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Post by Kapitan on Jun 20, 2023 14:15:09 GMT
I had a female intern that summer who was absolutely gorgeous. She happened to be in OC that same weekend, and texted to me if I wanted to meet up with two of her friends. So, my friends and I went to some clubby type bar, overpaid for some beers, and suffered through a mediocre covers band. We waited for what felt like an eternity, and the girls never showed. We decided to salvage our night and move on. We walked down the Boardwalk to a little dive bar with $2 Bud drafts and a drink I'd just been introduced to earlier in the summer called an Orange Crush. Most of the patrons had at least 20 years on us, but we felt more at home there than that other place. I was just a few days shy of 24. Of course, ten minutes after we left, the girls texted to see where we were. Oh well. This is such a big part of late adolescence and early adulthood: excitement, waiting, and potential. You go somewhere because somebody else might be there; you heard there's this great party or bar somewhere; you linger at so-and-so's apartment or dorm room because of [whatever possibility]. (And yes, the majority of these opportunities for potential fun are about a girl/boy.) It's a strange combination of boredom and excitement that more or less amounts to longing.
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Post by kds on Jun 20, 2023 14:23:28 GMT
I had a female intern that summer who was absolutely gorgeous. She happened to be in OC that same weekend, and texted to me if I wanted to meet up with two of her friends. So, my friends and I went to some clubby type bar, overpaid for some beers, and suffered through a mediocre covers band. We waited for what felt like an eternity, and the girls never showed. We decided to salvage our night and move on. We walked down the Boardwalk to a little dive bar with $2 Bud drafts and a drink I'd just been introduced to earlier in the summer called an Orange Crush. Most of the patrons had at least 20 years on us, but we felt more at home there than that other place. I was just a few days shy of 24. Of course, ten minutes after we left, the girls texted to see where we were. Oh well. This is such a big part of late adolescence and early adulthood: excitement, waiting, and potential. You go somewhere because somebody else might be there; you heard there's this great party or bar somewhere; you linger at so-and-so's apartment or dorm room because of [whatever possibility]. (And yes, the majority of these opportunities for potential fun are about a girl/boy.) It's a strange combination of boredom and excitement that more or less amounts to longing. Yep. And, looking back, it's probably for the best that the three girls and my friends & I didn't cross paths that night. Not to sound like a pessimist, but it's not like we could even hear each other at this venue, and the girls were probably there more to party than to talk to three awkward, horny guys. So, I suspect, we'd have put up with more overpriced beers and lousy entertainment, just to leave disappointed. I think we made the right choice.
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Post by kds on Jun 21, 2023 13:39:16 GMT
2005-06
2005 The summer of 2005 was much hotter than the summer of 2005. Unfortunately, my hours at 98 Rock had been cut. The company decided that it would be better to hire a third promotions assistant rather than pay me overtime in the summer months. That didn’t help my finances at all, especially as my car was beginning to act up. And, at this point, I was beginning to tire of radio. My friends all had 9-5 jobs, with a set schedule, and decent pay. Here I was, taking the road less travelled, missing out on good times with my friends, and struggling to fit into any of the social cliques at work.
One night, while playing some Madden and listening to music, I was randomly going through my CDs, looking for more mellow, summery type songs. One such song was Eric Clapton’s reggae cover of Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door. This sparked the idea to compile a summer mix. It was truly a labor of love with my laptop, but I put together two CDRs of summer songs that I dubbed “Chill Rock.” It included that EC cover, and some of the other random songs I’d mentioned in this thread that conjured up feelings over summertime, including two older songs I’d recently discovered – Terry Reid’s Seed of Memory and To Be Treated, each of which I listened to a lot that summer when I got a promo copy of The Devils’ Rejects Soundtrack. I listened to these CDRs when relaxing, or when I was grilling out.
