The Best Poolside Snacks to Pack for your Memorial Day Weekend

You did it. After spending hours working for the weekend, you’ve been rewarded with three days off to kick off the summer for the Memorial Day holiday.

Most folks will use this time to get near a body of water. Whether you’re hopping in a boat or lying next to a pool, you must come prepared. Before you pack your cooler with cold drinks and tasty snacks, let me share which ones stand above the rest as the best of the best.

Disclaimer: Before unveiling this Mt. Rushmore, let me be clear, no cooking is required for any of these selections. Hot dogs and hamburgers off the grill are obviously 1A and 1B after a long day of sun and fun. Last year someone brought two Crave Cases to a pool party and neither lasted long because it was the best thing you could possibly eat at that given moment in time. All of the following choices can be packed away and scarfed down efficiently to provide brief satisfaction before returning to the cannonballs.

4. Popsicles

Freeze-pops. Flav-o-Ice. Whatever you call them, the plastic tubes of frozen juice are so simple, yet so spectacular. Not only are they a tasty, cool treat, according to my three-year-old they actively cool down your body temperature to prevent you from roasting in the sun. It’s science.

3. Pringles

If you thought I was going to say “chips” then you came to the wrong place. There’s room for every chip on the boat, from Nacho Cheese Doritos to Clancy’s off-brand BBQ. It’s hard to find a bad chip during summertime activities, but Pringles are the superior brand.

First and foremost, the can makes it easy to pack and ensures they do not get smashed when your over-served Uncle Kev starts stumbling around the pontoon. Secondly, you can take a can of Pringles straight to the dome and not feel guilty about it for a second. “I’m burning enough calories in the water. Who’s counting?” As far as flavors go, I can be talked into just about any, but the cheddar cheese are at the top of my big board, just ahead of BBQ and the sour creme and onion.

2. Lunch Meat

Opening up your elementary school lunchbox to find a bologna sandwich is embarrassing. Getting a smashed up bologna, cheese and mayonnaise sandwich after jumping off a dock for three hours is better than filet mignon. You cannot discriminate against any choice in collection of cold cuts — although turkey is hard to beat — but you can upgrade each and every one by adding a layer of chips to the sandwich. You’re welcome.

1. Watermelon

There’s not much substance or nutrition in an actual watermelon but there is no better substance to eat in the summer than a watermelon. You ever been around somebody that doesn’t like watermelon? No, because it’s delicious. One slice of the refreshing fruit can turn a person into an animal, with juices dripping down their chin while they spit seeds to the side. No matter how barbaric you may look, nobody cares because everyone understands that it’s worth it. Watermelon is an undefeated summer snack.