I am a creature of habit. I wake up every morning, have a glass of water, eat my chocolate Special K cereal, shower, and then continue on with my day. Just as I like having my morning routine, I like having my beach routine. Steger is my favorite beach, and there are only two places on the beach where you can always find me: at the tent or at the Steger stand. Some people might not have much of a clue what either of those two things are, so I’ll break it down.

On just about every beach in Cape May, there is a Steger stand. Each one is run by a Steger boy, who rents out umbrellas and chairs for the day. As far as jobs go, it doesn’t get much better than that. They sit on the beach all day and get up every once in a while to give out a chair or umbrella. I sit at the stand on Steger beach with a good friend of mine, George. I’m not sitting with him just for the free use of a beach chair or the lovely cooling shade of his umbrellas, but that definitely never hurt anything. I’ve been sitting there for so long I even know the prices! It’s $7 for a chair, $35 for the week, $12 for an umbrella, and $60 for the week.

It’s a perfect place to relax, as well as having a full view of the beach. For a some extra shade, I even dug a little cave under the stand with my friend Maddi. It was even deep enough to fit beach chairs under there. I’ve tried to convince George that I should be hired as a Steger girl, but I don’t think he’ll have it. At least I tried. Who wouldn’t want to be paid to be on the beach all day?

George, me, my sister, and Maddi taking cover in our cave under the stand

Just across the sand is another favorite of mine called ‘the tent’. The Steger boys also rent out these big blue tents, and that is where my group of friends always hangs out. We have the benefit of both the sun and the shade, as well as our own personal space to chill out and relax. We circle up our chairs on the sunny days, bronzing our skin until we can take no more. Then we either dip in to the shade of the tent or run down to the water. Even when it’s cloudy out, we throw a football around or just sprawl out, taking advantage of a cooler day.

A cloudy day in front of the tent

When I think of places that remind me of summer, the tent and the Steger stand will always be the first to jump in to my mind. Running from the water, to the stand with George, and back to the tent is how my days at the beach are spent. We are all tan, light haired, and constantly smiling, and that is always how I will remember my summers in Cape May.