Life with 4 kids did not mean that my parents were our entertainment committee during the summer months. When my father finished work, he often piled us and any of our friends that wanted to join us ,in the car, and off we went to either Roberts Cove or Rocky Bay for an evening swim.
The drive was approx 30 mins from our house. We drove through Carrigaline,on past Minane Bridge and then waited with baited breath for that bumb in the road where Dad would speed up and drive the car as fast as he could, so that we flew over it and felt the feeling in your tummy like that on a Roller Coaster ride! Cheap thrills. We also had it to look forward to on the way back !!
I still remember him saying the same thing each and every time we approached any beach. "Lets see who is first to see the sea" Craning our necks,we all wanted to be the first to see that familiar sight in the horizon. Honestly, I still love that view of the sea coming in to view. The endless beauty,that is the Atlantic.
Whoever came up with the idea of dressing at the beach? What a feat. Even the infamous Rowan Atkinson aka MR BEAN had trouble undressing at the beach. Remember that scene?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8pJIiV9KWo If not , you can watch and enjoy here!!
Anyway,I used to hold the towel between my teeth and try to to pull the skintight SPEEDO up without letting the towel drop! I used to imagine people hiding in the cliffs. You know how it is, there were hoards of Irish people roaming the cliffs to get a view of my bum , or indeed my THEN 2 pancakes !! (my how I made up for those !)
Swimming in the evening was, I must admit, even then a serene time. The stillness was almost tangible and peaceful. Water temperature was at best frigid, but we thought for some reason that it was bath water ! After the evening swim, the task of getting dressed again became a feat soon mastered. After all...necessity is the mother of invention !
On the drive home,we would stop at Collins SuperValu in Carrigaline for a 99.
Yes, I said a 99, not any other number !!!! The 99 was and still is ,a soft whip ice cream cone with a Cadburys flake stuck in it .........Mmmmmm
To this day, no one knows where this name came from. Many theories. Some say it was an advertsing campaign by Cadbury's back in the 1930's in the UK. Theories that it originated back to Italy,and the most recent was in Edinburgh claiming its invention. Either way, I don't really care. I love 99's !!
