30 Years Of Fun At The Beach

I grew up just a few miles from Newport Beach, California and have really great memories of spending endless summers at the beach with my girlfriends. If you live in or around Newport, it is typical for your "group" to stake their territory at a particular street on the Newport Peninsula. My friends and I claimed 43rd street and spent every summer congregating there together.We have great memories about riding our bikes to 43rd , and then as we got older driving our cars there, every summer between 7th and 12th grades in the 70's and early 80's. These were good times. For my girlfriends 40th birthdays, I had this photo painted of us hanging out on the beach. I take my painting out every summer and have it set on plate stand in my family room signifying the fun of summer days.

For a few summers my family has rented a beach house on the Newport Peninsula which is where we are now. We are with my parents, siblings, and many cousins having fun in the sun the last week before school starts. This summer the beach house we are renting happens to be at the exact spot on 43rd where my friends and I hung out some 30+ years ago. It has brought back so many memories. My long time friend Tricia came down today to spend fun time together. I have known Tricia since the 4th grade when her mom made her invite me, the new girl, to her birthday party after she was impressed with how neat I kept my duffel bag at girl scout camp. (my family will laugh at this)

Here we are with our complete beach setup. In the late 1970's I can tell you 10 things that would be wrong with this photo, not in order of offense, but the major offense is bolded:

1. We are wearing 1 piece bathing suits.

2. We are associated with a pop-up shade device, like an umbrella on steroids.

3. Not only is one of my parents within a 100 yard radius of me, they are sitting under the pop up with me.

4. I am wearing sunscreen.

5. Both of us are wearing a hat of some sort.

6. You can' really see it, but we have used a big quilt to sit on that is quilted in the design of the American Flag. As cool as this is now, this could certainly ostrasize you in high school. (the large cute quilt part)

7. We are under a USC themed item. (my dad went to Stanford and he might have chose to sit 100 yards away from me in the 70's if I sat under this) - although his youngest child ended up being a Trojan so he got over it.

8. My bathing suit was bought along with hamburger meat and laundry detergent at Costco.

9. I am out of contacts so I wore my 12 year old prescription sunglasses that Tricia kindly declined to comment on, but other family members have told me how ugly they are. (I love the honesty of family and don't really care about this stuff anymore- I can see!)
10. We have a cooler on the sand. Depending on what this contained, it could have been accepted.

The great part is that in your 40's you just don't care about this stuff! But sitting today with my good friend it was hard not to think about it all as I looked out at the same ocean I looked at 30+ years ago. The thing that has changed most about this precious spot is me.