spring break in whiteville
key west was fantastic. the drive down there took longer than expected, but it was worth it. we did a vacation that was the antithesis of my family's usual MO: we stayed in a good resort, we actually did activities, and we did stuff the ladies wanted to do. growing up, a typical vacation consisted of: saving money, going to some godforsaken small town that had cheap condo sublets, sitting around the place while the dads watched tv and told jokes and the moms cooked, and finding indian or chinese restaurants. activities were minimal. now, before i sound like a complete ungrateful brat, i should acknowledge that first of all, i'm lucky that we even had vacations. many (probably most) families do not. on top of it, we went on some sweet trips, including a couple of cruises and disney world. finally, no matter where we went, we always with family, and i'm very close to my cousins thanks to it, and i'm forever grateful for it.
as soon as we got there, mpg and i dropped of the girls at a spa (ms. mpg's birthday was friday, dr. wintermute's was on monday), and then went to the hotel. we grabbed a beer, chilled a bit, and then it was time to pick up the girls. then we went to a nice meal in downtown key west, and relaxed afterwards. the next day we did an all-day sea excursion. not cheap by any means, but well worth it. from 10 am to 4 pm, a big catamaran took us about an hour off shore, where we snorkeled (3rd largest coral reef in the world), rode jet skis, rode banana boats, hung out on a water trampoline, and tried para-sailing. the only downside was unsurprisingly, i spent the first 45 minutes laying on a bench with motion sickness. it sucks. they fed us good food and there was cold beer.
at night dr. w and i chilled out while the mpgs did a sunset cruise (two water activities in a day was too much for me). dinner downtown again. dr. w and i walked from our hotel to downtown. "how long do you think it will take?" she asked. "hmm, 20, maybe 30 minutes."
an hour and fifteen minutes later, we were there. but we did get to see the famed key west sunset along the way, and picked up some key lime pie (i reasoned that on vacation, it's ok, and maybe even encouraged, to eat dessert before dinner). by far, the most perfect dessert ever is on key west: key lime pie in a flaky crust dipped in chocolate on a popsicle stick. it has chocolate, it has pie crust, it's tangy, it's portable. unbeatable.
the next day we had ordered in-room massages for the chicks as one last birthday surprise. then we hit the beach.
now, all weekend we had seen surprisingly few spring breakers--whether in downtown key west or on the sea excursion. turns out they were all on the beach. i could barely see any sand. it was pure americana. thousands of 20-year-olds pour beer into plastic cups (key west law says anything goes as long as it's in a plastic cup), scoping each other out and soaking in the sun. however, what was notable was that it was singularly caucasion. now, i have done one 'typical' spring break trip--to nassau (way back when). i also did one spring break as a grad student to costa rica. although the latter was way chill, there were plenty of college spring breakers to observe. so i claim that i've done two of these trips.
and never have i seen such a homogeneous crowd. it was as if every stereotypical fraternity and sorority dude and chick showed up in key west, and kept it at big secret from all of the indian, asian, and african-american students. i mean, there's plenty of those people in the greek systems across american, but somehow they don't do spring break? i'm not sure what's happening here or why. i'm not exaggerating, mpg and i were the ONLY non-caucasians on the beach. dr. w claims to have seen one black guy. ok, fine, i'll give you that one. but that's it? among thousands of students?
why do only the white students come here?
and just as intriguing, where do all of the other students go? is there some indian spring break that i never new about? my indian friends (and fraternity brothers) went on the same spring break as everyone else when i was in college.
and has this changed recently? if, so, why? it wasn't like this as recently within the last decade.
has anyone else noticed this? can you think back to your spring break days...was it this segregated?
as soon as we got there, mpg and i dropped of the girls at a spa (ms. mpg's birthday was friday, dr. wintermute's was on monday), and then went to the hotel. we grabbed a beer, chilled a bit, and then it was time to pick up the girls. then we went to a nice meal in downtown key west, and relaxed afterwards. the next day we did an all-day sea excursion. not cheap by any means, but well worth it. from 10 am to 4 pm, a big catamaran took us about an hour off shore, where we snorkeled (3rd largest coral reef in the world), rode jet skis, rode banana boats, hung out on a water trampoline, and tried para-sailing. the only downside was unsurprisingly, i spent the first 45 minutes laying on a bench with motion sickness. it sucks. they fed us good food and there was cold beer.
at night dr. w and i chilled out while the mpgs did a sunset cruise (two water activities in a day was too much for me). dinner downtown again. dr. w and i walked from our hotel to downtown. "how long do you think it will take?" she asked. "hmm, 20, maybe 30 minutes."
an hour and fifteen minutes later, we were there. but we did get to see the famed key west sunset along the way, and picked up some key lime pie (i reasoned that on vacation, it's ok, and maybe even encouraged, to eat dessert before dinner). by far, the most perfect dessert ever is on key west: key lime pie in a flaky crust dipped in chocolate on a popsicle stick. it has chocolate, it has pie crust, it's tangy, it's portable. unbeatable.
the next day we had ordered in-room massages for the chicks as one last birthday surprise. then we hit the beach.
now, all weekend we had seen surprisingly few spring breakers--whether in downtown key west or on the sea excursion. turns out they were all on the beach. i could barely see any sand. it was pure americana. thousands of 20-year-olds pour beer into plastic cups (key west law says anything goes as long as it's in a plastic cup), scoping each other out and soaking in the sun. however, what was notable was that it was singularly caucasion. now, i have done one 'typical' spring break trip--to nassau (way back when). i also did one spring break as a grad student to costa rica. although the latter was way chill, there were plenty of college spring breakers to observe. so i claim that i've done two of these trips.
and never have i seen such a homogeneous crowd. it was as if every stereotypical fraternity and sorority dude and chick showed up in key west, and kept it at big secret from all of the indian, asian, and african-american students. i mean, there's plenty of those people in the greek systems across american, but somehow they don't do spring break? i'm not sure what's happening here or why. i'm not exaggerating, mpg and i were the ONLY non-caucasians on the beach. dr. w claims to have seen one black guy. ok, fine, i'll give you that one. but that's it? among thousands of students?
why do only the white students come here?
and just as intriguing, where do all of the other students go? is there some indian spring break that i never new about? my indian friends (and fraternity brothers) went on the same spring break as everyone else when i was in college.
and has this changed recently? if, so, why? it wasn't like this as recently within the last decade.
has anyone else noticed this? can you think back to your spring break days...was it this segregated?
posted by Wintermute at 10:11 PM
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