That summer, I also developed a fondness for a flavored rum (more of a liqueur really) called Parrot Bay. I would get a bottle, put it in the freezer, and just take it out the freezer, and drink from the bottle while listening to my summer mix. It was around this time that I begin to appreciate the calmness of solitude.
I did make it to the beach a few times that summer. RM, RB, and I finally did our fishing trip in June. I went for a few days with my folks. And, in September, RB, SB, and I capped off the summer of 2005 by going to Ocean City for Bike Week, for a long weekend. Neither SB or I are bikers, but RB, who did ride at the time, suggested it. I’ll admit, it took me a while to get used to the sheer noise of it all, but a summer tradition was born.
2006
By the summer of 2006, I was out of radio, having quit my job at 98 Rock in January. After a winter stint with some fly by night company, I made a tough decision. I decided to quit that job and go back to school for a business degree. I also went back to Circuit City. I guess my previous five years have me cart blanche. Not only did they give me my old wage, but they granted my request to not work any Saturday nights or Sundays. My return to college actually began with a summer semester. So, that summer, I spent most my time working and going college work. I was also listening a lot of David Gilmour’s recently released On an Island album. Most weekends, I’d go to the bar to meet SB on Saturday night, and just chill out on Sundays. Occasionally, we’d grill out with my brand new Weber grill. The one I’d gotten from home was old, and was rusting away, so I got a brand new one from Sears, and used it a few times that summer.
Wanting to really get into summer, I decided to expand my Chill Rock collection to four CDRs. Instead of just adding two additional ones, I tossed the ones I made in 2005 in favor of a new set, mainly because I wanted to add music by The Beach Boys and Jimmy Buffett. I got copies of Sounds of Summer and Songs You Know By Heart, and added a few songs from each onto my collection, along with new David Gilmour songs.
All in all, it was a pretty enjoyable summer. My roommates RM and RB spent a lot of time at their respective girlfriends’ houses, so I practically lived along for the bulk of that summer. It was peaceful, save for the fact that I needed to find a place to live soon with RB moving his girlfriend in that fall.
On an August beach trip with my folks, I bit the bullet, and asked if I could move back in. I really didn’t have any other options. RB, SB, and I did Bike Week again in September, and it rained pretty much the whole time. We made the best of it, but it was sort of a bummer to end summer with a soggy weekend just before moving back home.
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Post by kds on Jun 22, 2023 15:27:09 GMT
2007-08
2007
By the summer of 2007, I'd been a part of a massive layoff at Circuit City since the company was dying. Struggling to find a job, thanks to my EMF degree and lack of experience, I took a part time gig at Lowe's Home Improvement. Considering I was 26, going on 27, living with my folks, and working a rather low pay gig at Lowe's, I couldn't help thinking my life was moving backwards a bit. Especially since I was back to working odder hours, including Sundays again.
To top things off, it was a very hot summer, and the AC on my car went up. I remember one particular day was one of the hottest I can recall. I think the air temp was around 105, and high humidity. Now, I enjoy hot and humid weather, but this was a bit much even for me. That particular day, I drove to Ocean City around 10am to meet my folks down there for a couple days (it was hard for me to get more than two consecutive days off). With the AC on the fritz, I had to pull over a few times on the three hour drive just to cool off. When I got down there, even the usually cooler coastal air offered no respite from the heat. The pool at my folks' complex might as well have been a hot tub. Even the sunset offered little relief, as we chose to avoid the Boardwalk that night, opting instead for walking around an air conditioned mall.
The summer of 2007 was when I also got my first Hawaiian shirt, buying it early in the summer on sale at KMart, and I added another on sale at Sears later in the summer. It was also the summer that I started to gravitate towards more summer type beers. Margaritaville released Land Shark that summer, and it instantly became a go to summer beer.
I was able to cap off summer with a long weekend in OC for Bike Week with SB and RM (RB couldn't afford it, so he stayed home). That three day trip was easily the highlight of that summer.
