jersey shore vacations

I grew up at the Jersey Shore, so every childhood summer was usually spent there, with family and friends coming to visit us. Later years in NY and DC had me a bit land-locked, so I was happy to be able to drive to Jersey for the occasional vacation. I have taken the kid a few times over the past few years, but last year was the one she really remembered, and now she wants us to start our own tradition. So in honor of my booking an August vacation at the Shore, here are some pics from past beachy times.

I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for mom (left) and her girlfriends thinking that the Shore was a great place for a summer vacation from the city

Hanging out poolside at the Avon Inn, where my grandmother always stayed when she would visit us

Pastel by Mary Elizabeth Winship Periale

One of my mom's effortless pastels, of me trying to fly a kite on the boardwalk

The kid checking out a jetty

Having fun on the rides at Jenkinson's pavilion

Comments

the old man...

...it's his birthday today. If he was still around he'd probably want to go see a movie. Is there anything with Meryl Streep or Bill Murray playing right now? He died in 1993. When he was alive he'd sometimes drive me nuts, inspiring me to intone, "My dad, wrong or wrong!" And I unfortunately seem to have inherited his temper. I'm working on that. But I also inherited his sense of humor, movie buff-ness, interest in art, science and history, and a penchant for getting into a particular subject and then wanting to read everything about it. With me right now, it's the world of Eleanor of Aquitaine. My dad, at different times, had Virginia Woolf, Thomas Jefferson, Cripple Creek, Colorado and the poetry of Wallace Stevens as his enthusiasms, to name a few. We all, if we were listening, learned along with him, because along with the temper there comes a genetic tendency to pontificate, or as we call it in our family, breathe. And did I mention the...

secondo

CW: Joseph Francis Periale, John James Periale, Elizabeth Anne Periale, c.1967, en route to Mystic, CT. In an Italian-American family most of the action takes place around the dinner table. Depending on the layout of your home the table may be in the kitchen, dining room or both. A typical dinner table family scene: one person would start to tell a story while the coffee pot was being passed around the table after dinner. Everyone would react, editing and arguing, while wondering what would be served for dessert. As a child I got to see and learn a lot. About my family, about human behavior. And if I sat quietly enough, the grown-ups would forget I was sitting there and tell the juicier versions, while John James and I tried to understand the punchlines of the jokes! At my Uncle John Massimo’s house the food was served to us practically before we walked in the door. We would be hustled to the kitchen table and immediately offered a seat, where we would listen to and trade stories ...

a rare find

A rare find - some very old photos from my father's side of the family. They must have belonged to my grandmother, as she made notations on one, and another was inscribed to her.

famiglia

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