Cruisin'

Part two of Nostalgia week continues today-




When the air turned warmer and the sun dipped below the horizon my parents would sometimes turn to me at the dinner table and say, "Hey, Vic- you want to go cruisin' tonight?" "Yeah!" I would reply and off we would go, all of us piling into my parents silver Datsun 200 SX. I loved that car, no matter what time of year it was it always had beach sand in it and it perpetually smelled like sunscreen and summer.

Off we would go driving around the coastline of Lil' Rhody often ending up in Weekapaug at a scenic overlook. I would gaze out at the ocean and its vastness, so dark and churning and only a bit out of reach. The stars overhead twinkled as Wolfman Jack played on the radio. We cruised to music that is still around today.

I think for my parents this must have been a mini-date night for them. They could drive around and have long talks while I gazed out at the waves and the moon. The windows were often open and so was the moon-roof overhead. The smell of the salt and sea would fill the car and it still reminds me of home to this day. Just when I thought we were going to have to head home one of them would turn to me in the backseat and say, "You want to go to Friendly's, Vicky?" Just like that I would be out of my own seaside dreams and I would perk up and say, "OOH! YEAH! Can I get a Fribble?! Please?" (Not to be confused with an Awful, Awful by the way.) It was always the perfect ending to the night.

That brings us to the song portion of the post- While it wasn't something that you heard from Wolfman Jack, it was often played on the radio and my parents listened to the soundtrack often- 'On the Dark Side' by Eddie and the Cruisers.


Image: Gull Rock, Weekapaug, RI