Easter Memories Afloat

In the early 50s one Easter morning it looked like it was going to be warm day. My sister wanted to go to drive up to the fairly new Acworth Beach and sunbathe. My friend Milton and I went along. We were not old enough to drive. We were in the 8th grade.

While my sisters sunbathed Milton and I walked around and found a place around the bend that rented row boats for a cheap price. I do not remember it being a cheap price, but the fact that we did it, proves it was an affordable cheap price.

We rowed all over Acworth lake and found on the other side of the lake a swap area with trees going out of the water and we explored down the water alleys bordered by trees. We only had our bathing suits on and did not even think about the sun blaring down on us.

However, after we just about did all we could do and returned the boat we realized we were baked. We both were red as lobsters.

That night I was in so much pain I could not sleep.

But, time heals. Or does it?

The red flesh turned to a dark tan eventually. Now, over 50 years later, any time of the year, in my birthday suit, one can tell the where my bathing suit came to that day.

There is a Milton by the same last name who owns or owned a car dealership in Gainesville. I often wondered if it is the same person.

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A few years after that at Victoria Landing at Lake Allatoona, as mentioned before, my friend Monty build a houseboat with our help. We did the important stuff like hold planks while Monty measured and sawed. The first houseboat looked like an outhouse on a floating deck and second houseboat looked something like a giant two-level pup tent.

Before the second houseboat was built, one Easter Eve several of us spent the night and the next morning of course was Easter. We went for a swim. We went in our underwear. Yes, the water was icy cold – at first, but after a while we got used to it and were climbing up on top of the houseboat and diving in.

The following Monday morning at work in Atlanta I told a girl I have known just about all my life about us swimming the day before on Easter. She and I have common relatives but we are not related.

She said, “Didn’t y’all freeze your balls off?” and laughed. It was a rhetorical question.

After she walked off the shipping clerk, James, came up to me and asked what kind of girl talks like that in front of men. I tried to explain to him that the females of Marietta are as innocent as they can be – they just never have been the type to hold their thoughts in their head.

He looked at me blankly – he didn’t understand. He spent his lunch period reading the Bible. I didn’t think he would understand.