Spring Break by Kate Emery General

We associate spring break more with sand than we do with Socrates, but the origin of spring break can be traced back to the Greek celebration of Dionysus. The Greeks liked to blow off steam with a three-day “awakening” dedicated to Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility. People would dance, singers would perform, women would adorn themselves with flowers, and men would compete to see who be the fastest to drain a cup of wine.

According to OnlineSchool.org it is said that spring break began in the 1930’s in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with a swim forum event. A swimming coach from Colgate University in frigid upstate New York decided to take his team down to Florida for some early training at a brand new Olympic sized pool in sunny Fort Lauderdale. The idea clicked with other college swim coaches and soon the spring training migration became an annual tradition for swimmers nationwide.

The popularity of spending a week in Florida each spring spread slowly, until it exploded in popular culture with Hollywood’s spring break movie release of “Where the Boys Are” in 1960. The movie was based on the book, “Unholy Spring” by college professor Glendon Swarthout, who wrote the novel after observing students on spring break in 1958.

In early March of 1965, my Mom had a case of “spring fever” due in part to the 40 mile wind gusts and the three feet of snow on the ground. My Dad was going to be out of town on a business trip and my mom thought that a few days spent in sunny California was the best “medicine.” After a quick call to the travel agent, we (my Mom and four children) were on our way.

Our first day in California was spent at Knott’s Berry Farm. My mom explained that when she was a little girl, her family would visit Knott’s Berry farm when it was a working berry farm. We had their famous fried chicken for lunch and bought several jars of the boysenberry jam for gifts. We rode the narrow gauge train on the Calico Railroad where the notorious Ghost Town Bandits hold up every departure from Calico Square Depot. A prospector showed us the “ropes” of panning for gold in the gold rush area. We witnessed the importance of the millions of Chinese citizens who left their homes to build the American railroads on the Calico mine ride. We learned that the amusement park and rides were created in 1935 to entertain the guests who waited hours for the mouth-watering chicken dinners.

We spent a day at Disneyland visiting the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse, the Jungle Cruise, It’s a Small World, Great Moments with Abraham Lincoln, and the Monorail. Walt Disney was fascinated by the life of Abraham Lincoln. The first Audio-Animatronics version of Lincoln debuted in 1964 at the New York’s World Fair and was so life-like that National Geographic magazine called the figure “alarming” in its realism. In 1965, the show moved to its current home at Disneyland. I had visited the 1964 New York’s World’s Fair with my grandmother, so I had seen Moments with Abraham Lincoln and had ridden on the Monorail. I was excited to be experiencing these with my family.

Day three of our trip was spent touring Olvera Street. Los Angeles was founded in 1781 by Spanish settlers on a site southeast of what is now Olvera Street near the Los Angeles River. Olvera Street is one of the oldest streets in Los Angeles and was named for the first judge for the county of Los Angeles, Augustin Olvera. On Easter Sunday in 1930, Olvera Street opened as a Mexican marketplace. Olvera Street offers a glimpse into the Mexican history of Los Angeles, it provides a cultural immersion where visitors can shop, dine, listen to music, and attend festivals and events. We ate a delicious lunch and then Mom bought each of us a pair of huaraches, some dolls wearing sarapes and some straw hats as party favors for my upcoming birthday party.

Our final day was spent with our cousins who lived on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Laguna Beach. Our cousins were older and much more “hip” than we were. The two boys looked exactly like The Beach Boys and were surfers. The descent to the beach was a little challenging but it was a beautiful day for a picnic. We swam but it was like a “polar Plunge,” the water was icy cold.

We flew home to more snow, perfect for spring skiing. Dad took us skiing the last day of our Spring Break, it was warm enough to ski without our parkas and hats.

The trip with Mom was very special, she was such a seasoned traveler, she had an itinerary and we accomplished everything that she had planned.

Traveling is so wonderful for our mind, body, and soul because it allows us to have new and exciting experiences and to break out of the often mundane day to day norm. Traveling of any extent provides such a great reset. Spring break is the perfect time to enjoy the weather that is warming up and to obtain the various health benefits that come from spending time in the fresh air and sunshine.