ND, SMC students relive exotic break travels
SARAH RYKOWSKI
News Writer
She felt like it was her last chance for a great Spring Break vacation and she sensed her time running out as an undergraduate, so Alissa Blair decided to make it a memorable experience. Blair and four friends spent their spring break taking a road trip to Miami, cruising to the Cayman Islands and then driving back to South Bend.
"It felt like three trips in one," Blair said. "It was a lot of fun, and it just went really smoothly. It was a highlight of my senior year."
Blair and three other seniors, Jen Wyatt, Kara Tirimacco, and Jamie Mortens, left Thursday night to make the long drive down to Miami with a few brief stops along the way.
"The trip down was like a marathon," Blair said. "One drove, one rode shotgun and was the navigator, and the others slept."
Surprisingly, they ended up in Miami well before they were due to board their cruise ship.
"We planned more time than we needed," Blair said. "We pulled in at 5 a.m. in Miami, so we drove through some sketchy neighborhoods in Miami until 8:30 a.m., then we went to South Beach to lay out. We were worried about not having enough time and we ended up being way early."
After their prolonged trip down to Miami, the girls were ready to relax on their cruise.
"[Cruises are] such a nice way to vacation — everything was planned," Blair said. "This was fun and refreshing. We went swimming with stingrays in the Grand Cayman Islands. In Jamaica, we went to a rainforest. We climbed a waterfall like a jungle gym."
On the way back, Blair and her companions took it a little easier, stopping for the night in Atlanta, Nashville and Indianapolis.
"We went out with a bang," Blair said. "It was our last chance to do something over a break [before graduation.] We will remember it forever."
Some other students have made it clear that seniors are not the only ones who can plan great spring break trips.
Alumni sophomores Nick Gaeke, Michael Kwiatt, Joel Hein, Tobin Cocklin and their friend Wes Aull flew to Aruba to spend most of the week in the sun. Aull used the Internet to get his group a time-share in Aruba, so that each of the boys only had the airfare to worry about.
Gaeke and crew spent the week sunning on the beach, making field trips to island attractions and visiting the restaurants, bars and casinos that line the island's waterfront.
"We went snorkeling around the Caribbean's biggest wreck," Gaeke said of one of the group's experiences. "The guys went on a tour of the island on Thursday. We'd wake up every morning and go to the beach. It was always sunny, 85 degrees, and perfect."
Gaeke left earlier than the rest of the group, however, returning to the States Thursday before the end of break to spend the rest of his time with family and friends.
"It was really friendly there," Gaeke said. "Aruba is a Netherlands possession, so there were Dutch, Europeans, Mexicans and Americans on the island. The natives there are a mix of Spanish, African and Dutch mostly, but everyone spoke English."
He was surprised to find other Notre Dame peers at all because Aruba wasn't overrun with students.
"It had everything you'd expect on a typical spring break except it wasn't very crowded," he said. "You could relax when you wanted to and party when you wanted to. I'd go again in a heartbeat."
A group from Saint Mary's chose to visit fellow students in Maynooth, Ireland. According to junior Meghan Lafferty, about 17 girls chose to revisit Ireland after studying there last year.
"It was weird because it felt so natural to be there," Lafferty said. "It was really nice, we just got right back into the groove."
To Lafferty, going to Ireland for spring break felt like she was still a student there, returning from traveling back from the States.
Lafferty's group, Maura Kennedy, Kelly Rizzi, Rachael Benkert, Mary Brown, Rachel Finley and Allyson Palombaro, booked their trip through Council Travel, and Lafferty said that the long flights over and back were just fine, although after returning to campus late Monday, the group was physically exhausted.
Once in Ireland, they spent time with the other groups visiting from Saint Mary's, but spent the bulk of their time visiting their old schoolmates and revisiting old haunts in Dublin, located near Maynooth.
Despite their wonderful days in Ireland this year, Lafferty reports that most of her group wants to try something new for next year's break.
"Next year we want to go some place warm," Lafferty said. "We all came homesick this time."
Another group from Notre Dame and Saint Mary's decided to go for the sun and beaches in the States.
Meghan VandeWater and Anna Lentz of Saint Mary's traveled with Jake Teske, Pat Sluka, Stephen Christ and Tim Ponisciak of Notre Dame to Teske's grandfather's vacation home in Balboa Point, California.
"It was really warm there and there were a lot of donut shops," Ponisciak, a donut aficionado, said.
The group made trips to Disneyland, Venice Beach and Hollywood, even though they didn't see any stars, Ponisciak said it was a wonderful experience.
And then there were the donut shops. Ponisciak loved California principally for the large number of donut shops he found everywhere.
"Oh, those donuts," Ponisciak said. "They just have a lot of donuts there. Everywhere you turn there is a donut shop."
All News Stories for Thursday, March 21, 2002
