Every summer there is one week that I count down to. It’s one week of freedom from all work, woes, and worries. That’s because my family and I spend it at my favorite place on earth: the beach.
I have been going to the same beach in Ocean City, Maryland every year since I was born. Actually, my family has been going there since my dad was about 7 years old, so our one-week stint to the resort town is steeped in tradition. Sunday night is when all 20-ish members of the family sit down in a small apartment to enjoy my aunt’s chicken tetrazzini. Friday night is always spent on the boardwalk enjoying french fries and milkshakes and reminiscing about the week, and the vacation is never complete without at least one trip to the outlets in Delaware for a little tax-free shopping. The week I spend at the beach with my family is easily the best week of the year for me. The week between Christmas and the New Year is a close second, but the warm and sunny weather of midsummer trumps that of frigid December.
Especially in recent years, getting away to the beach is feeling more and more like a necessity. All five members of my immediate family have jobs and we all work at different times, so even when no one is in school, no one stays at home very much. Getting all five of us at the dinner table for just one night is rare enough, and if it weren’t for our vacation, there would be absolutely no way we would be able to spend a whole week together.
Ocean City began as a small fishing town, but in the past decades has exploded into a tourist destination for hundreds in the mid-Atlantic region. It caters to those looking for an extravagant excursion with private beaches and fine dining, as well as those looking for a quick and fairly inexpensive getaway for a few days. From the inlet to the Delaware border, Ocean City is certainly a town with a lot of character.
Even not considering all of the things that make the trip to Ocean City unique, simply the atmosphere of being on the beach is something of which I will never grow tired. How can someone not be relaxed when they’re sitting under the sun, with their feet in the warm sand, listening to nothing but the waves crashing over and over? How can someone not breath a sigh of relief when they smell the salty, open air? How can anyone have any complaints when they look over the horizon and see nothing ahead of them but cool blue for miles and miles?
Sometimes I think that I would like to live at the beach someday, but I also think that only spending one week of the year there also makes it more special. If I got to walk on the sand every day, watching the water, would I grow tired of it? I would hope not, but I know for now I at least have one week of the year where all of my problems seem to miraculously disappear.
