Sights, Smells and Sensations of Briny Breezes

By Lynn Thomas

The memories I recall the most are from my youth visiting my grandmother at her Briny Breezes trailer.

Recalling a visit to Briny Breezes in 1964, it is early morning. I awaken to the sounds of the coffee percolator brewing in my grandmother’s kitchen, it’s aroma smells heavenly in the trailer.

I become aware of the sound of the surf beating against the shore up at the beach. The sound is rhythmic and inviting me to awaken and greet this new day.

It is then that the palm fronds come into my awareness. I hear them dancing in the breeze of this paradise.

There is the chatter of the wild birds, most released by their owners –either intentionally or by accident — gathering on the phone wires surrounding the park. They are an array of colorful parakeets and Quaker parrots chattering loudly in the early morning light.

After breakfast, I walk with my grandmother to the beach. I marvel at the clean neat concrete sidewalks, something we don’t have in the North, and I am amazed by the seashells embedded within the pavement of the street.

We lay on a beach blanket and roll up a towel for a pillow. I am delighted by the sights and sound of the surf, and the sun on my skin.

The seagulls soaring overhead on the breeze, the pelicans swooping and landing on the water, and the sandpipers dancing at the surf’s edge. They are delightful to watch as they follow the surf back and forth at the waters edge, somehow staying dry and ahead of the rhythm of the waves.

I enjoy looking at and feeling the sand, though this was not true as a baby or small child. My mother would say that as
a baby I would fret if even one spec of sand was on my hands or feet. My mother would have to work diligently to find the offending piece that was so irritating me.

But now the sand intrigues me, I marvel at it’s a mixture of shells and colorful or clear pieces of glass. It is really a site to behold with the sunlight reflecting on the sand and sea.

I delight in swimming and then laying on the blanket to sun dry. I do this several times, before my grandmother pulls oranges out of her beach tote.

Have you ever eaten an orange on the beach? It tastes so different here. It’s like eating the very sunshine that you are basking in. The juice would runs down my arms as I peel the slices, being careful to not get sand into the remaining orange or onto the next slice.

As a youngster I would play with the other children in the park and along the beach. We play a game (not recommended) of dropping sand or shells on the jellyfish that lie on the sand from the previous high tide. One time while swimming, I become wrapped up in the tentacles of a Portuguese man-of-war– its powerful as it surrounds and stings me with its fiery venom. My skin is on fire and I am carried to our trailer. There, a sea of faces look down on me, each telling my frantic mother of something else to put on my burning skin. I now avoid all jellyfish.

Beach Cabana

On windy days, my grandmother puts up her beach wind screen to block the wind from our blanket. It provides a partial view of the beach, but I am grateful for its shelter from the pelting sand. Without it we would not be able to enjoy the beach on such a windy day.

After the beach we walk back to her trailer, where I hear her familiar sing-song phrase “check for tar“. We inspect our feet, legs, arms and hands, and I am often amazed at how much beach tar is on us. My grandmother gets the lighter fluid and a rag and we rub away the tar before we enter the trailer.

coca cola

In the afternoon we walk to the post office to check my grandmother’s mail box. While there we go to the pharmacy that also serves as the town store. There she buys me a magazine or a soda (Coca Cola tastes so much better in those iced small glass bottles).

We also stock up on “After Tan” lotion which seems to darken my sunned skin before my eyes and keeps my skin from peeling. I love the smell of the cocoa butter on my skin. Fortunately, the sun tans my skin naturally and I can only recall one time in my life where I was sun burned.

Later in the afternoon, I ride my bicycle around the park. I find the ocean side of the Briny Breeze park to have a different feel to it than the Intracoastal side. My grandmother tells me to stay away from the Alcatraz section, for they are renters and she does not know any of them.

Most of the park residents know me as Grace’s granddaughter and smile and wave as I peddle past their trailer.

I find it amusing how they decorate their yards with trolls or shells or coconuts or driftwood or other tropical decorations.

Riding past the trailers I sometimes catch a whiff of what is on for dinner from the smells wafting out to the street. Most of the residents are out and about during the day.

During my travels I stop to look at the variety of boats docked in the Marina, or I stop to visit with some of our family friends.

Next stop is the shuffleboard court to watch the games in play. I like the swooshing sound of the disc as it was pushed forward by the cue and then released along the surface to slide to the other end of the court, where it would clink against the other discs.

My father had been an active shuffleboard player, playing in many tournaments around the State along with his best friend Romie, and their friend Lola.

From the court, I wander into the clubhouse and find neighbors playing cards or just visiting. In the cool breeze of the winter weather, with the jalousie windows open to the fresh air, it is a great place to hang out and away from the afternoon sun.

Years earlier, when my family was wintering there, the Brinyites would have bicycle parades.We would decorate our bicycles with streamers and ribbons and ride around the park.

It was great fun. Also I recall how my father would take the telescope up to the beach at night,  and we would take turns with the neighbors, looking at the moon, the stars and the
constellations.

I continue to ride the bike to the playground where I sway back and forth on a swing, looking skyward at the pine and palm trees there.

Next, I ride the bike to the beach, where I sit on it or park it there and walk on the sand. I am often barefoot or in sandals, so I am careful to not get the painful sandspurs in my feet or more of the sea tar on my skin.

I  like to sit by the beach and watch the surfers. It is there that for the first time I see a surfer guy wearing an earring.

One thing I always enjoy with my grandmother is crafting. There is an array of things she teaches me to create. This visit I hand hammer a silver tray (See picture at left) for my parent’s 25th wedding anniversary.

My grandmother’s sister teaches me how to make resin trivets, napkin holders and coasters. I really like putting flowers and shells into suspension.

Never one to be idle, my grandmother loves to knit and keeps her knitting bag at her chair at all times. You will find her watching TV and knitting here in Briny Breezes or in her NJ home.

My grandmother (pictured at left) would often display and sell her crafts at the Briny Breezes Art Shows.

My grandmother was a fabulous cook and cooked most of our meals. She would host great cookouts at her site with many of the neighbors coming over with dishes to share.

Sometimes my grandmother would treat me to a meal at the Seascape restaurant in the Briny Breezes park. (The park’s clubhouse now sits where the restaurant was located.) I’d love eating seafood while looking at the sea. And sometimes we’d join in a potluck dinner at the Quonset hut.

At night we watch TV, play cards, create crafts or go to a movie at the Quonset hut. I recall seeing the Houdini movie starring Tony Curtis there. The Quonset hut was a great gathering
hall for movies, dances and parties.

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