A Summer Destination: Do You Pool?

Oh how we wanted to have a pool in the backyard while growing up. We wanted one so badly. The next door neighbors had a pool... a pool they absolutely never seemed to use. We would stare longingly until one day they invited us over to use it. Then we got to use the pool whenever we wanted. It set the mark high for a summer vacation memory even though other years we had traveled or camped. There was something about not having to leave home and getting to spend all day in a pool that made 1988 a sweet sweet time. Flash forward to today, it seems way to easy to take pools for granted.

It's one of the perks of living in a place that gets as god awfully hot as LA – swimming pools. Abby brought up the idea of borrowing pools from friends and acquaintances to help get through the hot summer. And the thing we always remark when flying into LA during the day (on a hot day) is that with the millions of pools dotting the landscape, no one is ever in them! All that fun splashy time going to waste. We're even guilty of it. In the complex we're living in there's a pool and until about a week ago, we'd never set foot in it despite it being clean and relatively uncrowded.

So this past weekend we made a point of going swimming every day. It was incredibly relaxing and it made time feel like it was slowing down (after a very hectic last couple of months) and the best part was that it didn't cost a thing. Why did it take so long (other than the usual excuse of jobs and being busy) for me to get in there?

So have you made a point of using the pool in your complex/backyard/neighbor's house?

Does anyone have a favorite Hotel Pool or Pool Crashing Story? Or even a favorite pool scene from a movie (Like Valley Girl or Fast Times)?

(Image: Parker Hotel Palm Springs by beachloverpamela)

Comments (14)

My boyfriend's apartment has a pool. Unfortunately the management have been painfully slow to get it in working order. Granted they did refinish & retile it a couple months back, but they've yet to fix (or maybe just turn on) the filtration system so it's not really swimmable just yet (we did sneak in one evening, but swimming in pool of clean looking, yet stagnant, water was kind of icky).

I was a pool-less child growing up. Me and the other "less fortunates" used to hop the fence and sneek into the school's pool on those hot summer nights. The lesson learned from our risky high jinks: it's always easier jumping over a wrought iron fence dry rather than wet :) I absolutely LOVE being in the pool during the summer so I try to get the family together at my mother in laws's pool for a couple grown up pool parties every summer.

I had a pool as a kid and miss it terribly. That, and the L.A. climate that enabled me to swim every day after school.

I grew up with a pool and I'm not sure who these people are that are not using their pools, but that certainly wasn't the case in my home. I went in the pool EVERY day from when I was a toddler until I was a teenager. I constantly had friends over to hang out in the pool. That being said, looking back on what my parents dealt with in terms of upkeep, expense and responsibility I don't think I would ever want a pool.

My apartment complex pool currently satisfies any need I have. Pools are much more fun when someone else does all the work.

I swim in the pool at my parent's house every time I visit them. They remodeled it a few years back and it is just as fantastic as it was when I was growing up. Except for they got rid of the fiberglass slide because it was "old" and had "splinters." no wonder kids are so overly sensitive today.

My family had a pool (above ground) when I was growing up and I was fortunate enough to have an aunt who had the normal kind of pool - so I was swimming most of my childhood. There is a pool in our complex - it's quite small, so if more than five people are there, it's about standing room only and that's not much fun for anyone. I live too far away from those I know who have a pool to make the drive just to go swimming...so I just rarely go swimming any more. The closest I have been is a hot tub on my last vacation.

I wish I had a pool.... and I don't even know how to swim! Living in Brooklyn, NY I didn't have friends or neighbors who had a pool. My boyfriend laughs because it is always my #1 criteria for any hotel we stay at while on vacation. There is something about sitting by the pool or just putting my legs in that makes me so happy!!

Here in Kansas City the summers are god-awful too, think 90 degrees, with 90% humidity.
I don't have a pool, but my goal for next summer is to move to a complex with one.
I remember crashing a hotel pool once in high school in Nebraska, shortly after we looked up and noticed the green clouds rolling in. There was a tornado warning and we all had to jump in our cars and race home!

I visit my friend's pools in Woodland Hills and Sherman Oaks maybe once a month to hang out. Wish my complex had a pool, but I'm only 4 blocks from the ocean so I guess it wouldn't matter much.

I grew up in Louisville, KY swimming at Lakeside which is a huuuuge rock quarry turned *amazing* swimming pool that I have yet to ever have one-upped by another (except for maybe in terms of view: infinity pool on the beach in Jamaica! Woo!). We swam constantly growing up and I had no idea what a luxury a cold swimming pool is until I moved to Savannah, GA a few years ago. The heat in the deep South is legendary and while the beach is only 20 minutes away, the water is like mild bathwater. Not to mention that the beach here is extraordinarily icky and the water murky and mysterious. I've seen silly string floating by, beer cans, diapers, beach toys, random trash: it's disgusting. When I say I long for a pool here, I mean it: I LONG FOR A POOL! I dream of a pool. On dog walks I see people's unused pools through cracks in the privacy fence and literally have to talk myself from climbing over. The heat here leaves you contemplating the depths of puddles and soaking yourself with the hose when watering the plants. It is H.O.T. But alas, a city with sun and heat 85% of the year spent all of their money on an INDOOR pool complex. It's shameful. I have yet to find an affordable, clean place to swim for the general public and it is sad.

Whew. Sorry for all of THAT! But people, hear me now, if you need a pool sitter; for the love of all things great and holy, send me a message. I've got my suit on under my clothes.

i don't like swimming in pools cuz of the chlorine - i love being in the ocean!!!!

as kids, we rode our bikes or took the bus to city pools, and signed up for hours of swim lessons each week. i'm still in a pool 2-3 times a week - masters swim (coached swim workouts). i love pools, i book hotels based on their pool and always travel with my swimsuit, but my travelling companions are usually less anxious to swim than me, and so frequently, i'm swimming alone.