By Georgia Osten
What do you get when you combine 30 people for a week – out on the beach – under canopies – or out in the sun playing washers – paddling to the horizon on kayaks – making sand castles – playing scrabble – reading a novel or two – consuming a lot of beer – consuming a lot of snacks – swimming/wading out into the deep water, only to get stung a time or two by something or pinched by something else – hmmmmm, what do you get?? Wait, one more thing, a bonfire, hot dogs, s’mores and fireworks.
I’ll tell you what you get – you get a lot of game-playing die hard Chicken Foot grown ups, who just don’t want the day to end. The younger adults, on the other hand, catching their second breath, would frequent the many fun spots on the peninsula, or just hang out with their cousins and friends to watch movie after movie til the wee hours of the night.
This is how we spent our annual family get-together this year. The weather cooperated generously, and we all ended up a shade or two darker, some a shade or two redder. By Saturday, there wasn’t a one of us who turned down a slather of sun block from our heads to our toes. Especially, as we a joined together in our family washers tournament. It was a blind draw, you had no idea who you would be partnered with – Man, what a competitive group!
As tradition will have it, we ended up the week with a downstairs cookout at our house. Yes indeed – crabs were the main course for the feast! Dozens of crabs were cleaned, boiled in crab boil and consumed greedily, cajun potatoes and corn, coleslaw, Annie’s famous Caesar salad, Lou’s potatoes, hot dogs and hamburgers for those non-crab lovers, and to top it off – strawberry shortcake and a chocolate cake! No ice cream though, can’t wait for Blue Bell to make a come back. More washers in the dark, boys throwing the football and many photos and chats as everyone relived the wonderful week and simply enjoyed being together.
There wasn’t a lot to put away, almost everything was consumed except for the big bowl of baked beans I had prepared earlier. Oops, forgot to put those out – I guess we’ll be eating some baked bean leftovers for the next week.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful Summer!
(This article published 7/20/2015)
GO’s Sand Bucket is only one beach bum’s journal of life at the beach, probably something each of you can relate to. Please feel free to email me with your thoughts, visions and/or feelings of just exactly what the beach means to you.
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