Picnic at Interstate Park ~ 1960

Our first family picnic at Interstate Park in New Jersey was on the Fourth of July in 1960. The day started at 6:00 AM because everybody knew you had to leave early to get a good picnic spot. Before the sun was fully up, families were already loading cars with folding chairs, blankets, coolers, charcoal grills, and trays of food wrapped in foil.

My parents made the corn on the cob, somebody else brought the potato salad and boodle salad, another family handled the hamburgers and hot dogs, and someone always brought the soda and bags of ice. Everybody had a part in the picnic. Mothers packed paper plates and napkins while fathers carried coolers and grills out to the car.

The ride there felt exciting because it was the Fourth of July and you knew it was going to be a full-day outing. Kids sat in the back seat still sleepy from getting up so early while the adults drank coffee from thermos bottles and talked during the drive.

When we arrived, families were already hurrying to grab the best picnic tables under the trees. Once the tables were claimed, the grills were set up, radios started playing, and the smell of charcoal smoke drifted through the whole park. The kids spent the entire day running around, playing games, exploring, and stopping now and then at the metal water fountain to cool off and get a drink.

The picnic tables were covered with food all day long — corn on the cob, potato salad, hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, watermelon, pickles, cake, and cold glass soda bottles sitting in melting ice. The grown-ups laughed and talked while the children played from morning until night without slowing down.

We stayed there even after the sun went down. If I remember it right, it was past 8:00 PM before people finally started packing up. By then the park felt quieter, the air cooler, and the picnic tables were covered with empty soda bottles, crumpled napkins, and half-melted ice in the coolers. Kids were tired, dirty, and happy from spending the whole day outdoors.

On the ride home, most of us could barely stay awake. After being there from early morning until after dark, it felt like one of the longest and best days of the summer.