Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

When I was a kid growing up in the 60s and 70s, we used to go to a cottage in Hollis, New Hampshire every year. We made friends there and looked forward to going all year. In the 70s my parents bought a cottage in Wareham which was real close to the water. We enjoyed that for a few years for sure.

When my boys were young, we had a RV in New Hampshire and enjoyed some very very memorable times. I asked my Somerville social media friends to share the vacations they used to take when we were all a lot younger.

“Hampton Beach, my mother and uncle would rent a cottage every year for me and my friends. What good times we had there. Wish they could have lasted forever.”

“Dad and his brothers built a lakefront cottage on Fort Meadow Lake in Marlborough, had it for about 15 years.”

“Sure do miss it.”

“Early Years, we had a cottage in Framingham. Paragon Park, Sandy Beach, Nantasket and Revere Beach. Two weeks in Agawam/Riverside Park. Later Boston Commons, Charles Street, Aunt’s Home La Jolla, CA.”

“Laconia, Franconia Notch, Littleton and Lake Winnipesaukee, NH. Truro and Hull. And occasionally up to Bar Harbor and Damariscotta, ME. To Lenox or Groton to see cousins.”

“My grandmother’s cottages at White Horse Beach, Plymouth.”

“We had a cottage on Kingston Lake in NH.”

“We went down the cape in Dennisport. We would go to West Dennis Beach, always Cream and Cone for an ice cream, and the Pancake Man.”

We enjoyed places like Canobie Lake Park, Pleasure Island, Whalom Park and Old Orchard Beach. But the best times of all was when we all piled into dad’s big old Chevy and enjoyed a day at Revere Beach on Norumbega Park. As we get older, we used to take the Blue Line train there.

Who can forget that big old metal cooler that kept the baloney sandwiches cool? Nothing like a sandwich with a refreshing cup of Zarex.