10 Things About Beach Have, NJ

10 Things About My Life on 

Long Beach Island, NJ

1973- present

My family had a home on this island from 1974 to 2005.  It was our second home, our beach home. During my college years,I would spend the summer there, earning my beer money for the next school year.  As an adult, I would drive here on Fridays nights and drive back on Sunday nights.

The island is a barrier island and is only 18 miles long and not much more than 3 or 4 streets wide.

My grandparents, on both sides, came to this island, in the 1940s.  That's where my parents met each other. They met each other through my grandparents with in college.hile they were b

In the winter, only 5,000 people inhabit the island.  During the summer months, there may be as many as 250,000 people on the island.

My first job there was at Hartman's Amusement Park.  It was here that I got my first taste of sexual harassment in the workplace.  The owners were crude, rude and misogynist.  It was a dreadful place to work.

One summer, I worked at Howard's Restaurant, home of the french fried lobster dinner and it was delicious.

I worked at Bay Village for two summers. This place had ten stores and venues, all run by college kids. I worked in the bakery and then in the restaurant.

My uncle owned a hotel and we used to go there on Sundays and let him make us brunch in his little restaurant. One year, just as the summer started, we stopped there for our usual Brunch get together and my uncle had converted that space in to a laundry room.

My parents had a home right on the bay.  We had gorgeous sunsets. And the sounds of the water birds filled our home.

My mom died in 1998 and when she died, so did the soul of the house.   My siblings didn't like to come here anymore.  So,  in the final years, it was just my dad and me who hung here.

Once both of my parents died, we sold the house immediately and I found it hard to come back on the island to visit.