Goin' "Down the Shore"

Day 227:

When I was a kid, Conor, Your Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop moved us around quite a bit.  Chicago for 5 years, Houston for almost 10, then back to where I was born, back to where you were born, sweet home DC...  Back in those days we made the long cross country journey to the mid-Atlantic every Summer, two weeks at a time.  Each and every Summer was the same thing; visit the families in the Old Dominion, The Keystone State, and of course, "Down the Shore"...  That term of course referring to the Philadelphia local terminology for going to the beach is "Goin' down the shore"...

When I was 10 years old and living in Texas, well, to say the cultures are a bit different is quite the understatement.  We went to the beach all the time in those days, Son.  But what you heard was "Hey y'all!  Y'all join' to the beach today?"  The Philly area, and specifically South Philly and West Philly where your Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop and their families were all from, you'd hear, "Hey!  You's headed down the shore?"

It was confusing, Boy'O.  But it was our life and we loved it!

So yes, each and every Summer we'd head "Down the Shore", though typically to Wildwood, NJ which, present day, you don't go to unless you're armed and prepared to fire.  But I digress...  Kidding of course, but it's not the beach and boardwalk it used to be, that's for sure.  Anyhow, wonderful memories were made in those times.  Playing in the tide pools, catching hermit crabs, walking the boards.  It was everything an active young boy could ever want.

Now Son, I've been to beaches from Long Island to and through the Caribbean.  I've been to beaches along the Gulf in Florida, Mississippi, and up and down Texas.  I've been to beaches in California.  But the memories I have as a young boy are the most lasting in New Jersey, and as a teenager in the Outer Banks.  And so here we are today, Son...

For the week at least, we're in Sea Isle City, NJ, not at all far from Wildwood.  And there are new memories to be made, Boy'O.  And with family you'll know you're whole life...  And so the week begins, Boy'O.  Good times ahead...

I love you, Son.
-Dad