by Violet Scott

Created on: November 06, 2008

My hometown may be small in comparison to surrounding towns. It may seem boring, when held up against the night clubs and coffee shops of neighboring cities. It may even seem a little backwoods, backwards, or just downright strange.

But that is half the reason I love it so much.

Growing up, we weren't so far back in the hills that we had to make our own fun, but we did have to find it.

And find it we did.

From the swimming at the docks ( which is slightly illegal, mostly just frowned upon, but all the more exciting because of it), to hiking little known trails( on some stranger's property.. who knows if they owned a shotgun?), we went wherever the wind blew us. During the summer, freedom was a experience fully absorbed by my friends and I, as we woke to a house emptied of parental figures every morning, and kept that way until five-ish. We had whole days, no plans, and only a slight amount of chores to be finished before Mom and Dad came home.

Snagging our bikes from wherever they were left last, we would start out heading up the main strip in town, the same strip my Dad used to cruise in his old baby blue '55 Chevy, back in his day. We would stop for a burger and fries at Dari-Delish, the same pull- in burger stand that he and his friends used to haunt.

As the weather got hotter, and we grew tired of perusing the little shops and stores down the streets, we could go one of two directions; downtown, towards the river, to jump off the docks and stuff ourselves on the fattest blackberries ever before seen, or we could pedal up, across the tracks and the highway, to Perry's Hole, a hidden little swimming hole that we thought of as all our own, but all of our parents seemed to know about (made all the more mysterious when they would smile at each other at the very mention of it.. what had happened up there that was so amusing? we wondered...) There was also a local public pool, but being outside was so much more satisfying to us. Besides, why pay to swim, when you can do it for free and buy a milkshake afterwards?

There was also the option of Trestle Beach, which was actually just the river, but with sand. If you wanted to make the trip, it was well worth it, tracking down the trail beneath the old train trestle, finally hitting the cool, refreshing river. If you walked down just a bit to the left, there was Warm Waters Beach, with a warm creek pouring right into the river. Nobody told us until we were older that the warm water came from the chemical plant across the

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>