I love your description of your summers at the beach. I've got lots of happy memories of summers spent on the beach where I grew up in Mumbles and on the Gower Peninsula too, both in South Wales. We'd spend all day on the beach, with our buckets and nets looking in the rockpools, having picnics on the beach and paddling in the sea. Oh and ice cream too!
Hi Jenna! We sound like we had very similar stories, just on opposite sides of the pond. It's funny how those quiet moments stay with us for a lifetime. Do you feel as though those summer days helped to shape you?
Yes it does doesn't it! Definitely, and it shows that some of the happiest memories we can have are the simple ones when we were younger. As a mum now, there's so much pressure to create magical experiences for kids. Yes I think those summer days left an imprint on me, as I've always loved lived by the sea since then and just being near a beach soothes me.
Yes! I have a few friends who talk about how their parents would drop them at the town pool and they'd spend all days playing with friends, eating ice cream, etc. When I was a kid, not many people had pools in our town and I used to daydream about living somewhere with a town pool since many of the books I read would talk about them! We always want what we don't have!
While I love spending time in Maine every summer, my favorite summertime getaways have been to London and Woodstock, VT. Very different places, obviously, but both have such a strong sense of place that I find comforting and appealing.
I have been to Woodstock, VT -- the covered bridges are so stunning. I've always said I'd love to go back there. Where do you swim in somewhere like Vermont? Lakes or ponds. We have good friends who live on a pond in NH and it's dreamy up there in summer with fog lingering over the water in early morning in summer.
Covered bridges and beautiful natural scenery in Woodstock. I’m not a swimmer, beyond in a pool, but I’m sure there are places in VT to get in the water.
The beach for me was always a magical place . I could explore all day in the tide poles and never get enough. I would collect rocks and shells and all sorts of treasures (which I still do today!)
When I am prompted to share my favorite memory ,its always the same.
Lying on the top bunk in our trailer in Montauk with my head against the little window screen, water droplets collecting as the fog rolled in at night, listening to the sound of the foghorn , the crashing waves and the smell of the salt air .
Yes , I was soooo very lucky to have those
summers . It became a part of who I am today. Thank you for carrying on the tradition!
I love this! That image of your head against the little screen with the water droplets collecting is so evocative. It's amazing how those childhood moments burn into us!
My perfect summer day would be a mix of all the places I love, doused in sunshine: NY’s Hudson Valley, with its perfect peaches and evening fireflies; NYC, enjoying rooftop cocktails and watching the greatest city on Earth come alive as the sun sets; the garden of an English pub, sunshine so sweet after so much rain, a frosty pint in hand; SoCal, poolside, palm trees overhead with that gorgeous ocean breeze that never gets old; and finally, the Middle East, where I grew up, its oven-like temps met with all-day swimming with my very best friends.
I used to love Martha's Vineyard. This was our summer playground. Now I love Malibu/Zuma. Especially early in the morning, it is gorgeous when there are only some surfers trying to ride the waves.
Malibu is so gorgeous. One of my friends always tells the story how her mother rented them a house in Malibu one summer and they lived there and surfed and lived the California life and then went home to Massachusetts for school in autumn. I always loved that idea of a mother taking her girls to the beach of the summer -- on the other side of the country. What is Zuma? xo thanks for reading!
When you drive (preferably in a convertible 🏎️) along the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) from LA to Santa Barbara, Zuma Beach comes after Malibu. The coast is so long that there are enough isolated spots one can find.🩷
I love your description of your summers at the beach. I've got lots of happy memories of summers spent on the beach where I grew up in Mumbles and on the Gower Peninsula too, both in South Wales. We'd spend all day on the beach, with our buckets and nets looking in the rockpools, having picnics on the beach and paddling in the sea. Oh and ice cream too!
Hi Jenna! We sound like we had very similar stories, just on opposite sides of the pond. It's funny how those quiet moments stay with us for a lifetime. Do you feel as though those summer days helped to shape you?
