And Just Like That..........

I can remember growing up in NJ and living for the summer. Summers meant going to my most favorite spot in the whole wide world--the ocean!!!!! Every year during the winter we would head to Ocean Beach and select the perfect rental home to spend our beloved vacation time in. You always had to make sure the house was big enough to sleep the family/friends that inevitably came to visit. I can remember packing up the car with everything but the kitchen sink. I always got new sand toys and toy cars to play with in the sand. My days consisted of waking, getting ready for the beach, walking to the beach, playing in the ocean, returning home for lunch, returning to the beach, returning home for dinner and finally going to the boardwalk for our nightly entertainment. I should add in that another highlight of being at the beach was the ice cream man that walked around on the beach with a cooler strapped around his neck. Ahhhhh, now that was a treat!! Oh, I can still vividly remember the boardwalk at night and all the rides and treats I would partake in. You haven't had real salt water taffy until you've had it fresh made on the boardwalk. And just like that, those memories will really now only live on in my mind. When I saw this picture of the boardwalk I loved compared with the boardwalk that is there today, I cried. One storm, one tidal surge, one place of memories--gone. Just like that.