and hopefully be an asset to our wonderful town. See you all in the summer! Be sure to stop by and say hello. Sun. Surf. Soul!