My cousin Dorella, who lives in Aprigliano, recently posted about what it was like going al mare with her family when she was a child. That got me thinking of my summers and my experiences with andare al mare – the summer ritual of going-to-the-ocean/going-to-the-beach.

Paola

mid 1950s, Paola – My dad, Za Peppina – Guiseppina Vigna – and I, along with others from our vinella went on a bus trip to the beach at Paola. My mother didn’t come with us.
The memory that has stayed with me all these years is of my dad going out on a rowboat towards the giant rock – that monolith far, far away – and me watching from the shore. I refused to go.
As the rowboat made its way towards the giant rock, it would get lost in the trough of the waves; I was certain the boat had gone under and my dad was lost forever.
Give me a break! What six year-old knows about troughs?

…

Pointe
des
Chenes

early 1960s, Sault Ste Marie – Summers in Northern Ontario were both short-lived and work intensive. July 1 – Dominion Day – was the official day to go to Pointe des Chenes Park and play on the edges of Lake Superior. All of our Calabrese relatives and friends found their way to the picnic tables that lined the eastern end of park. They would take over the entire area; every table covered with a tablecloth and teeming with casseroles, polpette, pittuli, homemade bread, watermelons, fave and bottles of wine.
For us kids, every year the anticipation centered on whether the water would be tolerable or would it freeze our balls off. The other anxiety associated with the holiday was whether our parents would take the day off and go to the beach or use it to catch up on gardening, weeding, house remodeling, or any other necessity that had been put off because of our fathers’ work-schedules.

Leigh’s Bay,
Algoma

mid 1960s, Leigh’s Bay – Even though the Soo was surrounded by water, to get to most beaches required a car; however there was one that didn’t and that was Leigh’s Bay. Officially a bay on the St. Mary’s River, a distinction bored teenagers cared nothing about, it became the go-to place on a hot summer afternoon for many West-end kids.
We would pile 3 on a bike – one on the handlebars, one on the seat pedaling and one balanced on the axle of the back wheel. Teenagers are stupid, but no one could tell us it wasn’t fun; we laughed the whole way, even harder if the person on the handlebars or the axle fell off.

Harmony
Beach

late 1960s, Harmony Beach – If Pointe des Chenes was the default for the immigrant Italians of Sault Ste Marie, then Harmony was the non-immigrant beach. It was also 30 miles north of the city off of Highway 17. In comparison, Pointe des Chenes was a 15 minute drive from town.
I went to Harmony with Rainer and his mom and dad. Rainer’s parents were great outdoors people and with them I went fishing on the rivers that emptied into Echo Bay, fly-fishing on St. Joe’s Island, blueberry picking on the cliffs that bordered the Garden River Indian Reservation.
But once Ron had a car, the four of us – Ron, Franchino, Rainer and I – would head to Pumpkin Point to fish the shallows. It was probably the worst place to fish; we spent more time retrieving hooks, lines and tackle because the place was littered with sunken trees.
I don’t remember ever going to the beach in Ron’s giant Buick, because with a car you could go cruise Queen. Every Friday night, we rode the loop – down Queen Street, a right on Gore, a right on Albert, a right on East, another right and back on Queen. With the windows down and looking fonzie-cool, we lived The Last Picture Show. 

Cliffs
in the
Reserve

…
In the follow-up post – and time goes by – I actually talk about andare al mare.

Note: This is an observation that only people who have lived in Northern Ontario and seen Lake Superior can make – from the shore, to the horizon there is an infinite expanse of water.
When I saw the Atlantic again in Narragansett, my fellow novices wanted to know why I wasn’t enthralled; why I wasn’t in awe. My answer was that it wasn’t much different than standing on the shore of Lake Superior and looking out.