2008
Things were looking better by summer 2008. I'd gotten a full time office job the previous December. So, for the first time since 1995, I had every weekend off. I spent most of the weekends of that summer looking for a house. That spring, I'd talked to SB who needed a place to live soon. He suggested I buy a house since my situation was stabilizing and he could move in and pay my rent to help with the mortgage. Being perpetually single, this was a great idea. So, most Saturdays that summer, I was looking at houses.
So, I was at home for another summer, but with a full time job, looking at houses, and another year of school under my belt, I didn't really have that "going backwards feeling."
I had started to explore The Beach Boys a little more, buying the Warmth of the Sun comp, the companion to Sounds of Summer. I didn't listen to my summer music too much for the most part, except weekends when my folks would leave town, and I had the place to myself. The best was Fourth of July Weekend. I had three days off and a house to myself. I got myself some summer beers and just relaxed.
Early that summer, I also reconnected with my old friend JD. We got together for beers, and it was like old times again. It didn't take long for us to plan a long weekend in Ocean City, which we did in late June. It really felt like going back in time, except that we could actually go into the bars now.
I also did a long weekend in August with my folks.
At the end of summer, SB and I went to Bike Week for a long weekend (RM chose not to go, RB had just had a kid). Instead of leaving on Thursday afternoon, we left late Wednesday night after my night class. We had so much fun on that trip that we talked about the possibility of stretching it for a full week the following year.
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Post by kds on Jun 23, 2023 12:40:59 GMT
2009-11
2009
I bought a rowhouse in Baltimore City in November 2008, and moved in with my friend SB in December. By late May, I completed a degree in Business. SB and I planned on going to Ocean City for Bike Week for a full week in September, my first full vacation since 2001.
So, the summer of 2009 was a new kind of summer for me. I was 28, going on 29, but this was the first summer of my life where I didn't have to work weekends, or attend classes, or live at home. It felt....great.
At the beginning of the summer, JD and I did another long weekend in Ocean City. The weather was less than great, but we made the best of it.
When, the weekends rolled around, each Friday night, I would go to dinner with my folks and sister after work, then go home, get in comfy clothes, put on the Orioles game, and just sit and listen to music. I would mix up summery selections from my Beach Boys and Buffett comps, along with my summer Chill Rock mixes, and other various stuff. I'd added songs like Home by the Sea by Genesis (I didn't really pay attention to the lyrics, so that fact that it was a song about ghosts escaped me at the time), I Love the Night by Blue Oyster Cult, and Bring on the Night by the Police. By summer's end, I would create a fifth volume of Chill Rock. On Friday nights, my roommate was either at the bar, or he's retire early to bed. So, I almost always had those nights to myself to enjoy and relax.
On Saturday nights, SB and I would walk to the bar, and usually wound up closing the place down.
When I moved home, I gave my grill to my friend RB because I didn't know what I was going to do with it. When I moved into my house, he offered to give it back, as he barely used it. So, with my Weber grill back in my new house, I grilled out for each of the summer holidays, and we had pretty modest get togethers.
Mostly, it was a summer about anticipation of that big September trip. As a result, it's one of the few summers I can recall that didn't fly by like a breeze.
The big week in September finally came, and it was glorious. A whole week of the beach, untethered by work or responsibility, or family squabbles. It really was everything I'd hoped for.
2010
Two things changed from 2009 to 2010. I had grown tired of going to the bar, so I started staying home on Saturday nights. I was also feeling like something was missing in my life, namely a female companion. I was perpetually single in my 20s, and I always had an excuse for why. I was working weird hours. I was living at home again. But, now, I had those excuses no longer. I wouldn't say I was totally lonely, but for the first time, I really started to put myself out there, and did some dating in 2010. Nothing that really went anywhere.
Other than that the summer was similar. JD and I did a long weekend in Ocean City in June. I went there in August with my family. I remember being at a place called The Frog Bar for dinner and the bartender played Kenny Chesney's When the Sun Goes Down on the jukebox at sunset. I grilled out on the summer weekends.
