Monday, February 17, 2014

Beach Life Series ~ Chapter II: A day in the life

 

Martin.....party of four, Martin....party of four.  Radcliff....party of two, Radcliff....party of two.  Then suddenly a window flies open and a string of obscenities is shouted from the bedroom next door.  Every day....every day.  Every day starting at 7am the pancake house across the street would start calling the wait list.....then our roommate would take matters into his own hands.  At no point did I ever wake up without the loud speaker or our roommate yelling out the window....eh, the sound of waves crashing makes me have to use the bathroom.  Speaking of sounds, the sounds at the beach are amazing, like in the way that you have never heard them all together before.  Motorcycles rumbling, array of music blasting from car windows, cars honking, laughing and merry making of pedestrians, crying children, squawking seagulls, clickty-clanking of park rides, crashing waves, buzzers and bells sounding off at the games and amusements and the occasional trumpet being played or guitar being strummed on the boardwalk.  And the smells!  Pizza, french fries, salty breezes, kettle popcorn, exhaust, hot dogs, seafood, fudge, sweat (bleh!)....every day.  I lived in Ocean City for two consecutive summers, both were equally fun and very different experiences at the same time.  For now we will discuss my first year, it was the most memorable.



After a 7am wake up it is time to hit the beach!  Every morning the ladies (sometimes the guys too) headed out to the beach to catch some rays before work and a swim on the hottest days.  A quick shower, then headed down the boardwalk to work.  The easiest twenty-six blocks I have ever walked anywhere.  View of the ocean and tourists to amuse you on your journey.  Most days it was sunny and hot, some days it was cooler with the occasional shower.  Most times the rain didn't stick around long, the weather had a mind of its own.  Sometimes it would rain on fifteenth street and up, but be sunny down at the inlet or vice-versa. The weather is weird on a peninsula.  I would grab a coffee on the way to work and whatever food I could find for breakfast.  Most places were not open mid-morning, except a few restaurants and a coffee shop or two.

Working at Down to Earth Wear was my dream job, henna tattoos, hair wraps, macrame all day....heavenly incense burning, groovy music playing, chatting with other friendly, earthy people, hanging out on pillows and outside most of the day, yes please.  It was awesome.  I made a decent amount of money providing these services and kept a large percentage doing hair wraps and henna tattoos.  I was also allowed to set my own prices.  Sweet!  Turns out that the husband and wife that owned the shop were from Pennsylvania too!  Every Christmas they would have a kiosk in our local mall for the holiday season - small world.  We would break for lunch and get to eat WHEREVER our hearts desired!!  All that tasty beach food....YUM.  My favorite place to eat is Fat Daddys Sub Shop, great service, surfer decor and the best food.  Hands down.  Spending the day hanging out, drawing on people, creating jewelry and wrapping hair.....pinch me, I'm dreaming....

After the shops close, I would head out to The Pier where my boyfriend would work till after midnight on the busiest nights, later hanging out with new friends and roommates to kill time.  Then AFTER the games and rides shut down we would head to a local club (you won't find many anymore) and dance the night away.  There were some nights that we caught a band, mostly Jimmies Chicken Shack - they performed nearly allllll summer long that year.  I was in HEAVEN!  I have a pair of overalls that all the original band members signed......Jimmy Ha-Ha  ~ sigh ~  Other nights we would hang out on the boardwalk, talking to people on vacation, meeting other locals.  There are plenty of performing artists on the boardwalk at night if you want to hear some live music,  Again, there is a LOT of trouble to find if you are looking for it, all different kinds.  If you were sly enough, you could sneak out on the beach and watch the waves roll in, sometimes till daybreak, that was my favorite thing to do.  On nights where nothing suited, we spent time with our roommates.  Fun times.

Many, many, many memories.  Best time of my life.  Would choose living at the beach again, and again.

Chapter III: Living with strangers and employment


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