I only really went on spring break once in my life.  And I wasn’t even in college.

I had just finished performing in what turned out to be my last season with the Fischer Troupe with an ignominious performance with almost total laryngitis due to having to change a tire in the middle of a sleet storm (and maybe a little too much partying – but I deny everything – I slept at the home of the host of the party just so I could make sure I got enough sleep – and, no, it wasn’t like that because 99% of my male friends at the time were gay and the all assured me that I was “perfectly safe” spending the night with them – and I was). 

Anyhow, I was unhappy, tired of winter and in need of some R&R – my Dad agreed to let me take his HUMUNGOUS RV and I and my friends Judy, David and Stephe all headed down to Ft. Lauderdale for a week of sun and fun.

First – nobody else was willing to drive the behemoth that was our home and transportation.  So I had to do all the driving.  Not fair, but on the other hand, probably for the best.  My Dad’s RV / My responsibility.

The trip down was uneventful, although I was a bit traumatized by how long you had to drive from the Georgia/Florida border to get to Ft. Lauderdale!  Holy crap!  Just how long was this state?  (See map below)

But we got there and the first order of business was to lay out in the sun.  Whereupon I got the worst sunburn you can imagine.  My bad leg (the one Kenny broke) swelled up like a balloon, and I had to sleep with a washcloth between my breasts because I had blisters on my blisters!  I was not accustomed to and not ready for what the Florida sun can do to Michigan skin!

Judy was not happy with me because every time we went somewhere, everyone would exclaim, “Oh my, you DID get some sun, didn’t you?”  Judy said she felt like a malaria victim next to me! 

But we did have fun.  We discovered Wolfie’s and had many meals there – enthralled by the big jar of pickles on the table (and not thinking once of all the icky fingers that had been there before us).  The guy who ran the RV park invited us to his tent (no I don’t know why he lived in a tent in an RV park) so we could watch The Wizard of Oz.  And because our vacay was over Easter weekend, I made baskets for all of us to find out on our picnic table on Easter morning. 

We got there on the last day of traditional Spring Break and the crowds were horrific, but what a difference a day makes. The next day, Ft. Lauderdale pretty much emptied out which was just fine with me (a curmudgeon even in my misspent youth).

Baking in the sun and frolicking in the Atlantic waves was just what I needed; and I felt so much better (despite my blistered and peeling skin).

The trip home was a nightmare with everything that could go wrong going wrong, but that’s a story for another day.