Iron Maiden released their Final Frontier album at the end of the summer, so I definitely identify that album with later summer.
SB and I did Bike Week again. Since we'd done it the year prior, I feel like the summer of 2010 went a little quicker, since the trip wasn't as mystical as the year prior.
2011
Once again, I did a little dating. Once again, it really went nowhere. Actually, I had a girlfriend briefly in the spring, but she friendzoned me just prior to summer. Of course, when you start out dating, "let's be friends," is a nice way of saying "Hit the bricks, Pal."
The biggest chance in 2011 was the birth of my niece in late July. I was actually surprised my sister brought her baby down to Ocean City in August, considered you really can't have newborns in the sun for too long.
I started to embrace sitting out on the deck a little more. Unfortunately, being in a rowhouse, that meant the neighbors were right there, or you smelled cigarette smoke from the neighborhood. I also didn't have smart phone, or means to play music outside other than bringing out a boombox, so my deck time was typically short lived except for times where I grilled.
JD and I went to Ocean City for what would be, to date, the last time in mid May. But, he was down there with his family when SB went down for Bike Week in September, so he joined us out for drinks.
Perhaps the most memorable event of summer, save for becoming and uncle, happened in late August. I was supposed to see Jimmy Buffett with RB, his second wife, and his sister, but Hurricane Irene came up the coast, and the show was postponed. Instead, we had a Hurricane Party at his folks' house, which was down the street from me. We played Buffett, drank Land Shark, grilled out, and even had steamed crabs. The Hurricane had become a Tropical Storm by the time it got to Maryland, so all we really got was a day long rain. But, we had an absolute blast that Saturday.
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Post by kds on Jun 26, 2023 12:26:27 GMT
2012
I can't really put my finger on it, or explain it, but there was a certain something in the air in the summer of 2012. I honestly felt a buzz that summer that I don't think I'd felt since the summers of my youth.
It could be a few things. This particular summer, the Baltimore Orioles wound up being in a pennant chase for the first time in my adult life. It was also the summer that I really got into The Beach Boys, after seeing a C50 show that June. But, I honestly felt a certain electricity in the air before anyone knew the Orioles were for real or I got my Beach Boys ticket.
I did do some dating that summer. Again, nothing really went anywhere. I do remember one case where a girl and I really seemed to hit it off.....via text at least. There was one rainy Sunday in early August that I sat around the house, spending the entire day texting her. But, when we met, it just wasn't there. There was another girl later in the summer who I legit thought might've been the one. But, I was ghosted after one date.
I remember embracing my back deck more that summer. There was a Saturday in early June where I had the house to myself with my roommate at a street festival. I sat outside that afternoon, and even made myself lunch on the grill.
I didn't make it to Ocean City until late July, when I went down to meet my family for a long weekend - my parents, my sister, her boyfriend, and my one year old niece.
As I said that really was my big BB summer. I bought several of their albums that summer, along with Peter Carlin's book, and a used DVD of Endless Harmony. By mid August, I finally got my copy of TWGMTR, which I really wish I'd have bought earlier in the summer to listen to all summer long.
SB and I did our fourth week long Bike Week trip, and I think it was our best. Everything just seemed to fall into place. And, we got to attend a great show by Jackyl, whose When Will It Rain I always identified with the great summer of 1993.
Going back to that girl who ghosted me in late August. I was close to vacation, so I felt a little burned out on dated. So much so that I ignored a message from a girl on the online dating site I was using for nearly a week. I did finally respond and met that girl at the end of September, just as summer was ending. I found out that girl had a birthday on the same date that I saw The Beach Boys earlier in the summer.
Now, I'm not a huge believer in fate or anything like that, but feeling a certain energy that whole summer, combined that the significance of that date in mid June did cause to to wonder. I didn't know at the time, but that Sunday date at the end of the summer of 2012 would change my life.
