Aruba

When the Beach Boys released their hit song, “Kokomo” in 1988, there WAS a place called Kokomo. It was in Indiana, almost equidistant between Chicago, Illinois and Louisville, Kentucky. Somehow, Indiana doesn’t inspire thoughts of “a tropical drink melting in your hand,” or falling in love “to the rhythm of a steel drum band.” There was another Kokomo in Arkansas, and there was even one in Hawaii. While this last one seems a bit closer to the mark, the Beach Boys were singing about an island “off the Florida Keys.” That little place that “everybody needs” where you can “go and get away from it all,” only existed in John Phillips’ and Scott McKenzie’s imaginations. Aruba and the other island retreats that are mentioned in the song are all real. But it makes sense to me that if you want the  PERFECT tropical hideaway, you’ll have to dream it up.