Every year, as the snow begins to melt and the sun starts setting later, my mind wanders away from the city. I picture the salty air on my face, early morning swims, and calloused feet walking on hot pavement. Inevitably, the intermittent shivers of excitement make way for a constant, aching sense of longing — longing for the end of exams, the lift of a heavy burden, the bliss of irresponsibility. My schoolwork starts posing a question: “what for?” as I slip into the end-of-year daydream. The anticipation mounts when the time comes to say goodbye, pack the car, and leave the city.
My destination is Black Point, Connecticut.
Black Point is comprised of twenty streets, each with beachy names like Osprey, Seabreeze, and Brightwater. The town is located on the Connecticut shore of the Long Island Sound, and the calm, placid ocean is a short walk from every house in town.
When my grandparents were children, their parents drove their families down to Black Point every summer, where there was an ocean for cooling off, a beach club to find a summer job, and kids to play with. As my grandparents grew up, got married, and had kids of their own, they continued to bring the family there every summer, and eventually retired in my grandmother’s house.
Ever since I was young, my brothers and I have made the same two and a half hour drive to Connecticut every June, returning to New York in August with freckled faces and carefree minds, having swum in the same ocean, worked at the same beach club, and played with the grandchildren of the elder generation.
Though rich in community, Black Point is a small town with few public buildings. The two most visited by kids and grown-ups alike are the Clubhouse and the Black Point Market.
The Clubhouse, contrary to its Mickey Mouse-esque name, is a short gray building, empty inside except for a kitchen and two bathrooms. Nicknamed ‘The Club,’ the Clubhouse houses everything from 6 A.M. yoga classes and community trivia nights to a day camp run by the Black Point Beach Club over the summer. An expansive yard behind the Club offers basketball, tennis, and shuffleboard courts in addition to a playground and a Ga-Ga pit.
After the three hour day camp (also, unsurprisingly, called ‘Club’) is over, children from ages 4 to 16 ride their bikes to the Market. Located at the top of Nehantic Road, it is a perfect distance from the beach and the clubhouse to make a stop at the Market, the most convenient lunch spot.
I vividly remember the first day I visited the Market. I was six or seven, and it was a warm July afternoon. After lunch, my Nana leaned down and handed me a piece of paper. She said, “This is worth ten dollars at the candy store. You can buy whatever you want.” I was thrilled. My dad chaperoned me and my brother on the grueling bike ride across eight suburban streets until we spotted the bright and colorful “OPEN” flag waving outside the store.
The Black Point Market — referred to as the “candy store” until I was 10 years old — is a two-story house with pale yellow siding. The front deck is shaded by a white-and-blue striped awning and the door jingles when it opens. The interior is laid out like a New York City street corner deli, selling everything from meatball subs to Big League Chew to bags of ice for a cooler. The difference, though, is the warm sunny lighting, seashells adorning the walls, and customers in bikinis and bare feet strolling in and out. There is a patio in the back, furnished with five white tables with blue plastic chairs that burn after a morning in the sun.
The first time I approached the Market, I positioned my bike on the rack (which, at the busiest time of the day, stood on what looked more like a bicycle junkyard than a patch of grass) and climbed the warm brown steps to the deck, my brother in tow. Upon entry, I was overwhelmed with choices. Before me was every flavor of candy I could imagine, including lollipops, chocolate, gummies, and chewing gum. Beside them was a glass case protecting six tubs of ice cream and six buckets of Italian Ice. My brother knew what he wanted immediately. “A small Italian ice, please,” he ordered in his polite six year old voice. “One scoop blue raspberry and one scoop watermelon.” The kind face behind the counter chuckled and began to scoop.
The employees at the Market are an ever-changing rotation of familiar faces. The owners, their preteen children, and teenagers looking for a summer job are often found behind the counter. The Market has been open since 1928 and is adoringly referred to as “The Little Store” by those who knew it then. It fell into disrepair and reopened in 2010 with renewed liveliness. The owners since then, Karen and Mike, retired in 2023. At the start of last summer, the store was run by a new family.
Steve Albert, the Market’s new owner, tells me it was difficult to re-open the store last summer, especially as the store was due to open immediately after Albert and his family purchased the property. “Last year when we bought the store, we didn’t have time to do anything because we closed on the building and we opened up three days later,” Albert reflected.
There was no time to repaint, edit the menu, or make any changes to the Market’s supplies before the season began. “When we opened the store on Memorial Day, Monday, we had about 100 people in line,” Albert told me. “It went right to being very busy on the first day and stayed busy until we closed, so while you’re learning you’re also trying to get all the sandwich orders made. It was incredibly challenging.”
This summer, however, things will be different. Albert will have time to implement his ideas for refurbishing the Market. “I’ve been painting, and I put up some older antiques in the place. Because the place is one hundred years old, it should have some antiques to signify the age. We also changed our menu up a little bit; the menu had to be tweaked to what Black Pointers like. I had a place in Lyme quite a few years ago and what I used to do there didn’t really transfer over to Black Point. It’s different. People eat at different times and like different things. Black Point is more of a beachy place. They like lighter sandwiches. They like slushies and Italian ice more than they do ice cream. I’m looking forward to having a good season and being prepared this year.”
Black Pointers are excited to experience these changes. Besides being a lunch stop, the Market is a place to connect with neighbors while escaping the midday heat of the Connecticut summer.
Above all else, the Market is a staple in the everyday life of a Black Point kid. One summer, my Nana and I made it a mission to try every flavor of ice cream in the store as we waited for our beloved ‘Muddy Boots’ (vanilla with brownie chunks and caramel swirl), to come back in stock. The following summer, my friends and I were appalled at the price inflation of the dauntingly spicy ‘Atomic Fireball’ jawbreakers from 10 to 15 cents. Last summer, I took my younger cousin to the Market where she discovered AirHeads rainbow strips for the first time and decided she loved them.
The past and current history of this little Connecticut town are undeniably intertwined with the Market. The nostalgic smell of candy, seaside air, and fried bacon that wafts from the doorway will remain a treasured memory. My grandparents’ stories of summers long past are incomplete without the Little Store. The store is symbolic of the coastal bliss that will always accompany thoughts of my childhood summers.
Black Point is comprised of twenty streets, each with beachy names like Osprey, Seabreeze, and Brightwater. The town is located on the Connecticut shore of the Long Island Sound, and the calm, placid ocean is a short walk from every house in town.