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Post by kds on Jun 27, 2023 12:37:28 GMT
2013-14
2013
By summer 2013, the girl I met in September 2012 were pretty serious. She and I were pretty busy during the work week, especially with her going through training to become a teacher. But, we'd pretty much always spend all weekend together. We spent a lot of time on the deck, drinking summery drinks. I'd grill sometimes and bring out my boombox to play Beach Boys and Buffett CDs.
I grilled out pretty often, and we still had get togethers on summer weekends.
Early in the summer, we decided to buy tickets to see Jimmy Buffett for a local August concert. In order to prep for the show, I started to buy some of his albums like A1A, Changes in Attitudes Changes in Latitudes, and Son of a Son of a Sailor. Back then, Best Buy was still selling catalog CDs for $4.99 each. Prior to then, I'd only listened to Buffett comps, but I really enjoyed these 70s albums, CIACIL in particular.
Also, in the Spring, I got myself a used copy of Bob Marley's Legend. Yep, I'm one of those lame white guys who listens to Bob Marley's Legend in the summertime.
Due to both mine and my girlfriend's busy schedules, it would tough to make time to go to Ocean City together, but we found time to take a couple short weekend trips. The money was a little tight, but we had good times.
SB and I did our final Bike Week trip. My girlfriend wasn't happy, but she understood. She and I could do a week together due to her schedule. And, SB and I had already started to discuss the trip before things got serious. We had our usual fun that September, and looking back, I wish I'd have told him then that it would be our last hurrah. I'm really not sure why I didn't.
In August, my girlfriend and I saw Buffett in concert.
2014
In March 2014, I got my current job, which provided me a nice little pay raise.
In June 2014, my girlfriend moved in. Despite things moving pretty fast in the right direction, SB was still living at the house. In hindsight, I probably should have asked him to move out when my girlfriend moved in. But, to be honest, I don't think the two of us could've afforded to live without the rent I was getting from him, as she was still in the beginning stages of her education career.
In late July, she and I took our first extended trip to Ocean City. We still had to dance around her schedule, so we did an odd Tuesday - Tuesday trip. We also went down there for Labor Day Weekend with my family.
Earlier in the summer, she and I went to the old church carnival I used to frequent as a kid. We stayed long enough to have a beer in the beer garden and some food. The rides and games were pretty lame, so we opted to get some beers and go back home.
I completed my Beach Boys studio collection that summer.
I'll admit, without the Bike Week trip I'd been taking since 2005, the end of summer was somewhat anticlimactic. But, the first weekend of the fall included a marriage proposal.
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Post by carllove on Jun 27, 2023 13:59:09 GMT
Well - I’m a lame white girl who also listens to Bob Marley in the Summer 🤷♀️ I had Exodus on 8 track in my 67 Camaro convertible in High School in the late 70’s.
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Post by kds on Jun 27, 2023 14:20:55 GMT
Well - I’m a lame white girl who also listens to Bob Marley in the Summer 🤷♀️ I had Exodus on 8 track in my 67 Camaro convertible in High School in the late 70’s. I still haven't really explored any more of Marley's catalog. Unlike The Beach Boys and Jimmy Buffett, I haven't really heard anything that made me want to dig any deeper. With me, I only find that a little Marley goes a long way. I have several songs on my summer playlists, and I might put Legend on the CD player on the way to the beach, but in general my listening sessions with Bob are pretty brief.
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Post by carllove on Jun 27, 2023 17:29:08 GMT
Well - I’m a lame white girl who also listens to Bob Marley in the Summer 🤷♀️ I had Exodus on 8 track in my 67 Camaro convertible in High School in the late 70’s. I still haven't really explored any more of Marley's catalog. Unlike The Beach Boys and Jimmy Buffett, I haven't really heard anything that made me want to dig any deeper. With me, I only find that a little Marley goes a long way. I have several songs on my summer playlists, and I might put Legend on the CD player on the way to the beach, but in general my listening sessions with Bob are pretty brief. Exodus is still my favorite Bob Marley album. You should give it a listen. It’s really good.
