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Summer days down at Old Saybrook were spent swimming, building sand castles, fishing off the rocky jetties and crabbing in the tidal marshes. Maybe going for a ride on a neighbor’s sail fish boat if the window was blowing.
Crabbing was always a fun. Just tie a smashed muscle shell or chicken bone to a string and dangle it over the edge of the bank. Little blue crabs would scurry out but you would have to be careful to scoop them up with a net. Often they would ride the bait up to the water’s surface as you carefully pulled up the rope but they would always jump off when they reached the air. I only remember one time getting enough of them to make it worthwhile bringing them home for dinner.
At night there were movies on the beach or bingo in the club house. For a while there was a roller skating rink within walking distance when roller skating was popular. Now its West Marine and Benny’s discount store. But the Dairy Queen is still going and the Italian Ice man still drives his van down to the beach in the summer. I remember a watermelon Italian ice used to be 50 cents and my Dad would always let us get one even if it was close to dinner time.
The other nighttime activity was playing miniature golf. The mini golf place on Saybrook Point was a classic flat course with windmills and other obstacles. None of this hill climbing stuff as you find in Florida where they dig out a pond and create a hill with the fill.
Irene was considered a tropical storm but it whacked the heck out of the Connecticut shoreline. It wiped the classic “Dock and Dine” restaurant off the map and with it the mini golf course. The restaurant still hasn’t been rebuilt but the mini golf course has and it's really spectacular with all the houses representing some classic historic landmarks from the area. Plus it's only $5 which allows locals to revisit the course time and again.
