When did ‘beach essentials’ go from book and chair to charcoal grill and espresso maker?
At some point in the last decade, or so it seems, the list of items that beachgoers have deemed “essential” had a growth spurt.
On the Caspian Avenue beach in Atlantic City, Steven “Wes” Wesley last weekend lifted the lid on his mini charcoal grill and carefully tended to a full pit of franks glistening in the salt-tinged air.
He’s brought his $20 grill to his favorite wedge of beach for the last five years, cooking up hot dogs, sausages, and hamburgers to feed his large family (blood and extended).
“I barbecue whatever we bring, and that’s what we’ll eat the rest of the day,” said Wesley, who lives in Somerdale, Camden County.
The beach grill, he said, is “most definitely” essential for the beach.
For many beachgoers, that bar used be lower: a good book, a sturdy chair, maybe a Disney-themed towel.
Bob Stokes of Hatfield said he and his family, who have been visiting Long Beach Island for more than 30 years, would bring musical instruments to the beach to serenade their fellow sunbathers.
“We’d bring guitars,” he said. “We had what we call ‘beater guitars,’ ones that you’re not worried about getting messed up, so you can just drag them along anywhere.”
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But at some point in the last decade, or so it seems, the list of items that beachgoers have deemed “essential” had a growth spurt.
Think full-size folding tables, camping tents, baby pools, hammocks to string between fishing-pier poles.
“Espresso coffee maker,” Gloria Irizarry said in an email. “I have an electric model I pack and can use anywhere. Love being able to have my espresso before running to the beach.”
Shanna Killion, a senior at Nazareth Academy High School, is a beach tag inspector in Avalon. She said she’s seen a range of strange items on her daily patrols.
“I saw one girl brought a blow-up bed,” said Killion, 17. “She was reading and I was like, ‘You look comfortable.’ ”
And then there’s the beach vehicles.
Glenn Donahue has spent a majority of his 50 years at the Shore. He grew up in Cape May and now lives in Northfield. He still visits the beaches of Cape May and the Wildwoods, where he tosses around a baseball with his two teenage sons. (“Not a glove, because the sand gets in ‘em,” he added.)
And he said he’s seen the evolution of the beach wagons, which started as a helpful way to carry your belongings (and sit a toddler) but have transformed into all-terrain carriers with bulbous wheels and stacked high with beach chairs, balls, toys, and kitchen utensils.
“They’re bringing back the same stuff, and half of it wasn’t used,” Donahue said. “Be simple. That’s a key word. What do you really need?”
For some vacationers (especially without their children in tow), there’s only one answer.
“Around here you would bring wine,” joked Sasha Scott of Malvern, vacationing in Avalon, “but in your water bottle so you clearly don’t get caught.”