Long Beach Island, NJ
My
parents owned a house on Long Beach Island from 1974 to 2005. We rented for two
summers prior to 1974. Then, one winter day,
my dad announced that he bought a house on the island (11 Beck Avenue). We lived there for five years and then we
moved down the street to the bay on Pennsylvania Avenue. We lived there until my Dad died in
2005. This home was my parents’ second
home so they only used it on weekend during the summer.
When
I was in college, I lived there and worked there for the summer. As an adult, I came to the beach as much as I
could. In the summer, I came most
weekends. In the winter, I always liked to come down for one weekend to this
deserted island. That house was a great escape and I was sorry to give it up.
I
have lots of great memories of this island:
- Ø “Princess Diane Died”- My mother woke me with this sad news- 1987
- Ø 18 Miles Long- that’s how long the island is. It’s narrow. My street was the narrowest street on the island. There are only six houses between the bay and the beach. During Hurricane sandy, the bay and the beach met before the hurricane even hit the island.
- Ø Acme Bar- Nickel beer nights. You had to order 20 beers at a time and the beers were sold in small juice glasses. Everyone had a pile of beer glasses in front of them.
- Ø Barnegat Light House- a lighthouse that once guided fishermen in to safety but now it is just a tourist attraction.
- Ø Bay Avenue- the main road that ran the entire 18 miles of the island.
- Ø Bay Village- the Mooring. Silver Sun, Fudge Shop, Crust and Crumb, Cotton Club, Sea Breeze
- Ø Bayview Inn- my uncle owned this place for a few summers but then he unloaded it as quickly as he could. The legal drinking age at the time was 18. Beer was cheap and hundreds of kids showed up each night to get drunk for cheap. The first floor was one big bar and the second floor had a few rooms for rent. At least one kid fell in to the bay any time I went to this place. Then a few more kids would go in to try to retrieve him. No one ever drown but that was because of sheer luck only.
- Ø Beach- our beach is narrow and unpopulated. Even in August, the beach isn’t crowded which makes it a nice place to relax.
- Ø Black Whale- an old schooner that took us out for sunset cruises in the bay.
- Ø Buckalew’s- this was a dive bar but one year, they fixed it up and I never liked going there again. It is too nice.
- Ø Cedar shingles on the house- the old house have the cedar shingles that start out as a dark brown but after a few summers, become silver in color.
- Ø Coral Seas Hotel- my uncle’s hotel; we had brunch there as an extended family on most Sundays.
- Ø Cousins- all of my Kelly cousins came to Long Beach Island for the summer.
- Ø Crust and Crumb Bakery- I worked there for a summer. I think we sold one million Elephant Ears. Those of us who worked there liked to call it the Crust and Crud.
- Ø Deep Sea Fishing- don’t try it. it will make you very sick.
- Ø Elephant Ears- a flaky French pastry with brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. I said this 100 times a day when I worked at the bakery.
- Ø French Fried Lobster at Howard’s Restaurant- I worked here for a summer and the seafood was excellent. It was a take-out place. One night, someone called in fro ten dinners and never came to pick them up. I got to take all of them home to my family. I was very popular that night.
- Ø Getting caught in a rip tide- three life guards had to pull me out. I was afraid.
- Ø Hartman’s Amusement Park- I worked here fro six long weeks. I was never given a day off and I think I held the employee longevity award for the summer. The owners were sexism, offensive and low class. I was 18 so I didn’t think I had any other option but to put up with their bullshit.
- Ø Hitch hiking- Everyone hitch-hiked when I was in college. It was really safe. The first time I hitched by myself, I got picked up by a guy who knew my dad in eh Navy. They hadn’t seen each other in 20 years. So he stopped by the house and became reacquainted with my dad. When my dad asked how Harry found him, he replied, “Oh yea, I picked up your daughter.” I don’t think my dad understood what Harry meant by that explanation.
- Ø Holiday Snack Bar- I ordered the same thing for 30 years: a pizza sandwich, No Name Pie and a milkshake.
- Ø Hudson House- a dive bar in the middle of a neighborhood. Beer was cheap. But the police always hassled us to be quiet when we left early in the morning. We got on the neighbors’ nerves.
