THE RON JON SURF SHOP--

Located in Cocoa Beach, Florida, they bill themselves as the World's Most Famous and that becomes believable when you begin seeing their billboards almost continuously along I-95 on the way to the sunny south.

That store, the "flagship" of their retailing outlets, is 52,000 square feet, in its own class of whimsical, Disneyland architecture, filled floor to ceiling with everything for the beach lifestyle.

It's open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The company started on the New Jersey shore when Ron DiMenna discovered his passion for surfboarding.  When his father heard Ron wanted to buy a new sufrboard from California he advised, "Buy three, sell two at a profit and yours will be free."

Turns out dad was right and the retail surfing empire was born.  He opened his first shop there in 1961 then headed to Cocoa Beach, FL two years later.

The original store continues in operation in nautical-sounding, Ship Bottom, NJ.  There are a pair of stores in Myrtle Beach, SC and another half dozen or so sprinkled around FL from Panama City to Key West.

While my Syracuse friend Dick Weeks and I are hardly part of the beach culture and our chicks didn't spend a lot of time in the string bikini department, I did leave with a spare, shark's tooth necklace and a visor emblazoned with the surf shop logo.

I have no idea what the girls purchased.  And didn't ask.

Life is good.