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Post by kds on Jun 28, 2023 12:34:37 GMT
2015-16
2015
By the summer of 2015, I no longer had a girlfriend, I had a fiance. Luckily, the wedding wasn't until November 2015, so the planning and such really didn't interfere with our summer.
This would be the last year that we would have get togethers at the house for the summer holidays.
This would be a big Beach Boys themed summer for my fiance and me. In the spring, Brian Wilson released NPP, and we listened to that quite often that spring and summer. We saw Love and Mercy in theaters when it was released in June. We saw Brian Wilson in Philadelphia in late June, which is probably the best BW show I've ever seen. In late August, we capped our vacation with a Sunday matinee show from Mike and Bruce, with the added bonus of David Marks playing that show.
We took several Ocean City trips that summer. We went in June for the Air Show, the only time to date I've done that. In August, we did a week long trip. And, we concluded summer with a Labor Day Trip, after which we went into full on wedding mode.
I didn't mention it before, but with my fiance, during these summers, I had somebody to watch my silly summer comedies with - Summer Rental, One Crazy Summer, Weekend at Bernie's, etc.
2016
The summer of 2016 was our first summer as a married couple.
On Memorial Day Saturday, SB moved out. Yep, he was still living there. In hindsight, I probably should've asked him to move out sooner. But, to be honest, the rent check really helped with the wedding. And, he'd have probably moved out soon after the wedding if not for the death of one his friends that put him in a funk. So, I treaded lightly due to that.
But, that Memorial Day Weekend was pretty special. My wife and I finally had the house all to ourselves. To SB's credit, he was as good a roommate as a couple could hope for. He left us to our own devices, but he's always been a bit of a loner.
I grilled out a lot that summer, and my wife and I spent quite a bit of time on the deck on weekends listening to Buffett, Brian Wilson, or Beach Boys Pandora.
That summer, we started our tradition of doing a weeklong Ocean City trip in Mid July. It worked out better for my work schedule than August, and for whatever reason, Ocean City was a little less crowded in mid July. We also did a long weekend with my family in August.
When Labor Day approached, we were all doing to go down, but there was threat of a Hurricane / Tropical Storm. My father, sister, and her boyfriend opted to stay home. My mother still wanted to go. And, I kept checking the forecast. By the Thursday prior to Labor Day, it didn't look bad, so we went for it. And I'm glad we did. The three of us had a ball. After a heavy rain that Saturday morning, the clouds cleared, and we had a beautiful weekend. Granted, the ocean was far too rough for swimming, but we just had fun hanging out on the Boardwalk, taking in views of the water. And the threat of weather kept the crowds way down. It was a great way to end the summer.
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Post by kds on Jun 29, 2023 13:08:54 GMT
2017
The summer of 2017 might have been the most stressful summer of my life. A lot of big things were going on.
In April, we found out we had a child on the way. We were already in the process of trying to sell our modest rowhouse in Baltimore City. But, and I totally blame HGTV Culture for this, we had trouble since the house wasn't really "modern." Sure, I could've poured thousands of dollars to remodel and up the resale price, but I honestly didn't think it was worth it.
By late June, we finally had a buyer (I did take a hit, and I feel I probably still would've lost money had I remodeled), and we found a little rancher in Baltimore County.
Now, anyone who has ever moved knows it's one of the most stressful things a first worlder can experience.
We did still have our vacation in Ocean City scheduled for mid July, and we still went, but even that offered a temporary respite. On one day, I had to go to a branch at my bank to get a few years worth of documents and have them fax them to my title company. It just so happened this branch had the slowest fax machine known to man, so I was there for a while. And, despite my trying to tell them I was not in town, I received endless emails and calls from the title company. I eventually gave them an earful by the end of the week, because every single time I would provide them with something, and was assured that was all we needed, they came back with another request.
