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Key West Spring Break Part 3: The Pirate Craze Will Never Die
Wanting to do something active to counterbalance all the beer and pie, we bought tickets for an adventure cruise on a big catamaran called Island 'Ting. Casting off from the docks at 10:00 a.m. under the guidance of Captain Johnny, we broke our fast with scrambled eggs and juice and headed to an offshore reef for snorkeling. As was the case with the previous evening's sunset cruise, it was interesting to get to know the crew, which generally consisted of lifestyle junkies who take fun, low-paying, seasonal jobs around the world. Our snorkeling instructor Misty, for example, alternated between sailing jobs in Key West and Maui, and a fire fighting job in Oregon.
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Key West Spring Break Part 2: Yes, the Cats Really Have Six Toes
Of the few cultured things we did in Key West, the best was our visit to the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum on Whitehead Street. Hemingway lived in the handsome colonial mansion from 1931 to 1939, penning some of his greatest works from a detached study. An animated and somewhat prickly tour guide took us through the rooms and explained how Hemingway's wife Pauline had all the ceiling fans removed for aesthetic purposes, and spent extravagantly on installing one of the island's first in-ground swimming pools, prompting Ernest to surrender to her his "last penny."
As for Hemingway's famous cats, their descendants are still there roaming around and getting underfoot, and they do indeed have six and sometimes seven toes. It makes them look like they're wearing little catcher's mitts on their hands.
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Key West Spring Break Part 1: Taking the Easy Way Out
We just got back from a blissful spring vacation and the old trope is true again: it went by all too quickly. We were in dire need of rest and recreation, so instead of planning an ambitious and brainy trip to Angkor Wat or Ottawa or something, we decided to press the easy button and head to Key West, Florida for four nights. We took the Acela from Penn Station to Washington D.C. (nice train ride, decent microwave cheeseburgers), dropped Zachary off with his grandparents, and then flew unencumbered to Key West via Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport, which is unbelievably huge.
The heat hit us as soon as we stepped on the tarmac of the island's tiny airport and it felt great. We had left the chill of the north far behind and escaped to the subtropics. Before long we were in a shared taxi van with a gregarious local driver who provided a running commentary on all the sites we were driving past, pointing out the capsized sailboats in the water, unmoored in a recent storm.
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Acapulco 'Safety' Agreement Keeps Bad Out, Beer In
Just last week we were worrying ourselves over how much fun was possible during this year’s spring break.
Things south of the border are a little dicey, but one Mexican vacation destination is taking a proactive approach to protecting partying students. Acapulco lawmakers have signed an agreement in hopes of increasing the safety of all involved in the area.
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Justice Dept. Issues Warning For Mexico, But Will Spring Breakers Listen?
Do not keep the kids away from their plentiful beer and sunshine! The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is trying to dissuade would-be Spring Break travelers from visiting cities in northern Mexico fraught with drug-related violence. But since when has a little danger stopped fun-lovin' college students?
Visitors aren't the target of the narcotraficantes of Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana, whose bloody turf wars have claimed over a thousand lives this year already. But drug gangs have been known to supplement their income with carjackings and kidnappings, and strangers from north of the border -- particularly those who may have their guard chemically lowered -- are a tempting prize.
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So, How's Spring Break Shaping Up for 2009?
We might still be in the midst of winter, but spring break is just around the corner, and if you haven't started making travel arrangements yet, you'd best get cracking. Much like the wildebeest migration in Africa, the advent of spring triggers a race to the world's beaches by millions of horny college kids and those who drink like them, but a big question mark hangs over this year's party: Will the global economic meltdown put the kibosh on the youthful shenanigans?
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Hearty Parties Denied (Smartly)
Is Spring Break no longer the insane, alcohol-fueled phenomenon it once was? For Daytona Beach, the answer is yes. Daytona became popular for spring breakers after Fort Lauderdale and Palm Springs gave up on attracting the little ruffians in the 1980s. No one wants to play host to drunk co-eds teetering off the edges of balconies and brawling in the street for too long. Or, in Sonny Bono's case, play host to thongs. As Mayor of Palm Springs, he banned them (outside) in 1988. Does that mean Bikini Inspector was a real job for a time over there?
After crunching the numbers and realizing that students are poor, Daytona Beach hasn't advertised to the college set for several years now. They are looking to keep the place classy with their famed NASCAR race and the less-famed Biketokberfest. Students, for their part, are heading elsewhere for their fun; to Panama Beach and Miami's South Beach for partying, and on "Alternative Spring Breaks", like working at Habitat for Humanity. At least they'll be able to do that in a thong.
[Image via Week Kichards/Flickr]
Related Stories:
· Breakers wear out welcome [Miami Herald]
· Aghast at Agave [Jaunted]