Yes it does doesn't it! Definitely, and it shows that some of the happiest memories we can have are the simple ones when we were younger. As a mum now, there's so much pressure to create magical experiences for kids. Yes I think those summer days left an imprint on me, as I've always loved lived by the sea since then and just being near a beach soothes me.
I adored Tom Lake. I grew up as a latchkey kid in Kentucky. No memory of place, but I did love days at the pool.
Yes! I have a few friends who talk about how their parents would drop them at the town pool and they'd spend all days playing with friends, eating ice cream, etc. When I was a kid, not many people had pools in our town and I used to daydream about living somewhere with a town pool since many of the books I read would talk about them! We always want what we don't have!
I agree. We had a family friend who picked us up daily at 11 and we got home at 5, tired and smelling of chlorine and Hawaiian Tropic. 🙂
While I love spending time in Maine every summer, my favorite summertime getaways have been to London and Woodstock, VT. Very different places, obviously, but both have such a strong sense of place that I find comforting and appealing.
I have been to Woodstock, VT -- the covered bridges are so stunning. I've always said I'd love to go back there. Where do you swim in somewhere like Vermont? Lakes or ponds. We have good friends who live on a pond in NH and it's dreamy up there in summer with fog lingering over the water in early morning in summer.
Covered bridges and beautiful natural scenery in Woodstock. I’m not a swimmer, beyond in a pool, but I’m sure there are places in VT to get in the water.
Sounds like a wonderful childhood summer. We were in Maine for summers, now married, it’s Cape Cod ~always and forever with a book in hand.
Haha. YES. Always and forever with a book in hand. Love that. Where on the Cape do you go? I love Maine, too. Love love Maine!
In Maine. On the rocks: reading and swimming!
This is so evocative. I love the idea of reading and swimming off the rocks. Where in Maine do you go? Tell me it's one of those little islands?!?!?
Alas no, but Boothbay Harbor. My mom and dad retired there. It’s just her now, but she has a house right on the water.
Brooke
I can’t agree with you more !
The beach for me was always a magical place . I could explore all day in the tide poles and never get enough. I would collect rocks and shells and all sorts of treasures (which I still do today!)
When I am prompted to share my favorite memory ,its always the same.
Lying on the top bunk in our trailer in Montauk with my head against the little window screen, water droplets collecting as the fog rolled in at night, listening to the sound of the foghorn , the crashing waves and the smell of the salt air .
Yes , I was soooo very lucky to have those
summers . It became a part of who I am today. Thank you for carrying on the tradition!
I love this! That image of your head against the little screen with the water droplets collecting is so evocative. It's amazing how those childhood moments burn into us!
My perfect summer day would be a mix of all the places I love, doused in sunshine: NY’s Hudson Valley, with its perfect peaches and evening fireflies; NYC, enjoying rooftop cocktails and watching the greatest city on Earth come alive as the sun sets; the garden of an English pub, sunshine so sweet after so much rain, a frosty pint in hand; SoCal, poolside, palm trees overhead with that gorgeous ocean breeze that never gets old; and finally, the Middle East, where I grew up, its oven-like temps met with all-day swimming with my very best friends.
Maria! This is lovely. I love the fireflies and peaches and swimming in the middle east and the English pub. Love this. Thank you for sharing!
I used to love Martha's Vineyard. This was our summer playground. Now I love Malibu/Zuma. Especially early in the morning, it is gorgeous when there are only some surfers trying to ride the waves.
Malibu is so gorgeous. One of my friends always tells the story how her mother rented them a house in Malibu one summer and they lived there and surfed and lived the California life and then went home to Massachusetts for school in autumn. I always loved that idea of a mother taking her girls to the beach of the summer -- on the other side of the country. What is Zuma? xo thanks for reading!
When you drive (preferably in a convertible 🏎️) along the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) from LA to Santa Barbara, Zuma Beach comes after Malibu. The coast is so long that there are enough isolated spots one can find.🩷