Ever since I can remember as a little girl, at least once a summer we went to the Jersey Shore. I developed an affinity for the beach around the age of 3, wearing my Strawberry Shortcake swimsuit, with blonde curls. 31 years later, I’m covered with freckles, and my hair is reddish brown. I can still lay in the sun for hours, but my skin doesn’t let me. My children with their “Cosmopolitan” complexions as they like to call it get a lovely shade of golden brown, and their kinky hair gets a blondish tinge to it. They have inherited the beach girl gene, requesting bikinis at age 3 and 5 so it is easier to go potty faster and not miss anything fun at the beach. I started out camping when I was very young with my mom and dad. We would drive over a rickity wood bridge and smell the horrible smell of stagnant salt water and know we were there. When my brother came along, we would stay in Wildwood at Quebec Hotel where my dad (in his much younger years) would do backflips into the rooftop pool. Breakfast was always pancakes at Uncle Louies. We would wake up with the sun and comb the beach for shells. My dad always found cool shells, conch shells, sand dollars, and starfish. He also wasn’t afraid to go out in the water. He would pick up horseshoe crabs so we could watch them curl up and then he’d throw them back in. We would always ride bikes for 4 on the boardwalk. And part of our tradition was always mini golf. As we got older, we would travel by plane, to Disney World, California, Grand Canyon. Every summer, around our birthdays and father’s day we would still weekend at Jersey Shore, walking the same boardwalk, with the menancing “watch the tramcar please” and seeing the same arcades. We began staying in Wildwood Crest which was more quiet and family oriented. My family bought a second home in Ocean City Maryland which came with a pool. We began going to Assateague Island and loved how undeveloped it is and the peacefulness.

I ventured back to Wildwood Crest last summer on my own with the little girls. We stayed at Aqua Beach Resort and we were treated like royalty. Everything was very affordable. We had a stove and microwave and I packed meals and snacks. We went our for ice cream and played mini golf. There was also a playground nearby. We are planning a trip back to Wildwood Crest this year and I can hardly wait to see how my beach bums are this year.