Ode to the Pier

A couple of times every week, my friend Gavin and I walk the length of the sea wall and the beach at Narragansett Pier. Today the lunchtime crowd included the usual surfers, jet-skiers, high school kids playing hooky, URI coeds in bikinis working on tans, guitar strummers, sketchbook artists, newspaper readers, shell collectors, joggers, dog-walkers and aging sun-worshippers. After a couple of good surfing days, the swells were moderate, but the leisure ranked high on the Cloud Nine/Ghiorse Factor 10 scale.
People have been recording perfect days at Narragansett Pier for two centuries. In the archives section of The New York Times, there's a story with the dateline, "Narragansett Pier," written on June 15, 1877. In the manner of the era, the story is introduced with blurb previews:
"NEWPORT'S RIVAL -HOW THE PLACE WAS DISCOVERED AND HOW IT GREW - AN INTERESTING HISTORY - THE SECRET OF ITS GREAT SUCCESS AS A SUMMER RESORT - A RETREAT FOR FAMILIES AND PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BE HAPPY IN A RATIONAL WAY."
The story goes on to report that Narragansett was "discovered" as a summer resort by folks from New York and Philadelphia who tired of the snooty Newport socialite scene. It recounts beach customs such as the 10 to 11 a.m. "bathing hour" when "all go in together." After dinner, everyone played croquet. In the evening, people attended garden parties, bonfire parties and hops. The article also goes into detail about the old South County tradition of "straw parties" - essentially clambakes - made up of young and old, rich and poor. People traveled from all points of South County in large wagons or stages padded with sweet-smelling straw. "Everything at Narragansett is done in a sort of universal picnic style that is very agreeable."
Times have changed, but the simple pleasures and democratic spirit of Rhode Island leisure haven't. In a world of talking heads, screaming headlines and endless white noise, the Pier is still a place where you might find a more rational kind of happiness.