CLEO COYLE: The start of summer always revives wonderful sensory memories for me and my husband: the smell of fresh-cut grass, the crunch of corn on the cob, the splash of pool water, and swoosh and awe of fireworks. One of my favorite memories from childhood happened every year in early June.
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| Photos from our younger years! Click here to learn more about us and the books we write together as Cleo Coyle. |
After spending nine months cooped up in classrooms, we kids were rewarded with a special “school picnic” day at Kennywood, a charming, century-old amusement park south of Pittsburgh. As a budding foodie, I looked forward to noshing on the park's carnival food as much as riding its landmark wooden coasters. Corn dogs, candy apples, double-dipped ice cream cones, fresh-cut fries, and cotton candy (yes, all in one day of indulgence)! I loved it so much as a child, I even took a summer job there between high school and college. I was a “rides” girl and worked on crews that ran everything from the Ferris Wheel and Bob Sleds to the Pirate Ship, and even this locally famous old coaster: The Jack Rabbit...
Take a ride with us now in the front seat of this wonderful, landmark wooden roller coaster. To start the video, hit the white arrow in the center of the window below and don't forget to throw your arms up on the way down!
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This video is a real blast from my past and my husband's, who also grew in the Western Pennsylvania area. If you don’t see a window (above), click here to ride the coaster with us on YouTube.
Now it's your turn!
Do you have favorite summer memories from childhood?
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MADDIE: I was a big reader as a child. I lived in an inland suburb of Los Angeles, the Pasadena area, so it was not only hot, it was smoggy. One of my favorite afternoon treats was whirring up chocolate ice cream and milk in the old two-speed blender. I would pour it into one of the metal mugs we had and take my shake and my book outside to sit under a tree to read.
My parents had planted apricot, yellow and white peach, lemon, and fig trees when they bought the house when I was four. We never had an in-ground pool, but most summers saw a big kiddie pool with the inflated sides. I loved to pick a big ripe peach and dunk it in the pool to "wash" it (as adult I wonder how many kids had peed in that pool...). I would sit on a swing eating it, then jump in the pool to wash off the juice.
Now I find myself slightly allergic to raw peaches, which distresses me. But not to cooked! When the peaches are ripe at my local farm stand here in Massachusetts, I make Peach Pie.
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LUCY BURDETTE: We spent a lot of our summer time at the beach with my mother's sisters, especially Aunt Barbara and her family. Sometimes we rented a cottage at the Jersey Shore, and sometimes a house in Hatteras, North Carolina. Our pets always came with us--dogs, cats, and guinea pigs. We spent hours and hours in the ocean, and when not in the water we played endless card games and kick the can. The adults played right along with the kids--such fun memories! We didn't have the extra money to eat out a lot (plus, four kids!), so those meals were special. My favorite was probably the fish fry at the Hatteras Fire Station. There'd be fried fish (caught that morning), delicious potato salad and cole slaw, and the biggest treat of all--hushpuppies!
PEG/MARGARET: At least once during the summer, my parents would bundle us into the car after dinner and head to Asbury Park and the boardwalk. We would begin to get excited when we crossed over the Driscoll Bridge and once we could smell salt in the air, we’d know we were almost there! The whirling teacups was the first ride we’d see when we entered the boardwalk and we’d wait impatiently as our father bought tickets so we could ride them. Then we’d stroll up and down the boardwalk, which was all lit up and in stark contrast to the dark, mysterious ocean barely visible in the distance. Oh, the noise! Bells ringing at the booths with games of chance, people screaming as the roller coaster made its descent. The smells! Popcorn popping, hot dogs grilling and the ever-present tang in the air from the ocean. We were allowed one treat and we usually chose cotton candy. I can still feel the grittiness of the sugar against my teeth! And then it would be back to the car where we’d inevitably fall asleep on the way home!
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LESLIE KARST: I spent my formative years in Columbus, Ohio, and although my folks—both native Californians—detested the bitter winters and hot, humid, summers of the midwest, we kids adored the snow and fireflies that arrived with the change of seasons.
To flee the summertime humidity, our parents would drive us all up to Acadia National Park in Maine for a few weeks each August, and my most vivid memory of these camping trips is, not surprisingly, food-related. Each day, we’d head off to pick buckets of blueberries, which my mom would mix into pancake batter for a glorious breakfast the following day. I still can taste those plump, juicy, tangy-sweet berries. The flavor of summer. Heaven. (Here’s a shot of me with my younger sister, off for a blueberry-hunting foray.)
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MOLLY MACRAE: So many wonderful memories of summer! In sifting through them, though, I realized the common ingredient to most is being outside. My brothers and friends and I seemed to spend most of our days and evenings outside. Nights, too, under the stars - no tents - rolled up in our dad's old wool army blankets. We led charmed lives exploring, hiking, riding bikes, swimming, climbing trees. And picnicking! We ate at least one meal a day outside, sometimes more (scorched bacon, eggs, and toast over a fire, anyone? The best!). The weather didn't always cooperate, so there were also Monopoly games that lasted for days, each of us clutching fistfuls of sweaty Monopoly cash and arguing over what rules to follow. Here's a picture my husband took of us carrying on the tradition of outdoor eating with our boys and my dear old dad one long ago June in perfect (ha!) picnic weather. Makes me smile every time I think of it.
The place I remember best because we stayed the longest was Rocky Mountain National Park. I fell in love, not just with the mountains, but also with the local trout, my first experience with delicious fresh fish. Until then, fish meant my mother's perennial Friday meal of tasteless baked-to-death flounder. We drove on from Colorado, through Utah (Dinosaur Museum), to Las Vegas (where I illegally got the better of a one-armed bandit), across Death Valley (without air-conditioning in the car), to Hollywood, then on to Anaheim for Disneyland. The return trip highlights were the Grand Canyon and the Painted Desert.
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TINA KASHIAN: For eight summers, I went to an overnight summer camp in Boston for two weeks. Camp Haiastan is a cultural camp--a camp for Armenian-American children, and I loved it. We did all the fun activities that summer campers experience, boating in a large lake, swimming, all types of sports, and arts and crafts. There was also an hour each day dedicated to language and culture. I met friends from all over the U.S. and even Canada (kids came from there, too), and I still keep in touch with many of them. When we drop our two girls off at the same camp each summer in Massachusetts, I see parents of campers I had camped with as well. As for the food, it was typical camp food and not very good. But that never mattered to me as a kid, and I looked forward to those two fun weeks every year.
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I loved seeing these photos and reading everyone’s happy summer memories. I grew up on Cape Breton Island and my summer memories have to do with water views.
Every year we would drive around the Cabot Trail, a stunningly beautiful trip over Cape Smokey with its twisty roads and steep, terrifying drops straight into the Atlantic. As kids, our job was to scream our heads off during the scariest parts. My mother (nervous at the best of times) would cover her eyes and my dad would do his best to keep the car on the rough roads.
When we made it alive, we would spend a week in a rustic cabin in Cape Breton Highlands National Park with day trips to dash across the rocky beach and splash briefly in the icy Atlantic before settling for the afternoon at the calm, warm lake further inland with its sandy beach. Culinary highlights included my mother’s very delish chicken sandwiches, chocolate milkshakes and ice cream sundaes at the local restaurant, and, in the evenings, nicely scorched marshmallows over a fire. Here’s to happy summers, my friends, past and to come!
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