As I look forward to relaxing on the beach with my friends this week, I can't help but reminisce on my first spring break experience. It was my freshman year of college and I was fresh out of my private school bubble and delving into the unknown world of partying. I was like a wide-eyed baby bird stepping out of its nest for the first time, excited yet completely unaware of what I was getting into. My friends and I had planned a trip to Panama City Beach, Fla. which was, as far as we knew, the spring break capital of the country. I was both shocked and pleased that my parents were finally letting me venture off on my own for an unsupervised vacation, and I was planning to make every minute of it count.
The road trip
In theory, the seven-hour drive from Clemson to PCB is not a long one, but when you are in a packed car with a group of anxious spring breakers it seems like forever. To make matters worse, my friend's boyfriend was driving down with us, and in order to appease the only guy in a car full of girls, we allowed him to pick the music for the whole drive. This meant we got to jam out to Devendra Banhart's “Chinese Children" on repeat, and other equally thrilling songs, for the duration of the drive. Luckily, we were able to compensate on the drive home by listening to the entire soundtrack of "Legally Blonde: The Musical" (cue migraine).
The hotel
When we first arrived at our condo, we found our sleeping arrangements for five included one queen bed, a pullout couch, and a bunk bed. Since I was with my sorority twin, naturally we picked the bunk bed because bunk beds are super fun, right? Wrong. Because these bunk beds were not the normal stand-alone type, they were built into the wall of our hallway. This meant that trying to sleep when anyone else was awake was next to impossible, and when I did happen to finally pass out I was on display -- an easy target for teasing and unflattering pictures. Let's just say I am not talented at napping-and-rallying. We stocked up on the main food groups: ramen, dinosaur chicken nuggets, and boxed mac 'n cheese. We were all set up for a great week.
The beach
Finally, the time had arrived to show off the beach bod I had been slaving away for in the gym for. My friends and I had strategically rented a condo that was far away from the main party scene because, apparently, that would help us get more sleep. Wishful thinking. As we walked down the beach toward the fun in our cute new bikinis, we felt invincible. There is nothing like unintentionally walking straight into an alcohol-induced twerk contest to get you in the partying mood. As we walked around, making new friends and finding our own, we were continually approached by guys offering free beer and soliciting players for dizzy bat. As the newest to the game, and certainly the most eager, I was the go-to girl. “Want to shotgun a beer?"
“No, but my friend Nicki does!" Although I made tons of new BFFs, the appeal wore off a few days in when I realized that the aftermath of dizzy bat is not actually all that fun.
The clubs
With its status as spring break destination extraordinaire, it is only fitting that PCB is home to “the largest night club in the U.S." -- Club La Vela. We called up our cab driver whom we had befriended earlier in the week, and who had promised us he would pick us up whenever we wanted, above all others, and we made our way towards the action. Our enthusiasm was quickly depleted when we realized just how expensive it was to actually get in! A $50 cover charge for a grimy club? No thanks. Since we were 18 years old and lacking any form of legal identification, our participation was sparse. We did, however, happen to make it out to see “LMFAO" play, which really was just half of the dynamic duo DJ-ing songs that mostly weren't even by LMFAO.
Most of what I remember from that night includes Sky Blu popping a bottle of champagne all over the audience during “Shots," and a guy with four fingers trying to high-five (four?) me. The night ended with me crying over nothing and my friends and I going home disappointed.
While my spring break did not include anything crazy like arrests, hotel spring break court, or eviction, as some of my acquaintances' did, I can honestly say that one week in Panama City Beach was more than enough. That being said, if PCB happens to be your destination of choice, enjoy it all you can, and remember to stay classy!
