There were a couple of local church festivals and local farm shows that we would look forward to for months. Rickety rides, junk food, and no parental supervision for a couple of nights were absolute bliss for me. – Maria Baratta

Making up plays in my basement. Only place to stay cool! – Beth Brasor

Going to Hershey Park. – Sue Busch

Rocking and playing in the rope hammock out back or riding bikes with my friends and reading in the hammock too. We also had a great time going to my grandmother’s beach house in SC where we built lots of sand castles, rode waves, and played LOTS and lots of card games. – Parker Cohen

I remember spending my summer reading. They used to sell The Babysitters Club books at the grocery store, and my mom would pick them up for me. When I got older, I read through all the Stephen King novels. I have fond memories of lying on the couch reading the day away. – Jen Couchoud

Playing baseball with my friends and other kids who lived by the Little League baseball field at my old elementary school in Norwalk, CT. If we didn’t have enough for two full teams, which we usually didn’t, we’d play half-field games. Also, riding our bikes up and down the hills at Riverside Cemetery and running wild among the gravestones and mausoleums. – Scott Cullen

Camping in the Pine Barrens, swimming and diving at Pennbrook Swim Club, climbing trees, playing outside (cops and robbers, etc.). – Sara del Castillo

Can’t name just one: swimming and waterskiing. At least once a summer we would have a greased watermelon “fight” in the water – lots of fun! – Barbara Drew

Summer camp in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. Going barefoot all summer on our family farm in Blue Anchor, NJ – John Fowler

I lived on a court, so I loved going outside and playing pretty much whatever sport the other kids were playing. There was also a park about a mile from my house with tennis and basketball courts, and I loved going there and joining in games or even hitting/shooting the ball by myself. – Mike Gianella

Spending two weeks at Ship Bottom on Long Beach Island, swimming and biking. –

Going fishing with my brother. – Michael Howe-Smith

Biking through the woods. – Andrew Kidd

Playing with my neighborhood friends. – Dianne Kidd-Ross

My original thought was “being in air conditioning” because that was a serious contender. Growing up in the 80s, summer meant daytime at home was spent with parents forcing us to stay outside. So I used to have a much higher tolerance for being in the sun.  Which came in handy because my actual favorite summer activity, by far, was playing baseball. We played in the backyard. We played in the front yard. We played a block over, where three backyards coalesced into a shape that we were able to fit into, a nicely sized and shaped field, complete with outfield fences. We played in a couple of different cul-de-sacs. We played at actual baseball fields. There were about a dozen scattered around the town of Middlesex, NJ, where I grew up. And I’d search them all to find a place to play.  And if they were all taken, we’d make a place ourselves.  Looking back, I was fortunate to have a decent number of friends who also liked playing enough to give me an opportunity to play as much as I did. As did growing up in a family, in a time, and a place that afforded me the socioeconomic advantage to have so many options to play. – Chris Marietti

Riding the Wild Mouse roller coaster in Seaside with my grandmother and cousin Donna. – Lynne Molnar

Playing badminton with my twin sister in the evenings until it was too dark to see the shuttlecock. – Jane Root

Building forts and playing baseball. – Steve Saddlemire

Beach days which occurred with some frequency. Rockaway, Jones or Breezy Point Beaches in NY. – Joe Schenk

Watching the stars at night. – Anne Sears

My father and grandfather built a bungalow in Ortley Beach, NJ. My grandparents would be there all summer, and my older sister and I would spend weeks there with them. We were just two blocks from the ocean and a block from the bay. I loved going crabbing with my grandfather. – Lynda Shapiro

My brothers and neighbors would play ball all day long. Baseball, soccer, and others. We were rarely inside during the summer. – Roger Shapiro

My dad didn’t work during the summers because he was a school psychologist, and my mom was a stay-at-home mom when I was young, so we did a lot of camping in upstate NY. I grew up in Spencerport, NY, outside of Rochester. My favorite spot was Rollins Pond in the Adirondack Mountains. The campsites are on a lake, and we spent the days canoeing and swimming. Camping was so much fun as a child. I only realized as an adult that it was so much fun because my parents did all the work—cooking, packing, cleaning, etc.- Sandee Steinberg

As kids in my family and neighborhood, we just got on bikes, rode all over the place, played baseball in the park, played wiffleball in the yards, had adventures in the woods, and swam at the local pool. We had wonderful independence to follow our curiosity anywhere, sometimes to our detriment. – David Thomas

Playing whiffle ball in our large backyard with my siblings and neighborhood friends for hours and hours and hours. – Dan Tuft

Biking and making ice cream. – Susan Vigilante