Spring break options
Beaches, spring training, music festivals
Who doesn’t need a spring break from the cold weather so many places are experiencing? Here’s a look at destinations offering everything from beaches to baseball to music festivals.
From Ithaca to Key West
The winter in Ithaca, N.Y., has been so rough that all Noah Zheutlin can do is joke about it. “Snow almost every day and temperatures low enough to freeze an egg on the sidewalk,” said the Ithaca College student. “I have more degrees than the weather and I haven’t even graduated yet!”
Things are so bad that when the local tourism website VisitIthaca.com put up a link to Key West, Florida, the site was overwhelmed by clicks and crashed. No wonder Zheutlin — like lots of other weather-weary folks — is heading south for spring break. But not Key West — he’s looking forward to beach time in South Carolina.
From Cancun to Gulf Coast
You don’t have to be as far north as Ithaca to plan a spring break getaway. Zheutlin’s cousin Zoe Gelman, a student at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, is heading to Cancun with five friends to an all-inclusive resort. “It is my first time in Mexico and I’m really excited to escape to somewhere warm,” she said.
March and April are among Cancun’s busiest months. Hotel occupancy last March was 90 per cent, according to the Cancun Hotel Association.
Back in the southeastern U.S., beach season on the Gulf Coast kicks off when the college kids arrive in March. Callie Brabender, a junior at Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas, is driving with friends to Gulf Shores, Alabama. It’s their second year going there. “We plan on spending the entire week we are there simply relaxing on the beach and refuelling from a heavy workload at school,” she said.
Top destinations from booking sites
Top destinations from three airfare booking sites for spring break season show not everyone is heading to the beach. There’s plenty of love for big cities too:
• Expedia.com’s Top 10 based on bookings: Las Vegas, Orlando, Cancun, Phoenix, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and San Francisco.
• Top 10 from Student-Universe. which specializes in trips for 18-to-25-year-olds: Orlando, Miami, New York, Los Angeles, Cancun, San Juan (Puerto Rico), London, San Francisco, Seattle and Chicago.
• Hipmunk.com’s 10 mostsearched destinations: Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Cancun, San Juan, New Orleans, Tampa, Cabo (Mexico) and Costa Rica.
Baseball and music
For baseball fans, spring break means spring training as teams face off in practice games before the official start of Major League Baseball. The Cactus League in Arizona plays in Tempe, Mesa, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Goodyear, Peoria, Surprise and Glendale. The Grapefruit League in Florida plays in Bradenton, Clearwater, Dunedin, Fort Myers, Jupiter, Kissimmee, Lake Buena Vista at Disney World, Lakeland, Port Charlotte, Port St. Lucie, Sarasota, Tampa and Viera.