Long Beach Island Guidebook & Map

66 home • PORT Sublime Summer by Frank Finale A nother summer begins and the Jersey Shore welcomes the return of visitors who have come to rediscover themselves in memories moored to this place: a barefoot walk along the beach on wet sand…a wide-awake view of the shoreline from Ol' Barney…a sweet, cold lick of ice cream…or a first kiss on a beach blanket behind the dunes. Crossing the Causeway, all of it comes alive again with the smell of the ocean, the sounds of breaking waves, and the cries of gulls. History is a thin thread of remembered events stretched over a dark sea of forgotten ones. The shack, an LBI icon, which was com- pletely washed away during Superstorm Sandy, still remains fixed in the minds of those who passed it on their way to the barrier island. The vision of the shack in the memory of each traveler varies with its change in condition, the time of day seen, and the light of the weather that surrounded it. There exists a google of visions of it, a kaleidoscope of shacks. Its many versions have been forever captured by local artists and photographers…a symbol. The LBI artist Carol Freas once gave my wife an 8x10 print of the shack in its more recognizable state. It remains in the glass case of her secretariat to this day. It still exists. I remember going early one Saturday morn- ing to Things A Drift, a shop on the island, to do a book signing. What little traffic there was flowed freely until I came to the last bridge on the Causeway. Traffic up to the light on the boule- vard had come to a near stand-still. An accident? Construction? As I inched along, I realized that cars were making their way very slowly through foot-deep water so as not to create a wake or get their brakes wet. When I finally made it to the shell shop, Dennis, who was setting up for the day's event, said, "Yeah, about seven this morn- ing it poured for about two hours. A freaky rain. The skies just opened up and emptied out." How quickly things can happen on the island, espe- cially changes in weather. Except for the several inches of water still draining and the pooling of water at the end of the bridge, I would have never known because the sun was shining brightly and there was no rain in the forecast. For one local enter- tainer and lover of music, Jamin' Janice, the island means free- dom. Janice presently performs a night of Karaoke on Tuesdays at the Gateway Restaurant & Lounge, which is located in Ship Bottom on the outbound causeway of LBI. The Gateway has been owned by an island family since 1940. Janice has a loyal following and encourages her audience to participate in singing and dancing. Rena, one of her biggest fans, states, "When I see her perform, I feel like I'm with family. No one judg- es." I caught up with Janice at The Dutchman's Brauhaus, a popular German restaurant on Cedar Bonnet Island, where she was entertaining at a fundraiser for the Lighthouse International Film Festival, an annual event on the island. She spoke of how her parents had brought her here from Philly when she was five years old. And that crossing over the bridges onto the island gave her freedom from the rigid blocks of the city "LBI Shack" by Carol Freas Continued on page 50

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