The Unending Ride

The sun beamed down on our faces making it feel like we would sweat forever, but the light breeze cooled our faces. It was the perfect day for the shore, a perfect place for Lanoka Harbor, NJ. If someone were to look at my shore house from the outside, or even the inside, it would look dull and uneventful. But if they were to go there for a weekend, they would want to come back every weekend for the rest of the summer. My dad lived in this house when he was a kid, so he has many more memories than any other person. He is the “king” of this house now and everyone that has been there knows it. Usually shore houses are in towns that are predominantly beach, but my shore house was in a normal town that has some lagoons from the bay, and my dad even went to school there. We all woke up around the same time on this particular day and when I got out of my bed, and I smelled breakfast sandwiches from a bagel place down the main road. “Daddy must have gotten breakfast sandwiches.” I thought. I smelled a delicious Taylor ham and egg on a toasted sesame bagel. I knew it was mine so I ran out to get it.

“Thank you Daddy.”

“I knew you would like it, I got the same thing.”

“What did you get Robbie?” I asked.

“The same thing as usual, bacon on a roll with nothing else on it,” he replied.

“Oh nice, how is it?”

“Really good, as usual.”

“Mine is too, it is one of the best bagels I have ever had. What are we doing today?” I asked my dad.

“You want to go on the boat, right?” he asked, even though he knew the answer.

“Yeah, but where?” I responded.

“Uncle Steven and I thought of something, but it’s a surprise.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“Would it be a surprise if I told you?”

“Please tell me.”

“You will see.”

When we were done with breakfast, we all put on our bathing suits on, packed everything we needed for this unknown place on the boat, and we were all ready to go. Our boat was an Aquasport boat with a huge two hundred fifty horsepower engine, that could hit sixty miles per hour, I loved it. The speed forces our eyes to tear, and for our hair to fly back almost behind our head. Most of the time when we are down the shore we pick a place to go and we go there on the boat. My summer, and my shore house wouldn’t be the same without my boat.

In the morning we all usually talked about what we would do that day, but on this particular day, my dad and Godfather kept it as a surprise. We usually went to Party Island, the beach, or would just stop in the middle of the water and float around. Party Island was a little piece of land that was in the middle of the inlet from the bay to the ocean. It was nice for just relaxing in the boat, or going on the land and seeing all of the cool things; like the fish in the water, cool shells, or a nice view of the Lighthouse.

The beach was pretty much the same thing as a normal beach, but instead of driving or walking, we drove our boat to Tices Shoal. When we went to Tices Shoal we were in walking distance to the beach, but that's not all we could do. We could just sit the water, or our boat and relax on a dreadful summer day. There was a hot dog man driving on a boat selling food and drinks to keep you refreshed. Usually we would do that for a little but after a while we went on the land and walk a minute or two until being on Island beach state park, the beach.

In the beginning of the ride to this unknown place every time I would ask my dad where we were going, he would say it’s a surprise. My brother and I kept on asking, but we couldn’t figure it out.

“Where do you think we are going, Robbie?”

“I don’t know. Maybe one of his friends house, or a beach we haven’t went to.”

“Yeah, I don’t have a clue, I guess we will find out.”

During the ride, we went under bridges that my brother and I had never been under. The only time we had been at this part of the bay was when we went to my friends house in LBI. But by the direction we were going, I knew we weren’t going to my friends. We also went to a gas station that my brother and I had never gone to either, but we still didn’t know where we were going. We had that feeling that we wanted to figure out the surprise, but it was annoying thinking about it. We kept on asking and asking but we still didn’t figure out.

At first the drive was nice, the warm sun and the cool ocean breeze made it the perfect temperature. But it ended up getting boring, considering we were out there for almost an hour and we didn’t know where we were going.

“Daddy, are we almost there,” I asked.

“Yeah, not even five minutes.”

“Have we ever been there?” my brother asked.

“Nope, but we will probably go again.”

“It will be fun, don’t worry,” my Uncle Steven said.
As I shrugged my shoulder in boredom, I just wanted to finally arrive.

Finally we got there, it was the ocean. Not the beach, the ocean. Not the sandcastles, not the holes, not the beach towels, the ocean. The place where the waves we jump are formed, and where all of the fisherman went to fish.

