Continuing my travel series…

Your intrepid, well-aged couple had planned a getaway to Fort Lauderdale.

For Lauderdale. In March. We like to spend our beach vacations sedately walking on the beach, rejuvenating in the hot tub and serenely sipping martinis. Aaaahhh! But this time, after making our plans, our reservation confirmation included a dire warning:

Our resort sits atop many bars and restaurants on Fort Lauderdale Beach, and there can be heavy crowds, delays in traffic, and loud noise during Spring Break. While the resort, in conjunction with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, do all we can to minimize noise – the crowds can be lively and there can be some noise at the resort throughout Spring Break.

Hooligans! Tom-foolery! Rebuckled knickerbockers below the knee! First medicinal wine from a teaspoon, then beer from a bottle. We’ve got TROUBLE!

We considered rescheduling, but then we decided to brave it and head to River City, er Fort Lauderdale. We stepped into the resort lobby and waited to register with young women wearing shoelaces as garments. We stood in line to get on the elevator with scrums of guys lugging large coolers. We tottered to the pool and heard singing from the balconies and saw group hugs in the pool.

Did we cringe and retreat back to our room to look for Lawrence Welk reruns?

No we did not! Instead, we followed our own advice and decided to say “Hello” to everyone we met. If we stepped on to an elevator crammed with lots of skin and beautiful smiles, we said, “Hi” and asked what school they were from. We turned to the gang piled on the lounge chairs next to us, gave a friendly smile and asked what they were majoring in. We changed our focus- these were no longer wild unruly mobs, these were individual young people that we cared about.

We met business majors, medical students, and computer science interns. Some of the young people were seniors and were happy to tell us about their plans for interviewing for their first job. Many of the “kids” engaged us in conversation as well and we talked about March Madness and favorite restaurants.

So here’s a special shout out to the students at Indiana University, Purdue University and IUPUI. Happy Spring Break and thanks for making us old geezers feel young again. We embrace your passion and enthusiasm. We wish you all the best! Slainte! Bless you!