SUMMER NOSTALGIA
School's out and the memories roll in
COMMENTARY
School's out, which kicks off the beginning of summer, regardless of what the calendar says. Even though I haven't been a student in decades, my summer nostalgia always returns this time of year.
For me, the end of the school year always meant trips to "The Beach." If you live in the Carolinas, that's how everyone refers to their coastal summer vacation destination.
Whether you're headed to Hilton Head or the Outer Banks or anywhere in between, you were going to "The Beach."
My grandparents had a place at Ocean Lakes in Myrtle Beach, and they would take me for a week as soon as school was out. The fun began before we even reached our destination, with a stop at McLeod's Farms in McBee, South Carolina. We'd pick up fresh peaches that we later peeled and sliced to top our Rice Krispies or Corn Flakes each morning.
When the June weather was sunny, it meant swimming and miniature golf tournaments and golf cart rides. Everyone at Ocean Lakes drives golf carts inside the campground. Once we were there, we rarely took the car anywhere. I learned to drive by operating those golf carts summer after summer.
Many years, that first week of June would be a rainy time. When it was, that meant card games and trips to the arcade. If you were a kid in the '80s, this was the heyday for video games. Some of my favorites were Ms. Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Frogger, Q*bert, Turbo and Donkey Kong. I spent many happy hours and many quarters on those games.
Some of the best summer memories didn't involve the beach at all, like chasing fireflies and riding bicycles. If you were lucky enough to grow up in a neighborhood, you likely spent a good portion of your days with a pack of other kids on bikes.
I've heard legendary tales from kids who grew up in the '50s and '60s who left house in the mornings on their bicycles and didn't return until the streetlights came on (or at least until supper time). Somebody's mom somewhere along the way fed you some sandwiches at lunch, and you kept playing and riding all day.
Childhood looks different now, and I fear today's kids will never get to experience that kind of freedom and creativity. There were no color-coded online calendars or constant tracking of everyone's whereabouts. Summer stretched out before us and part of the magic was figuring out how to fill the long days.
One day we played kickball and another was spent sitting on the front porch cranking homemade ice cream or shelling beans while grandparents told stories we probably didn't appreciate enough at the time.
Back then, sunscreen was optional, bicycle helmets weren't even considered, and every barefoot kid at the beach ended up sprinting from the golf cart to the pool like it was an Olympic event.
And yet, somehow, we survived it all. Sunburns, mosquito fogging trucks rolling through at dusk, and drinking from the water hose.
Summer looks a little different now at my age. My idea of a wild beach day involves finding a chair that I can stand back up from easily and remembering to reapply SPF 50 before I throw my back out reaching for a dropped towel.
But every year when school lets out and the weather turns warm, I feel that summer excitement return. A little part of me is right back at Ocean Lakes and I'm riding golf carts, eating peach-covered cereal, and digging through my pocket for one more quarter to play Ms. Pac-Man.
Cami Hepler is a lifelong animal lover, year-round sports fan, and part-time freelance writer from Hickory.