“We are in the ocean! Have you ever been out here, Daddy?”

“Plenty of times, but this is the first for you guys, and I think it will be really fun for you guys, and even us.”

“Is it rough?” Robbie asked.

“It depends, some days it is, some days it isn’t.”

“Will it be today?” I asked.

“We have to see.”

When we started driving it was really fun at first. The waves were so high I felt like I was flying. The waves are so much bigger than the waves in the bay, and the wind was blowing in our face like a rocket and a fan combined. My hair was flying back, and my eyes even began to tear; it was great. As we continued to go deeper and deeper into the ocean we saw so many people on the shore, so we waved. Considering the speed we were going, they most likely didn’t see us, but as we went even further we ended up passing the part of the beach where my uncle’s condo is and we saw my mom, and my aunt. I know they saw us because when we passed they waved, and when we ended up getting home they told us that they did. At that point of the ride we could smile back to my mom with no problem. The ride was bumpy, but not too bad. That was until we got far into the ocean; when the chaos began.

Usually we went on the boat and the ride was smooth, with a little bit of waves, but that was different. The boat was bouncing over the waves like kangaroos when it went over waves, and that was like every second. Sometimes when you came down from the air from a wave, the landing was nice and smooth landing, but every landing sounded like a boulder dropping from a building, and it felt like my back cracked in half. The waves were the biggest waves I had ever seen and they hurt me more than I had ever been.

On normal rides to the beach, I sometimes stood up and pretend I was on a surfboard. It was first nature to be sitting down and sometimes I stand up like a game. On this ride it was the other way around. It was a game to try to sit down, and it was first nature to be standing up. Most games are fun, but this wasn’t one for fun, considering it was to save my life. My brother and I were bouncing around like we were on a trampoline, but if we fell off this “Trampoline” we would be in the middle of the ocean, with whatever water mammals you can think of, I was terrified. We were only out there for twenty minutes at the time, but my back was already killing me. The pain grew, and grew, until I didn’t know what I could do, I began to cry. Boat rides sometimes send a little pain, but this was the first time I was actually in pain. The waves were like scary monsters surrounding our boat getting ready for attack. It was like giants came to earth and were smashing us like bugs. At that time I realized how scared bugs are when they are surrounded by kindergartners at recess, because we were the“bugs”. The only thing I could think of was me falling off of the boat and being attacked by sharks. My dad wouldn’t realize and I would be being attacked with no help.

My dad had to drive the boat so he couldn’t do anything to help, I begged but he couldn’t. My brother and my Godfather couldn’t do anything because they had to protect themselves too; at least that’s what I thought.

“Daddy please, what can I do.”

“I don’t know I can’t help because I’m driving.”

“Please Daddy, please.”

“Jimmy come over here,” Uncle Steven said.

“What?” I replied.

“Come here I’ll hold you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, come here don’t worry you will be fine.”

“Thank you.”

At that time I was about 6 years old, and I didn’t think of anybody else at the time but my self. At that moment I realized how lucky I am to have a person like my Godfather, and a family like I do, because if I didn’t I may not of been helped like I had been. This event may mean nothing to anybody but me, but at least it means something to me, it means the world Of course I went back and he held me, but that didn’t fix much. I was still feeling the bounce but not as much, but my Uncle was feeling it even more. The pain continued to grow.

OW! OW!” My Godfather said.

The striking blow of the waves continued to crush us.

“Daddy, slow down.”

“I can’t I’m sorry.”

“Yes you can, please this really hurts.”

“If I were to slow down we would drift out far into the ocean and it would take so much longer.”

“So, it would be less rough.”

“No it wouldn’t it is rougher out there.

“Please”

“I’m sorry but I can’t.”

The waves continued to pound us, but we finally made our way back to the inlet. When we got back to the inlet we were relieved that we were out but we were not exactly happy considering we were still in pain. The pain went away for me, but for my Godfather the pain stayed for a while after.

The ride in the bay was like nothing considering I just went through the roughest ride of my life. When we finally got home my dad cooked on the grill while I layed on my bed and slept in relief because we finally got home from the unending ride.