I thought I already said goodbye to the beach a few weeks ago as summer officially came to a close, but after (another) unseasonably warm fall weekend, I found myself at the Jersey Shore yet again. Even at the tail end of September, I was trying to avoid a sunburn while running in and out of the ocean to cool off.

My family’s preferred beach, Spring Lake, New Jersey, happened to be hosting a weekend Italian Festival — surprisingly entertaining and well attended for the predominantly Irish neighborhood.

With live music, some dancing and Italian flags waving in the breeze, this weekend was a smaller, tamer version of the Italian festival in Mercer County my parents brought us to as kids. Much, much tamer.

All in all, it was a beautiful weekend for one last warm-weather hurrah — while I don’t want to rush the summer away, it’s caramel apple season and I would like to see my sweaters again.

I think this was the last beach weekend for real this time, but, honestly, with these 90-degree October days, who knows?

— Angelique Platas, associate editor