But, come late July, and two closings later (house I sold and house I bought), we finally moved into our new house. We moved in the last Sunday in July. I immediately fell in love with the back deck. That first night, I went outside with some rum after dinner, and sat there until it got dark. Unlike the deck in my City house, I didn't have neighbors right on top of me, just a nice calming view of my big green yard.
I made a habit on weekends of spending a lot of time outside. My wife opted to binge watch reality TV and stay in the AC, away from the humidity and mosquitoes. But, I would sit out there on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, listening to Jimmy Buffett Pandora until dark. From that channel, I started to get into some summer time country music from the likes of Kenny Chesney, Zac Brown, etc. I later learned that there was a whole slew of country artists that come about in the late 90s / early 00s who were influenced by Buffett. It also included some other summertime far like Escape by Rupert Holmes, a song I never really paid much attention to until my wife and I saw a summer covers band called The Beach Bumz while on vacation.
And then, the problems began. We had some plumbing issues. I'd hoped they were minor. They were not. Both our basement and our driveway needed to be dug up to repair underground pipes. Thank goodness for insurance. But, it was no less stressful. This lead to increased deck time and increased drinking. The Buffett channel also included Bobby McFerrin's Don't Worry Be Baby and a mash up of Somewhere Over the Rainbow and What a Wonderful World by Isreal Kamakawiwoʻole. Both of those songs along with the mix of Buffett and Tropi-country really helped ease my stress. Of course, the idea of me being a father soon stressed me out too. And, I think I was also drinking heavily, knowing that I'd soon not to able to over indulge without being woken up by a tiny human.
I also grilled out as much as possible. I did have to invest in a mosquito repellant lantern.
We did two Ocean City trips before summer's end. It was actually nice to get away from the disaster area by home had become. We joined by family in mid August, and went down for Labor Day.
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Post by kds on Jun 30, 2023 13:07:21 GMT
2018-19
2018
Talk about another big life change. Our son was born in Dec 2017. So, the summer of 2018 was our first summer as parents. So, we set sail on uncharted waters.
On Memorial Day Weekend, we took our almost six month old to Ocean City for the very first time. There's not a ton a baby can do down there, but he immediately seemed to take to my folks' place down there. We strolled the Boardwalk with a stroller. My Ocean City life had entered the next phase, the beach as a father. On that trip, I also enjoyed my first sip of alcohol as a father, a cold draft beer at a waterfront bar called The Frog Bar (we didn't hang out at a bar with a baby, but they used to validate downtown parking with a purchase there). Until then, I totally abstained from alcohol from the day he was born.
Later that summer, we took him back to the beach, and he really enjoyed floating in the pool at my folks' complex. We did our first family vacation in mid July. He seemed to have a blast.
Back at the house, I just trying to figure out how to still do my summer hobbies with a baby. The first time I grilled, I wanted until he went to sleep to light her up. I still vividly remember the evening. I tried a new shandy called National Bohemian Crab Shack Shandy which was a summer beer I feel in love with, but sadly, was short lived. This proved to be less than ideal, because lighting the grill late meant a late dinner. Eventually, I settled into my grill routine that I still do today. I'll go outside between 4:30p - 5p while my wife watches our son. This way, dinner is usually ready by 6p - 6:30p.
By 2018, I'd moved on from Pandora to Spotify, so I got to put all my summer music onto a big playlist. I hadn't made the plunge for premium yet, so I had to listen on shuffle, but I enjoyed it, since the Pandora channels could get a little repetitive.
2019
We no longer had an infant, we had a toddler. He could walk now, and when we took the little guy to Ocean City, we became those parents who used a leash. I sore I never would, but these little humans can have an impressive burst of speed when they want, and in a crowded public place, better safe than sorry.
