Beach Dreams
I saw a nostalgic photo in the bathroom of a NY City restaurant recently, a picture of the beach at Coney Island and the ocean was absolutely filled with people from where the water met the shore to as far out as people could stand. It was such a great picture that could be interpreted two different ways: what an awful thing to go to a crowded beach OR what an amazing time you'd have in the middle of all those people enjoying the day of the beach. Think of its opposite -- the island beach with white sand and nothing but you and nature, the kind of photos you find in "Travel and Leisure" magazine. It's another setting that could be seen and experienced two different ways -- I've found paradise because I can lie on this beautiful beach or, an hour later, I'm bored because there's nobody here and nothing to do. One test is to ask yourself what you'd have done as a kid. The kid has to prefer the crowded beach with lots going on.
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Maybe this is because I was raised on a farm, where my only playmates most of the day were my siblings, but I'd prefer the beach alone.
Absolutely the beach alone. Now and as a kid. I've never liked to hang out in a crowd.
I think it depends on whether I'd have the family with me or not. If it were just me, or me and my wife, it would definitely have to be the beach all alone, with books a couple rum drinks. If the kids were along, they'd love all the people and excitement. The kids would also love the wide open beach too though, so perhaps the final answer for me would be the empty beach.
Not in my case... I was a kid in a big city with crowded beaches which I really hated (and still do) because it was hard to find a free spot to put things, to play, and to swim.
the photo in question is quite famous - it's by New York photographer Weegee. And should see the picture before you commit to the "crowded beach" side of this argument. He also has a shot taken from the same spot on a cold day showing the same expanse devoid of people - my preference.
When I lived in Florida I enjoyed the beach much more when there was no one else around. There's one exception though, the Air & Sea show where people pack the beach so tight it's difficult to reach the water for miles of the coast. With all the aircraft, hoverboats, and people it's an overload, but in a good way.
if this is the picture, i think i'm in for quiet beach
http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/FOT/FFPOFP38.jpg
I do have fond memories of a crowded beach...Rye Beach, from back in the 1970s when I was just a kid. I remember it because it was the first time I had ever been in salt water at a beach....I can still remember the taste.
Back then, a crowded beach was a good thing for a kid...today, with the fear of child predators, and such, not so much anymore.
ttyl
The kid I was would have preferred the empty beach. The adult I am concurrs.
@#5
I'm with you. The only "amazing" part of being on that beach would be the absolute miracle of kids finding their way back to their parents.
Empty white sands for me, thanks.
Empty beach (because people suck). And yes I know I'm a person, too. :\
Every time I go to a beach with someone, it's usually a bit of a conflict: I want to go to the beach with the largest number of people, they (whomever they are) usually want to go to the quietest one.
Empty beach for me too, please. I was the nerdy, bookish kid who was uncomfortable with people, especially kids my own age. I'm actually quite a gregarious adult, but I'm pretty sure that after living in dense urban areas for my entire adult life I'm still looking for that empty beach. Having said that, Coney Island in the dead of winter is an amazing place.
Most children I know are frightened by large crowds. As a child, I would have preferred a beach with just myself and immediate family (two parents, one sister). I don't agree that "the kid has to prefer the crowded beach with lots going on."
Kid- me's opinion doesn't count. He's not been around for a while and adult me likes empty beaches.
This isn't a child/adult preference, but an introvert/extrovert one. At any age, I'm an introvert, so give me the quiet, bare beach, please.
Empty beaches + Topless ladies FTW!
Empty beaches (more wildlife around)
Crowded pools (more fun, unless you're there for laps)
I once gave my students a writing prompt... something very banal like "What did you do for the 4th of July?" I will never forget this girl's response about driving over an hour to the beach just to find not a single parking space anywhere near the beach. They drove back and forth through crowded streets until finally they gave up and drove all the way home. That always struck me as a really sad passage about overcrowding. From the mouths of babes...
All I can think of is "how many people were out in the water peeing at that moment?"
Count me among the kids who definitely preferred solitude at the beach.
We spent some time each summer at Ocean City, New Jersey. The beach was crowded and you had to hide your valuables. and there were always some real jerks around.
We also spent some time at Hoopers Island, Maryland. From there we would take our little tiny boat out to a sandbar in the Chesapeake Bay; it was just us, the seagulls and the jellyfish. It was heavenly.
I still prefer a place without people.
empty is most combable.
real shocker that the concensus of "happy mutants" is to prefer the empty beach alone vs the beach with lots of people.
how about the scenario of go to senior prom vs. play D&D in your basement. I'm sure that will be a real shocker too.
Me and my buddies used to go to Ocean City, MD all the time..you gotta love a crowd when you are ready to have some fun! Go to the empty secluded beach with your girlfriends...
oh. wait.
Having been to both a few years ago, I'd definitely say the empty or at least less crowded beach. The beach in Waikiki was like a joke; beach towel to beach towel and people sitting around looking miserable. I booked it out of there asap. One beach on Maui was incredible, with just a handful of people, and some Native Hawaiians hanging out smoking and having a great time. I had a blast there.
I grew up 1000 miles from the ocean, so my "go to the beach" analog is "go to the mountains." As a nerdy introvert, the empty natural area is far preferable. If there are five hundred people around, it's harder to watch small animals scurry about. It's harder to build a small fort that doesn't get knocked down. It's harder to walk around pretending you're in a fantasy novel.
Even for the extrovert kids, I think the preference would be a beach empty of everyone but them and their five or six friends. They can throw sand at each other, have swimming races, and start duels with driftwood. If a beach is too crowded, the adults will take away your driftwood swords.
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Beaches aught to be empty, strewn with seaweed, tide pools, molluscs sucking and scraping smooth rounded stones. Jelly fish washed ashore like giant lost prosthetic breasts. Dead sharks, eyes and guts eel eaten clean. Smooth scales from head to tail, like a rasp the other way around.
Sea water cold and dangerous, the sun hidden, rocks slippery.
Ahh Ireland. What lovely beaches.
I simply won't go to the crowded beach, it's just torture. Some places could be considered fun with a crowd (club?) but the beach is not one of them.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/198/487844343_014c70c347.jpg?v=0
I suspect that a beach this crowded was basically before cheap air conditioning.
Man, air conditioning ain't great for the environment, but it's gotta be better than that crowd. Can you imagine the litter?
I'll go with air conditioning, ftw.
And a nice expanse of white sand, crystal blue ocean, and some guy with a blender behind a bar.
I bet you were drunk staring at that picture. There's a great cartoon by Robert Crumb in Weidro 26 about a beach like that.
#16 Some of the most introverted people I know enjoy shopping with their wives on weekends, sitting at a pavement cafe watching people, never saying a word.
I like a beach with some people, but that's definitely nowhere near as crowded as the pic posted by glace neuf. There's got to be room to play some beach games or lie down. If the beach is deserted it's not safe to swim alone, but hanging out w/ a few friends and no one else is nice.