We didn’t go “down the shore”…. we went to “the beach.” And don’t get my sister started on MTV’s Jersey Shore. No, seriously, don’t. People have different thoughts on the shore vs. beach and even what part they have in mind. The NJ coastline is quite unique. For me it means Long Beach Island. Although Pt. Pleasant and the boardwalk are a close second. Pt. Pleasant is easier and quicker to describe so let’s start there. It means rides, the train, my grandparents and ice cream. My childhood day trips.
Then there’s Long Beach Island, LBI. I can’t remember how old I was the first time we rented a house for a week at the beach. I can remember however a few of the different houses we rented. The cape where my cousin Andy thought he could fly and must have jumped down the steps 100 times. The one close enough to the General Store where I’d walk in the morning with my Dad and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. The beige one on “stilts” with the bedrooms downstairs and the living room/kitchen upstairs. “Reverse living”… I was obsessed. The one with the kids that lived next door whose dad played football and we were allowed to play out in the street during the rain with our umbrellas huddled. Then our dream- our OWN house at the beach. I was in high school. We spent a couple weeks at the house and rented it out the rest of the summer. Torture. And then, ours, all OURS! And for the past 9 years my parents have called it home year round.
Thanksgiving in the tiny kitchen of our blue cape. Washing dishes with my sister and cousins. Football on the beach. Blinking lights. Easter sunrise mass on the beach. Chowderfest. Sur La Plage. The best place to work with some of the best girls and still my oldest friends to date. Sev, coffee, big gulps, Combos, 80’s music. Back then we saw each other go through boyfriends, break-ups, angry customers, and now weddings, babies, heartbreak and hope. Those girls are part of my heart. This island is part of my heart. It’s heard my laughter and seen my tears. You might not “get it” but if you know me and you don’t get it, well I always do my best to make you get it. So be prepared.
I’m eager, as many are, to get back. To help fix it. To bring it back so my girls, my nieces and nephew, and the babies that my “plagies” will hopefully have some day can share our heart and make their own memories.
Stay tuned here and on my facebook page for ways to help and how my business and others are joining together to give back to our island.
Katie McKnight Photography 