The Spring Break I'll Never Forget

Spring Break...  I remember when those two words actually meant something to me.

But these days, while my wife is getting a well-deserved vacation, I'm treating this week the same as any other.

Still... when it's this time of year, it's nearly impossible to not think back to the good old days. And there's one Spring Break that separates itself from all my others... One that is truly unforgettable.

This is not your stereotypical Spring Break story in Cancun, South Padre, or wherever it is that you kids go nowadays. Those MTV hot spots were never really my thing.

Instead, this is a story about myself and four friends who came up with a crazy idea that, to my knowledge, has never been done before. It was February of 2007, my junior year. Some people were talking about Spring Break plans, but there were some of us who didn't have any yet.

I'm not sure who is credited with coming up with the idea, but someone suggested that we don't decide on where to go for Spring Break until the day we leave. Only five of us were crazy enough to go along with it: myself, Jeremy, Evan, Kara, and Jenny.

We each selected two locations that were within a 1,000 mile driving radius. We wrote them on a special sheet of paper and then Jeremy sealed them up until The Big Day. We were not allowed to tell ANYONE which cities we wrote down, so, in theory, we only knew 20% of the possible destinations.

At about 5:00 pm on the Friday before Spring Break, we all gathered at Jeremy's apartment. He retrieved the ten locations, and someone reached inside pulling out the piece of paper. We were all trembling with anticipation as the city was about to be revealed...

Chicago, Illinois

Like I said... this is not your stereotypical Spring Break story.

We all rushed back to our living quarters to pack. (We hadn't known whether to pack for warm or cold weather.) And by 9:30, we were on the road to Chicago. Yes... we drove through the night.

We hit up a lot of the tourist attractions: the Sears Tower, the Shedd Aquarium, and the Navy Pier, to name a few. We ate at some good restaurants. We even walked around the city one day. We had fun.

Truth be told, I actually had more fun the following Spring Break when I went snow skiing for the first time. However, it's the story behind our trip to Chicago that makes it so memorable...

After three days in Chicago, we decided to come home... driving through the night once again. As we were heading back to Pittsburg, we decided to reveal each of the other nine locations one at a time every 15 minutes. (We were still not allowed to talk about the other cities while in Chicago.) Some of the other options included Minneapolis, Denver, Cincinnati, San Antonio, and Houston. It was pretty cool to hear why everyone selected the cities they did.

I'm not sure if I'll ever want to do something like that ever again. Heck, I doubt the opportunity will ever present itself. But doing it once is something I'll never forget.

A few pictures from that Spring Break...

(left to right) Myself, Evan, Kara, & Jeremy posing with a statue wearing a
piece of everyone's clothing. Kara called it Lady Gwendoline.

 

A Kodak moment on the top floor of the Sears Tower.

The tours for Wrigley Field were a little too pricey for college kids. So we
settled for a picture in front of the historic stadium.

Driving through the night may not have been the best idea. This happened
far too often on the trip. (Taken on the city bus.)

(left to right) Myself, Jenny, Jeremy, & Evan at a very scenic Greenhouse.