By Andrea Marie
For most of the first decade of the new millennium I lived a short block from the beachfront in a small borough on Long Beach Island, New Jersey, called Surf City. Having grown up just a few miles from New York City I visited the Jersey Shore countless times but never dreamed I’d be offered the opportunity to live “down the shore” as we called it. Surf City is roughly an hour and half from NYC, without traffic, which MUST be said.
I lived in a single apartment above Island Earth, an art gallery storefront on Long Beach Boulevard, next to the bright yellow laundromat. The entrance to my apartment was around back, up a well-aged wooden staircase the top of which looked out over the flat roof extending over the gallery to The Boulevard. The small wooden deck led to the left to the entrance of a great little apartment. There were windows on all sides of the apartment making for great light and great ocean and bay breezes. The mighty Atlantic Ocean lay a short block east and the protective Barnegat Bay a couple of longer blocks to the west. Sunrises, sunsets, moonrises, and moonsets are special there, worth paying attention to.
The Jersey Shore is a vibrant place, many small beach towns come to life from June through August every year. Hundreds of thousands of people flock to all that is the Jersey Shore for summer fun and frolicking. For the rest of the year the shore shifts to “off season” mode. The population diminishes to less than a tenth of the visitors of twelve weeks every summer. A super busy place becomes so quiet that the traffic lights are turned off at the end of summer and turned on a few weeks before the next summer season begins. True story.
The place I called Home for about seven years and never took for granted, 18th St, Surf City. I appreciated everything about it, knowing I was so lucky to have the experience of living at the beach, year-round, for as long as I did. Never did I think I would feel so comfortable, by myself, in a nearly deserted town. There were just enough of us around by day, a few shops open around the eighteen miles long and less than one mile wide barrier island. Night-time, I was lucky enough to have two neighbors who were year-round. Other than that, it was just me, the moon and the stars — lots of stars — and one could see shooting stars very regularly, being away from the lights of the Big Apple.
It was an autumn afternoon in 2009, October or November, golden afternoon light shining into the apartment. No one around the neighborhood, suuuuuuuuuuuper quiet. Suddenly, I heard it in the distance. I’d heard that sound before and you heard it long before you could tell which direction it was coming from. If you paid attention suddenly, you would see what you heard ... and which direction it was approaching from.
The route the President of the United States’ three helicopters took from Washington DC to NYC was low and along the coast. I suppose because there are some military bases along the coast and they consider it safer and well protected. You can hear those helicopters several minutes before they appear. So, I realized that it is very likely what I suspected, President Obama’s official entourage was on its way to NYC for a big event of some sort and they were coming right past ME!
Now, my living room/kitchen was one nice size room with two huge picture windows that had two smaller windows one on each side of the big ones The small ones opened, the big ones had an amazing eastern view of the open sky as I was on the second floor and had a big flat roof out those windows and zero obstruction of the sky.
I ran out the door (behind the apartment) hopped off the deck onto the roof and ran out to the front of the roof! Here they came! I could see them from the south ... 3 LOUD dots ... approaching ... ME!!
Here they came ... and so low, they were traveling close to the shoreline, a short block away and there I was ... without another human in sight ... I KNOW THEY SAW ME ... THEY HAD TO!
Jumping up and down ... waving my arms ... blowing kisses and saluting President Obama ... I was overjoyed and SO happy I cannot put it into words ... what an incredibly over the moon happy feeling ... I got to acknowledge my favorite president ... the one and only Barak Obama! I know they saw me!
A few months later, I found myself living just outside of Boston. It was Spring 2010. I lived in a Garden Apartment just across from a tiny private airport. The only activity in and out of their small runways were helicopters and single engine airplanes. That spring there had been a great deal of extremely damaging flooding throughout Massachusetts. Once the immediate danger passed and the weather cleared up, things got back to normal except for the recovery process.
I got out of work early one day and went straight back to my apartment. When I turned onto Farm Road where I lived, I noticed traffic backed up and lots of people lining the streets facing the airport. There was a tremendous police presence including armed men in black on the nearby rooftops. When I asked a spectator about what was going on they said they weren’t sure, but it might be some sort of criminal bust. So, I parked the car and went out to see if I could in fact find out what was happening.
Then, I heard it! That sound! I could not tell from which direction it was coming, just like in Surf City. I looked at the person next to me and said, “Listen ... Do you hear that?” “Yes” he replied. I smiled and said, “That’s the President’s helicopters!” Sure enough, a few minutes later they appeared. Marine 1, Marine 2, and the reconnaissance helicopter!
They landed less than a full football field away. I couldn’t believe it! What luck! Then President Obama’s Heavy Duty, Maxed Out, Big Black Limousines drove up to the tarmac to pick him up! We waited, but truthfully not all that long. Then the Commander in Chief stepped out of the helicopter. Oh my gosh, we went crazy! He waved to the crowd off to his left, the direction he disembarked, then he stepped onto the tarmac and walked past his limousine and turned — directly facing — you got it — ME! (And the others in the crowd, lucky for them, they were near me!)
Well, I felt like Barak Obama was waving right to me! I was so thrilled. It was a mere moment in time, but it was unforgettable! He stepped into the limousine, and they drove out and off to their left, not past us, but it was ok, because, after all he DID specifically turn to wave to me (us). Lol. We later learned he was in the area to inspect the damages and reach out to the victims affected by the devastating floods.
So, the crowd dispersed except for just a few of us. I hung around to look at the helicopters from the distance permitted. It was very impressive, do I have to tell you, even for a non-military gal like me ... it was thoroughly impressive.
Then, the first helicopter, closest to us, the one President Obama had been on lifted off ... right there, like fifty yards away ... and it lifted off to the height of a third floor let’s say ... quite low ... they stayed low. The two badass President’s Marine Pilots ever so slowly pulled forward and HOVERED RIGHT ABOVE US! They could’ve dropped a ladder down they were so close!
They HOVERED THERE, LOOKED RIGHT AT ME (US) AND THEN IN UNISON THEY SALUTED ME! (US!)
I saluted back, and off they went!
As I turned to walk back my apartment I giggled as I thought, “I wonder if they recognized me from the beach flyby?” It’s fun to imagine they did.
It is one of those unforgettable moments in my life, truly!
Photo by Andrea Marie, 18th St, Surf City Long Beach Island, New Jersey.
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