For most people Brooklyn in the Summer means Coney Island, but not to me and my cousin, to us it brings back great times spent in Brighton Beach. Not that we lived near it, we didn't. We had to take a long train ride to get there, and since we liked to get there early in the morning, it meant getting up at sunrise.
Since we didn't have much money to spend, we had to bring our own drinks and food. As we only had one cooler, and we really didn't want to fill it with ice, we came up with the ingenious idea of freezing two bottles of water and of juice, overnight, as we figured that at the hot beach--- it would thaw out to just cold. And we also made two sandwiches which consisted of only three ingredients: whole wheat bread, mustard, and our favorite filling: sardines, we then wrapped the sandwiches in aluminum paper, and put them in a picnic bag, along with the beach towels and suntan lotion.
Then bag in hand, bathing suit under our clothes (there was no place to change at the beach) we set off on the long train ride to Brighton Beach. We loved it there because it wasn't as crowded as Coney Island, where people were so densely packed that they were practically on top of each other. At Brighton it was practically empty, no noisy radios, no annoying people talking too loud--you could just lay back on your beach towel and listen to the seagulls and the rush and crash of the ocean waves.
And the best part was that you had these Summer workers carrying these huge coolers that would come around yelling ---ice cream! sodas! Italian ice! for sale!, and you could just wave your hand and buy some really cheap stuff to cool you off. Just the perfect complement to the --by now--really warm and aromatic sardine sandwiches, with the mustard accent.
My cousin and I spent one whole Summer going every day to this beach, so much so, that by the end of the summer we were super tanned. Of course we weren't crazy--we always put on the proper sunblock, so as not to burn, and get a nice even tan, which would last us the whole of the coming winter. Now, remember this was long before all the stuff about too much tanning, and all the medical talk.
Now, when I see what Brighton Beach has become today, I'm a bit disappointed. Sure, it has become ritzy, and now attracts a lot of people, but the sense that it was special and different from Coney Island is gone. It has become yet another part of Brooklyn that the "beautiful people" have discovered and somehow managed to make ordinary. Ah well--I'll always have my memories and my sardines sandwiches to remind me of those times.
