The off-season also has its memories. My dad and I would go down there in the late fall to pull the boat out of the water and trailer it to its wintering spot. The last boat ride of the season was always one of the best. The air is clear and you can usually see for miles.
The smell of manila ropes being laid up, the barnacles scraped away and the life jackets hung up in the garden shed (which smelled of dry sea grass). This year, there was no boat to pull out down the shore - but the there were some small chores to do in the summer cottage where the gas heater kept everyone and everything nice and toasty.
...and then Sunday dawned bright and brilliant and the thermometer started to climb.. 44, 48, 50, 52! 55! 56 degrees F! I walked over to the pavilion at the end of the street and took in the winter beach. The winter time is the only time beach buggies and dogs are allowed into the pristine white sands of Long Beach Island, New Jersey.
I only saw one person and three dogs.
The three pilings in the middle distance are all the remain of the boardwalk that used to line the surf at Beach Haven. My dad was a little boy at the time - but he remembers walking on the boardwalk with my grandparents. The boardwalk washed away in 1944. To see old postcards of the boardwalk (go to the bottom here)
They have been busy renovating this house. I took its picture on April, 2008. (You can see that picture here, the second picture down). Its amazing what a little paint and bunch of love will do for a house. The fifth picture from the top on this page shows this, at the time, beach-front house in relationship to the beach pavilion, as it is a little over a block to the left.
The house was build for an important employee of the Baldwin Locomotive Works which was headquartered in Philadelphia, PA and the one-time world's largest builders of steam locomotives. In the postcard - you can see the Baldwin Hotel - built so that employees of the Baldwin works could come to the beach to enjoy their vacation. A train ran from Philadelphia to Beach Haven at the time. The train has been gone since 1933 and the Baldwin Hotel burned down September 24, 1960, just a few weeks before I was born.
Only four blocks wide at this point, it is a short walk across the island to the bay side.
I hope everyone had the Merriest of Christmases -
23 comments:
Oh sounds like you had a sweet little getaway! Hope it was a great Christmas for you!
loved the pictures; such a beautiful area to go and enjoy some time at, Iggy. the house you highlighted looks so full of history as you described it and the surrounding area. Koda was a bit miffed that the beach could only be enjoyed by dogs in the winter, but he eventually got over it. (He's feeling better by the way :)
we had a good holiday; I hope it was a good one for you too :)
betty
Wonderful post, now I want to go to the beach!! I loved the pics and what a touching story about you and your dad Iggy :o) I loved the gargoyle pic!!!
what a perfect way to spend the holidays..i love the old houses .
I absolutely love old victorian houses like the ones in your pictures. And that on top of BEACH pictures! I can never get enough of the Pacific myself.
Great post with gorgeous photos Iggy. I love going to the beach at this time of the year too :-)
Beautiful. I've been itching to get to the ocean myself. You had a beautiful day on Sunday. The photo from the pavilion is fabulous..
I loved the pictures. What a pretty blue sky you had yesterday. I love the beach,but I've never been there during the winter.
That last picture is beautiful. Love the giant wreath. :) I hope you had the Merriest of Christmases, too. *hugs*
Thank you for sharing this. I will be going back to check out the original picture of the house compared to now. The isolation you described actually sounds wonderful to me. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! and.... HUGE HUGS!
You're Winter getaway sounds lovely! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! :)
Oh, and you're right... I would enjoy the gargoyle. :)
I have only been to the beach in the summer, but you are right, beach in the winter is just as lovely, especially from your pictures.
Hope you had the Merriest of Christmases as well!
LOVE LOVE LOVE the photos, and I LOVE winter beaches.... all wrapped up against the wind, only your winter beach looks like its summertime LOL.... its tipping it down here today, wouldnt be nice for a beach walk..
I also love old houses with such a passion, I wanna live in that green house lol
love you dear Iggy..
x
I like that they are renovating that house and not tearing it down which is so popular to do on the Jersey shore these days.
LOVE the pics Iggy....looks like a fantastic place to spend time.
Hope you had a great holiday and have a fantastic New Year's Eve.
I ~LOVE~ what they did with the porch!!! Precisely what I was thinking when I commented on the house the last time you posted a picture of it.
I prefer enjoying most places in relative solitude. I'm not one for masses of people either. When I am in them, I tend to want to be off to the side in some corner somewhere kind of people watching--hehe! I'd rather be in a small local cafe than the packed popular restaurant, empty churches, stores at non-peak shopping hours (even the middle of the night--hehe!)--so the empty winter beach looks absolutely enticing! :)
That house looks so much better now. Glad they are giving it some love. They're really doing a nice job. Admire that last big solid house, too. Looks plenty strong enough to fare the harsh winter winds off the sea.
Karma and I did have the merriest of Christmases! ;) Hope yours was, too.
Perfect time to go to the beach...when it is empty! Love the photos.
Here's to the best year yet for you Iggy. You are a precious soul!
I also love going to the beach after the crowds have left. I'm not a sun worshiper but enjoy walking along the shore or driving along the road that hugs the shoreline. Love the pics. I'm glad you were able to take time and do something for YOU.
I love your little excursions!!! You always take the best pictures and have all the info!
I am in LOVE with that renovated house. Can I have it?
That IS a beautiful house. But I can't help be distracted by the anatomically correct gargoyle. I had not idea.
I have been thinking about the beach a lot lately...probably because it was -3 degrees on Saturday night. But I was thinking about a beach a little bit farther south than New Jersey. More like Key West. The cold is starting to get to me and make me VERY grumpy.
As always, the pics are awesome! Happy New Year to you!
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