Back when I was a kid living in Florida, the arrival of spring went largely unnoticed. Face it, when winter temperatures rarely duck below 40 degrees, there isn't that much difference between seasons. You knew it was Spring when you woke up at 6AM to temperatures in the mid-80's (and humidity to match). And sure, we lived in Ft. Lauderdale, so there was that big college crowd. But as a kid, what did I know from Spring Break? All we knew was that the beach was crowded with a bunch of semi-conscious and half drunk college kids, and a new batch arrived every week, and that went on for about a month and a half.
Then I went to college in Daytona Beach.
Now, Embry-Riddle didn't do a Spring Break as such when I attended, but those of us who were wise would find a way to have our own version of Spring Break. One year, I had my schedule planned out so that I was done with classes by 2PM every day. That year saw an amazing stretch of clear, sunny days (from mid-January to nearly April), so that meant I was at the beach no later than 3PM every day...it didn't always work out that way every year, and after a while it got old, but it was fun while it lasted...
Back in those days, Daytona Beach was a sleepy little Central Florida town most of the year. Mid-January brought the race fans for the sports car race, the stock car races, and the motorcycle races. The motorcycle races coincided with Bike Week, one of the largest East Coast gatherings of bikers. As soon as Bike Week ended (usually early February), the college students began arriving, a new batch every Sunday, until late March or early April. Towards the end of the college students' run of the town, families started arriving for their own Spring Break. The town started to go back to normal until late May, when the summer crowd moved in. And, in late August, the sidewalks were rolled up, the banners welcoming this week's tourist groups came down, and the town went back to sleep for the winter...
I recall my first Spring Break in Daytona Beach. My roommates in college at the time were from Panama and the Dominican Republic, and they wanted to see what it was all about. So off to the beach we headed. 1983 was probably the start of the real big Spring Break festivities in Daytona, and you could tell. It was a combination circus/party/trade show. Want to test-drive a brand-new Dodge Shelby Daytona? There you go--sign up and do it. Free samples of the latest alcoholic beverage? Are you 18? Okay, then, here you go. Tobacco? Same deal--you had to be over 18, and they'd give you free samples. Posters were everywhere, as was a whole bunch of other SWAG (as in Stuff We All Get)--painter's caps emblazoned with the logo of a local bar, sun visors, mugs, hats, you name it. MTV was there, alerting everyone to their existence--they launched barely a year and a half earlier. The movie production companies were there, too, advertising the next year's releases--that was about the time that the movie "Spring Break" was opening in theaters (25 March 1983--the movie was shot on Ft. Lauderdale, and if you look, you'll see "Cobra Wrestling" t-shirts being waved in one of the bar scenes). Yes, I did manage to get one of the movie posters...don't know what happened to it.
There were the free concerts, too--Daytona Beach has a bandshell and numerous pool decks, an they got put to good use. Some of the acts I got to see? A Flock of Seagulls, The English Beat, The Fixx, Starship, Cheap Trick, Southside Johnny, Four-In-Legion, and Vixen. (In addition, Embry-Riddle hosted free concerts featuring the likes of Missing Persons and Foghat). Chances are, if they were popular, you could catch them in concert during Spring Break for free.
Every year, Spring Break would bring something different. In the mid-80's, the City Fathers in Ft. Lauderdale began to pass laws that, while not outright bans on Spring Break festivities, put a huge damper on the things that were going to be permitted--this after residents got fed up with the damage done by 'Breakers. Of course, the city forgot that those two months or so of less-than-societal behaviour put a lot of money into the city's bank account. Oh, well--their loss was Daytona Beach's gain.
In 1986, MTV began live broadcasts from Daytona Beach. With MTV, Spring Break in Daytona Beach became a big deal. As the years passed, more people came to town, things got rowdier, and similar to events in Ft. Lauderdale, students died when too much liquor met up with 12th floor balconies overlooking pools. You know that Redneck joke, "Hey, hold my beer and watch this?" It was happening more and more frequently. As the popularity grew, the events drew more traffic, and some partiers died in traffic accidents. By the mid-1990's, Daytona Beach followed Ft. Lauderdale's lead and passed city ordinances that pretty much put the kibosh on Spring Break. No matter--new venues like Panama City Beach and South Padre Island, Texas were all too happy to take in the yearly masses of revellers.
These days, Spring Break is still alive and well. 'Breakers are returning to Ft. Lauderdale and Daytona Beach, although not in the same numbers. Most students, attracted by low "all-in-one" pricing, low airfares, and liberal drinking laws, are heading to the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Mexican beaches to do their partying.
But I can say, "I was there when..."
Oh, and an interesting footnote--for as rowdy as they are portrayed in films and TV, the bikers were actually more polite, more courteous, and friendlier than 99% of the Breakers. They left the place cleaner, they weren't drunk in public (well, not that often), and they actually exercised self-control. I guess that's one reason the city welcomes the bikers year after year.
If you are heading out for Spring Break, enjoy yourself, but be smart. Be good to one another, and I bid you Peace.
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