Retro Fair Haven Summer Dock Daze — Rumson-Fair Haven Retrospect

Summer days down by the Fair Haven Dock Photo/Elaine Van Develde — Summer days down by the Fair Haven Dock
Photo/Elaine Van Develde

A reprise in honor of the heat of summer, the warmest of times and freedom and fun times at the Fair Haven Dock among kid friends …

Summer fun in Fair Haven doesn’t get any simpler or more treasured than ending the day down by the Fair Haven Dock, sand between the toes, a few antics up the sleeve, a little seaweed in the shorts, and a crab or 20. Dock time has been a time-honored tradition for kids since, well, the dawn of time.

OK, so that’s a cliche. But, any kid who has grown up in the Rumson-Fair Haven area has a dock and the river on the mind along with 100 warm summer stories to tell.

The Fair Haven Dock has always served as a symbolic rite of passage and bonding spot. Back in the day, when you got invited to, literally, go jump off the dock after school, you were in with the cool crowd.

It was never really allowed and still isn’t, but it was really the invite that was the clincher anyway. The chicken-hearted law abiders wouldn’t dare not show up in the face of all that promise of popularity, but most stayed dry, save for a little walk on the shore and dipping of the toes.

There were also the kids who toted their crabbing gear down to the dock — still do — and oftentimes even brought back a bucket of crabs for dinner.

Then, there was just plain hanging out and having some sun-kissed fun with the best of buds.

So, the Retro Pic of the Day honors Fair Haven Dock summer days of many generations with a photo of some buddies down by the river from just more than a decade ago.

Recognize anyone in this crew? They are of the cell phone generation, but still seemed to value the time at the dock a lot more. Just look at those smiles. Someone had just taken a dive, but we won’t tell.

Some things never change, and that’s a good thing when it comes to days down by the dock in Fair Haven.

— Elaine Van Develde