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We all do!
Some of my fondest childhood memories are of trips to the beach. Living in Cranston, my family always visited the state beaches, mainly Scarborough and Sand Hill Cove. (Yes, I realize I'm giving away my age by using that name, but that's what it will always be to me.) But we never got to the beach often enough to suit me, and I was always jealous of my classmates whose families had beach houses. So it was a dream come true for me to be able to buy property in a town on the ocean, even if I couldn't afford beachfront property.
But the more often I visited the town beach last summer, the less I wanted one of those million-dollar houses along Charlestown Beach Road. Sure, the view must be gorgeous—but I never see anyone enjoying it. I never see anyone out on the deck or even going in or out of any of them. They all have their little area of beach roped off and "Private Property" signs posted, and I never see anyone sitting inside those little roped-off areas. But heaven forbid anyone else use "their" piece of the beach. Then again, why should anyone sit there inside those roped-off areas, really. Where's the fun in that. If I owned one of those houses, I'd still be hanging at the town beach, not sitting there in the sand dunes all by myself.
So I was quite pleased on my first trip to the town beach this summer to see the new marker flags indicating which areas are public and which are private. (In case you can't make out the wording in the picture, it says "Public Access Below Seaweed Line.") Because not even a million dollars gives you ownership of the ocean, and anyone is free to walk along the beach below the mean high-tide mark—even nonresidents. This is our right as Rhode Islanders. We are the Ocean State. All of us, not just those who can afford beachfront. So go ahead, post your little signs and put up your fences. I don't need to walk on your private oceanfront property, because I've got all the rest of the beach.
Author: Linda Felaco
