My sister Julie and me, Avalon, NJ circa 1965
In honor of Facebook’s Throwback Thursdays, I’m posting this photo of my sister Julie and me taken many, many years ago in the summer of 1965 in Avalon, New Jersey, about a 2 hour ride from our home in the Philadelphia suburbs. I was about 4, she was 2, and I still have vivid fond memories of that vacation. Our parents rented a house very close to the beach and while they slept in we took off for the “shore” as we called it. There was a lot of freedom in those days. (Parents didn’t fret like they do now. ) We built sand castles, dug for clams and chased hermit crabs as they scurried across the wet sand.
As we got older we took summer jobs in Wildwood, New Jersey to earn spend money and pay for our college tuition. On our days off, we’d have beach picnics noshing on tins of smoked clams while lounging in beach chairs along the water’s edge reading summer novels and working on our tans.
These are our ocean memories, and it was these early experiences that instilled in us a life long appreciation for the ocean, its natural beauty and the joy it could give us.
Santa Cruz surfing legend and wet suit inventor Jack O’Neill recognized this need to reach children at an early age when he founded the O’Neill Sea Oddysey Program, a floating classroom aboard a 65 foot catamaran, that teaches children about the importance of the living sea and its relationship to the enviroment. By engaging them and personalizing the experience, it inspires a life long love and appreciation for the ocean, an imprint that lasts a life time.
This is my call out to you to share your story. Post your ocean memories here in the comment section and the first five respondents will receive a SeaweedArt gift from me.
