I’m all about the beach.
The beach bag. The beach chair. The beach attire. The perfect “drive me to the beach” car …
… my former white-on-white VW Cabriolet convertible that I drove back and forth on the Garden State Parkway each weekend in the summer …
… from 1985 to 1993 …
…hopping on at Exit 163 and getting off at Exit 98 …
I was partying hard at the Jersey Shore long before Snookie and JWOWW were even in diapers.
… and speaking of diapers, I always wore proper undergarments. Lacy? Perhaps. Full derriere coverage? Absa-stinking-lutely ….
But my Jersey Shore full-derriere-coverage partying was never, ever in Seaside. Yuck. No self respecting North Jersey girl above Exit 153 would spend her summer weekends there.
Our first summer rental was in Manasquan when I was just out of college. It was a mash up of 12 or 13 of us in a one bedroom garage. No. Seriously. It was a garage turned into a sad excuse of an apartment …
And as my career took off (and my salary grew) I upgraded to Belmar …
… and then Sea Girt …
… and was well on my way to sporting an uber desirable Spring Lake summer address. But then I met my husband. And moved to Chicago.
It’s decision I’ve never, ever regretted. I adore this city. I belong in this city. Chicago truly is “My Kind of Town.”
But one of the things I miss most about the East Coast is the coast. The Atlantic ocean … and it’s sandy beaches and dunes.
Now granted, the beaches along Lake Michigan in Chicago are free …
… which is more than the Jersey Shore can claim …
… and it’s pretty cool to lie on a beach with a view of Chicago’s amazing skyline …
But the sand is hard. And the water is not always clean. And it quickly becomes crowded with double-wides (as in strollers, not trailers) and pop-up tents and umbrellas and sand toys and garbage cans overflowing. And don’t get me started on the whole restroom scene …
… or the sunbathers bathing in their underwear …?
Painting a pretty picture for you here, aren’t I?
But one morning this past summer after I dropped my daughter at camp I headed to the beach with my camera in hand. To capture our Lake Michigan beach — at Foster Avenue in Chicago — before the masses moved in for the day …
… before the lifeguards were on guard duty in their towers…
… or out rowing in their rowboats to let us know where the lake floor dropped off into a deep recess …
… before the seagulls were even awake …
… but not before this family, whose kids were itching to go jump in the lake …
… literally.
I’ll be linking up with the Wordless Wednesday ladies here …
… and Funky Junk here …
Have you hopped on the Linky Followers bandwagon? If so, go ahead and follow …
… and leave a comment so I can be sure to follow back …
Hi there! My name is Linda and I’m a Jersey-born-and-bred Midwestern transplant who lives in Chicago with my husband and two children. We've lived in our home since 1995 and over the years our style has changed and evolved. I wouldn't call my home a work-in-progress -- more like a rework-in-progress as I refresh and remodel things around here ... one room at a time.
Linda – as a Jersey girl who may or may not have spent a prom weekend or two at Seaside, I thoroughly enjoyed your post today. For the record, I am 100% an LBI girl since the 90′s. Have a great one, Laura
Thanks for stopping by Flip Flops and Pearls, Linda! Lovely blog…I’ll be following along from now on as I’m loving your blog concept and can hopefully pick up on some ideas. As for your blog today….love the beach pictures of Lake Michigan. Spent many summers there as a kid with my family. HOwever, I’ve traded those beaches in for the South Florida beaches now. We just visited the beach (our first of the season) this weekend!
Love the photos! I grew up on Lake Michigan and miss the sound of the waves.
Another former Jersey Girl chiming in here…..girl, you need to check out the beaches in Michigan… None of the negatives found at the city beaches…. Plus no crabs, no seaweed, no jellyfish, no sharks! It’s like a giant wave pool! And unlike the east coast, we have spectacular sunsets over the water to enjoy. I miss the salt air, but it is a wonderful place.
Love your blog, btw!
Erin
Great pics Linda…great submission for the Funky Junk feature.
I grew up on the other side of the Atlantic on the coast of Wales and I still miss the sea even after too many years to mention! However having just moved from land locked St Louis I am loving “The Lake”. It is so exciting to have a car full of sand after a day at the beach!
As a Great Lakes-area girl, I love the shots at the end of this post. Reminds me of my summers spent at Lake Huron on the beach. Growing up next to Lake Ontario, I always have a weird “land-locked” feeling in towns with no lakes/oceans. There’s something about looking out at the horizon on a big lake or the ocean…all about possibilities…love it!
These pictures are beautiful and you almost made me cry when I started reading….”go jump in a lake” is what my incredible father used to always say to us. I read every word and then some more. Wonderful writing and magazine worthy (fingers crossed) photographs.
blessings,
k
I love the colors in the beach photos. So serene.
I am a Mid West girl, Ohio, living part time in Arizona (Sedona) so not much into the Beach but I have been too many of them, I prefer pools and my kids laugh. My son lives in Chicago and we agree that I will only visit in the summer when we can stroll down to LakeShore, it is pretty down there in the summer but crowded.
What a fun post!!!
Great pics!
You know I love Chicago, but I understand what you mean about the ocean. Have you ever gone to the Michigan side of the lake? We used to go here on the weekends: http://holland.org/sections/12-beaches.
For some reason it feels more ocean-like over there. The sand is softer and there are dunes. Of course you’ll never get the ocean smell…
LindaWOW, love your photos and I am so glad you snapped them before the underwear sunbathers hit the beach! Love your car too!
Debbie
It’s the west coast for me–and we have a Seaside in Oregon, too. It’s definitely the lesser of the two coastal towns on the north coast (Cannon Beach is higher-end)–but I confess I’ve always liked Seaside better.
Putt-putt golf, bumper cars, tacky arcade, elephant ears, a long prom along the beach, and more bored teenagers looking for trouble than any town should have. But laid-back and unpretentious. Great for little kids. Maybe now that mine are getting older–I believe you and I are of roughly the same vintage
–the quieter, more tasteful town will hold more appeal. But I doubt it!
So glad you didn’t lower yourself in Seaside – I was there once as a kid (nickname: Sleaze Side)!
I was a true guidette in my red Geo Storm with black tinted windows! The wind whipping through my 3 foot high Jersey hair, tanned and ready to go “down the shore”!
Now I hit the less crowded beaches with my girls but do have to take the obligatory trip to the boardwalk (Point Pleasant) a few times each summer. Fries, funnel cake and the most amusing people watching!
Love your pics of the lake – would need to have a beach if I were to ever move again!
Kelly
When you said double wides I was thinking double wide derrieres!
You’re preaching to the choir on this post, just the opposite coast but I looked more like Snookie than Pamela Anderson. Hopefully I never acted like either.
~Bliss~
All of those shots are absolutely beautiful!! I can see why you’ve never regretted your decision to move.
Stinky Cats
Hello – just found your blog today! Firstly, the car. I had the same car in red and I still have a 93 in blue and white and a 2002 in blue with tan! I SO wanted to be Laura Holt from Remington Steele and so it is the only car I have ever driven since the late 80s. LOL!
I, too, live in Chicagoland but unlike you, I was born here and never left. I love the Cubs and our gorgeous skyline and Lake Michigan, etc. So glad you have found happiness here. I love the gentle lapping of the waves on the shore but it doesn’t compare to the rolling waves of the Atlantic Ocean. Just spent a week in Vero Beach, Florida and fell asleep to the crashing of the waves every night… wonderful! Beautiful pictures – thanks for the lovely post.
Suddenly winter feels way too long and vacation too far away…