When I was a very small child, my father played in the Coast Guard Reserve Band on the old Boardwalk bandstand.
My family spent almost every weekend during the summers between 1944 and 1950. My mother would pack a picnic lunch and we would sit on the beach while the band played and then play in the water and have our lunch. My first foray into the ocean was absolutely terrifying to me. I was only about two and my father told me to relax and he would pick me up before the waves broke over me. I was so frightened that I hung onto his leg so tightly I experienced my first taste of sea water.
I loved the Merry-Go-Round, but my older brother always managed to grab a ring. I was always to short to get one. Very disappointing to me.