We tried to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible in the summer of 2019, going to parks on weekends when we were home. We also ran around in the backyard quite a bit.
By the time my son was a toddler, we'd settled into a fairly consistent bedtime of 8pm. That was great for me, especially for my weekend night deck sessions. An 8pm bedtime allowed me the luxury of going out on the deck with my Spotify summer tunes with some daylight, at least until about mid August.
In late June 2019, we flew to California for a few days to stay with my wife's half sister. If we could do that trip again, we'd have rented a car. Their house was just outside of San Jose, and every trip we took was about a two hour drive, and we were on their schedule. I'd have really liked to explore Fisherman's Wharf when we went to San Francisco for example. Or see more of downtown Monterey. The highlight of the trip was a day trip to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. It was the first, and to date, only time I've seen the Pacific. I'd have loved to have stayed there long enough to see the sun set over the ocean. Maybe another time.
That trip made us both pine for our own beach, Ocean City. And we went for our usual week in July. While fun, we didn't sleep a lot, as our son kept waking up in the middle of the night, and it took us a while to get him back to sleep.
My sister had married the guy she met in late 2015 earlier in the year. So, the whole gang went to the beach in August for a few days.
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Post by kds on Jun 30, 2023 15:37:01 GMT
I still haven't really explored any more of Marley's catalog. Unlike The Beach Boys and Jimmy Buffett, I haven't really heard anything that made me want to dig any deeper. With me, I only find that a little Marley goes a long way. I have several songs on my summer playlists, and I might put Legend on the CD player on the way to the beach, but in general my listening sessions with Bob are pretty brief. Exodus is still my favorite Bob Marley album. You should give it a listen. It’s really good. I decided to give Exodus a listen. I was already familiar with half of it as five of the ten tracks were on Legend, including my favorite Three Little Birds. Pretty good album I'd say. Though, my opinion of Bob Marley, and reggae in general, is that a little goes a long way. I love to mix some in while doing my summer listening, especially if there's a cold cocktail and water view, but I find that after a while, I lose interest a bit.
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Post by kds on Jul 3, 2023 12:30:40 GMT
2020
We all remember what the summer of 2020 was about. The dreaded summer of COVID.
As summertime neared, we really weren't sure what kind of summer we were going to have. My mid May, the stay at home orders were lifted, and by mid summer, some of the other restrictions, like indoor dining began to ease.
Right around Memorial Day, Jimmy Buffett released his first album of original songs in seven years - Life On the Flip Side - and it couldn't have been released at a better time. It became my soundtrack to the summer of 2020. The only bad thing about a May 2020 is that Jimmy really never got to properly tour the album.
I remember on the first night of the Fourth of July Weekend, we got a babysitter, and my wife and I had our first date night in about five months. I don't think I'd ever been so happy to dine in a restaurant in my life. Even if we had to get our temperature taken at the door.
My big silver lining of the summer of 2020, and I swear I'm not trying to make light of the situation, was that the restrictions really gave us a chance to slow down a little bit. We got to spend time at home, and just take things a little more leisurely at the beginning of that summer. I probably grilled more often in that spring / early summer 2020 period than I ever had prior. I enjoyed a lot of deck time that summer.
In mid July, we did still take our annual Ocean City vacation. Just about everything down there was open, with social distancing and masks, which we complied with. It was the least crowded I'd ever seen it down there in the summertime. On one hand, it was nice to see smaller crowds, but it was bad for the businesses down there that rely on the summer months. Some, sadly, would not recover. But, we basically got to do everything that we'd done on previous trips.
We did a trip with my folks in August. My sister and her husband decided to stay home since my sister was pregnant. We went down again for the Labor Day Weekend.
The summer of 2020 was also the first summer of my adult life that I didn't attend a concert or an Orioles game. There were no concerts to attend. The Orioles started a truncated season in late July, but played to empty stadiums.
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