Centennial Beach is one of Naperville, IL residents' favorite hangouts in the summer. Formerly a limestone quarry, Centennial Beach is now a pool that holds 6.2 million gallons of water and has a shallow end, a fifteen-foot deep end, a diving board area, a water slide and a sand play area. "The Beach," as Napervillians refer to it, is the perfect place to hang out with friends, have a family picnic or practice your swimming skills. However, it's certainly a unique experience and there are some things you can only understand if you grew up going there.

1. You have the hardest time explaining it to outsiders.

"Well it's not really a beach, it's just a really big pool, but it has sand so we call it a beach..."

2. In Junior High you hung out there in swarms.

And now that you're older you roll your eyes at all of the Junior High-ers taking over the rafts in the deep end.

3. You waited in line for (what felt like) hours when they first opened the water slide.

And once you went down the steep, but very short, slide you wondered if it was actually worth the wait.

4. You have the safety break announcement memorized.

"May I have your attention please, would all swimmers please clear the water and move off the lower deck, thank you."

5. You have your favorite spot.

Despite the vast lawn area, you have one specific spot where you and your friends always laid out your towels and you weren't happy if someone else was in it.

6. The significance of the deep water test.

Passing the great deepwater test (swimming freestyle across the whole width of the pool and back) was the highly coveted key to the deep end for those who had not yet graduated from the 8th grade.

7. Trying to sneak into the deep end.

If you failed to pass or never attempted the aforementioned test, you were forced to try to sneak past the lifeguards into the deep end with your friends and hoped that if you knew the three rules the lifeguards wouldn't kick you out.

8. Your friends who didn't have season passes were all jealous of you.

For them, going to the Beach was a special event, not an everyday event.

9. At the beginning of the summer the water was colder than arctic ice.

Your mom had no clue how you managed to jump right in, but it didn't phase you.

10. It was a huge accomplishment when you jumped off the high dive for the first time.

And you swore to your friends that you weren't one bit scared.

11. And an even bigger accomplishment when you made it to the middle rafts for the first time.

And you may or may not have been forced by a lifeguard to jump off it because there were so many people on it that it started to sink.

12. When you were little you stayed in the water until your fingers were shriveled and your lips were blue.

And you only came out because your mom made you.

13. Pools aren't always blue.

People who had neighborhood pools with blue painted bottoms may have been slightly grossed out by the murky water, but it didn't bother you.

14. They have the best ice cream.

The Grill's soft serve is hard to beat (especially since it's only $2.75)

15. Never go to the Grill during a safety break.

Everyone who's made that mistake knows that when you go during safety break it'll take at least three times as long to get your food.

16. You've always been jealous of the lifeguard in the kayak.

To you it looks like they get payed to just relax on the water.

17. Normal pools are ruined for you.

When your neighborhood pool is Centennial Beach, all other pools pale in comparison.

Although Centennial Beach may seem a little strange to outsiders, for Napervillians, it's their summertime home.