- Ø Island Run- Each fall, the main road gets blocked off and hundreds of people run the entire 18 miles of the island. Those of us in car have to travel through the back roads to get around the island. Some of the runners can make more progress getting form one end of the island to the other than the drivers can.
- Ø Joe’s Clam House- Eat’em Raw, Let’em Slide
- Ø John Lloyd- the local historian who told stories of fishermen and hurricanes and early settlers to the island. His talks were always interesting, informative and well attended.
- Ø Kayaking in the bay- one time I went kayaking on the bay on November 1. It was an unseasonably warm day and this moment sticks in my mind on cold days.
- Ø Lots of company- siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws, friends, neighbors an others stopped by to visit on a regular basis; most of the visits were impromptu and involved alcohol.
- Ø Lucy Evelyn- a grand, old ship that ran aground which was then converted into a variety of gift shops and souvenirs. The ship eventually burnt down and a replica was built because the souvenirs business was so good.
- Ø Mooring Restaurant- run entirely by college students, this restaurant offered great dinners and a lively bar. Because college kids worked there, we had to pay for anything we consumed through credit against our paycheck. After work, we all went to the bar and some weeks, some of us ended up with a zero paycheck.
- Ø Mr. Smiley- this man walked on our property every Saturday and Sunday and jumped off our bulkhead and into the bay fro 30 years and he never once said “hello” to us. I wonder what his name is. He never looked at us so we called him Mr. Smiley.
- Ø Murphy’s Food Store– Someone in our house went to this store at least once a day. We had almost daily runs for more coke, lunchmeat, wine and bread.
- Ø Nardi’s- one of my favorite bars for live music; “Sardi’s may be proud but Nardi’s is loud.”
- Ø Old Victorian Homes -from the turn of the 20th century, these monster homes line Center Street and Pearl Street. They were private homes at one time but now they are beautifully resorted B and Bs. Some of these places offer high tea in the afternoon.
- Ø Riding our bikes to work- We would leave fro work around 3:30 and work until 11PM. Then we would go out to the bars and have a few too many drinks. When it was time to go home at 2:30AM, we were in no condition to drive our bikes. So we would chain them to a fence and hitchhike home. The next morning, we had to rack our brains to remember where we left our damn bikes.
- Ø Seagulls singing in the morning- I never get tired of this sound.
- Ø Sharon had her wedding at our house- July 1981
- Ø Sister of Charity own one of the largest volume of property on the island- they own a large parcel on the bay and on the beach. It’s worth millions of dollars and they don’t pay any taxes on this prime real estate.
- Ø Sunrise Services on the Beach- Easter morning; hundreds of people show up jut before the sun emerges from the sea. And when it begins to peak through, the crowd breaks out in thunderous clapping.
- Ø Surflight Summer Theatre- a long standing community house that was always on the brink of bankruptcy. The shows were outdated. The costumes were falling apart. But it was the only live theatre on the island. So people came to this productions year after year after year. It finally died for good about five years ago.
- Ø The causeway- the only way on and off the long island
- Ø Triplets- Three sisters in their mid-fifties used to show up at our church, dressed in identical outdated clothing. They looked like the Heidi character from the 1950’s. They were a little bit of a freak show and definitely a distraction from the Mass. I don’t remember if they disappeared or I just stopped going to church.
- Ø Watching Neil Armstrong walk on the moon- July 1969
- Ø Watching Richard Nixon resign his presidency- August, 1974
- Ø Watching soap operas in the afternoon- All My Children and General Hospital
- Ø Watching the sun set -every night on our back porch, overlooking the bay
- Ø Wetlands- our house sat right next to some wetlands that were maintained as natural habitat for the birds. Investors were always trying to buy this land and environmentalist would challenge every request in court. Unfortunately, during Hurricane Sandy, the beach and the bay meet and contaminated the wetlands with sand. Now, this damaged habitat is up for sale. In a year or two, multiple houses will fill this spot and the birds will have to find a new place to live.
- Ø Winter weekends- After October 15, most of the stores and restaurants closed down for the winter. They didn’t reopen until after Easter. The traffic lights on Bay Avenue were turn off, which made it very easy to move around the island. But the island was mostly a ghost town at this time.
