Matthew Monday: Father’s Day 2021

In our long line of tradition, Matthew and I had our “Father’s Day Adventure” yesterday.  You can scroll through these to see our past Father’s Day Adventures. This year we decided to spend it on the boardwalk here on Staten Island.  Officially it’s called the South Beach–Franklin Delano Roosevelt Boardwalk, but we Staten Islanders just call it the boardwalk.  According to The Encyclopedia of New York City, the FDR Boardwalk is the 4^th largest boardwalk in the world.  I was really surprised by that.  It stretches across two Staten Island beaches—South Beach and Midland Beach—and runs 2.5 miles long.  Its predecessors go back to 1882 when the beach areas were filled with amusement parks and bath houses.  You can read it’s amazing history here.   

So what did we do?  Well, first thing  I lathered up with 50 SPF sunscreen on any exposed skin.  Matthew says I am as white as a ghost, and he’s right.  He’s naturally tanned and didn’t put any on.  Good thing I did.  I was a strong sun and we were out a good five hours.  I would have been as red as a tomato if I didn’t.

Here are some pictures of the boardwalk.  The beach runs north/south.  Looking north you can see the Verrazano Bridge. 

 

 

That’s Matthew trying to locate us on the map.

Looking south you can see the stretch of beach and piers.  The boardwalk is there too.  It just didn’t make the picture width.

 

The beach is fairly nice, but in the past there has been issues with the cleanliness of the water, and even though they may have resolved that problem, people are still reluctant to go into the water.  The water there is the Atlantic Ocean.

 

So, we walked a good bit, and went looking for the place where you can rent bicycles.  We had seen multi-person pedal carts in the past and we always wanted to ride one together.  We eventually found it and rented this beauty for one hour.  $28 plus tax. 

 

So we basically pedaled the entire boardwalk, or at least a good two miles.  We stopped for Matthew to refresh himself at the Turtle Fountain.

 

 

At some point I got sunscreen off my skin onto the camera lens.  A good deal of the pictures got blurred out because of that.  Here’s me inside the pedal cart.

 

At one point Matthew wanted to go onto the beach and get his feet wet.  He left his shoes with me while he scampered down.

 

 

We also took Matthew’s electric scooter with us.  We left it in the car until the end, and then got it out, and so Matthew scootered a couple of miles.  While I walked mind you. 

 

So after five hours, walking over five miles according to my fitbit, and pedaling in that cart some three or four miles, all in the hot (86 deg F) sun, we were tired puppies.

Matthew Monday: By the Beach on the Assumption of Mary

 Saturday, August 15^th, was the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and there is a tradition of blessing of the ocean and sea on this day.  Catholic World Report explains it:

 

For hundreds of years, Catholic parishes in coastal cities have participated in the tradition of blessing the sea and praying for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the Feast of the Assumption.

 

While believers in landlocked areas may be unfamiliar with the practice, it is a longstanding tradition that provides an opportunity not only to pray for safe travel at sea during the coming year, but also to profess one’s faith outside of church walls, one priest told CNA.

 

This happens to be a traditions some five hundred years old.

 

The tradition of blessing of the sea dates back to 15th century Italy and has since become a custom in coastal cities throughout Europe and the United States.

 

According to the Trenton Monitor, the custom is believed to have begun when a bishop traveled by sea during a storm on the Feast of the Assumption. The bishop then threw his pastoral ring into the ocean and calmed the waters.

 

So I decided to take Matthew and we headed to the beach on Staten Island.  I snapped a picture from the sand bank—perhaps it’s called a “seawall”—that was built as protection from hurricanes. 

 

Matthew took his skateboard, which he didn’t use and I wound up carrying.  But we had a nice couple of hours, and I gave the ocean a blessing.  ;)

Matthew Monday: Florida Beach

As I mentioned we were on vacation down on the Florida Panhandle at a town called Ft. Walton Beach.  Most people who go to Florida for vacation don’t go to the Panhandle area.  It’s a bit removed and it’s culture is more Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana than Florida.  The root purpose of our trip was to attend a wedding, but we extended our stay there for a week since we as a family haven’t had a real vacation in a while, especially with Matthew. 
 

I really liked the Florida Panhandle.  It’s not crowded, there’s good food around, there’s a good bit to do, and the beaches—did I mention the beaches?—the beaches are beautiful.  Close by were a strip of islands that are connected by bridges to form a beach front strip that’s no bigger than a quarter mile wide and in some places fifty yards wide.  That’s right, you can go from the bay on one side to the Mexican gulf on the other in less than fifty yards.  And the sand on the beaches is literally white as snow.  The first time we drove through there was a spot with sand dunes that seemed to have a dusting of snow on them.  But then we looked carefully and it wasn’t snow.  It was sand.   

Here are some pictures of Matthew on the beach.   

 

Yes, that’s the sand, and it was really fine.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen sand as fine and white as what we found there.  It was almost like baby powder.  Here's Matthew trying to build a castle, or is it a mountain?

 

And then sinking his arms into it.

 

We had sunny days throughout (except for the first and last days) and the temperatures ranged 70 to 75F (21-23C).  The water was a bit cold.  Not too many people ventured in.  It's still early in the season. 

The gulf water gets to be as warm as bath water by mid summer.  But the water was clear and wonderfully sea-green.

And finally Matthew burying his legs to the knees.

It was great to get away from this horrid winter we've had.