To start off, I live on Long Island not in Long Island, this common misunderstanding drives people insane. 118 miles of flat land, surrounded by ocean. Beaches on all sides, and the city that never sleeps only a train ride away. What could be better than that!
A swift drive down a long stretch of road, water right up to the edge of the highway, entitled Ocean Parkway. OP as the locals call it, runs between two of the most beautiful state parks on Long Island. Jones Beach has been around since 1929. I am lucky enough to call the beautiful beaches making up Jones, my home.
Ever since I can remember my family would be on that beach day in and day out during the summer time. Living five minutes away allowed us to do so. We would set up our own little zone, spanning out our beach chairs, blankets and tents, in order to take up enough space around us so that non-locals would not disturb our piece of the beach. As a state park, Jones Beach sees all walks of life, many people from all over flock to the island during the summer time to get a glimpse of how us locals live all year round. I am the epitome of a beach bum. Summer days you can find me laying out on the sand during my break from work, oh did I mention that I work at the beach!
Come winter time the chilly temps do not deter the regulars. My friends and I will often get takeout food and drive down to the beach, all to just sit in our heated cars while gazing at the beautiful sunsets that our beach provides. OP is also a place for healing. I will never forget the countless car rides down the parkway, blasting music talking about all our problems.
My best friend Caroline and I knew that road like the back of our hands. We would drive down it almost every week, when one of us needed a therapy session, after a breakup or a bad day at school. Come the end of August 2019 it was time to say goodbye to our favorite place. As a proper send off we took a drive down OP, blasting our favorite tunes and reminiscing about all the memories we had made.
As we circled at the turn around to begin heading back home we began to shed a few tears as we realized our happy place was not going to be five minutes away anymore. I was ready to embark on my new journey, but I forever know that the beach is my home.
Captree State Park
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