Spring Break

Spring break is here! Carson Newman University’s break begins Monday, followed by UT on March 23, as well as Jefferson County Schools beginning the same date.  Do you remember the “good ole days” when spring break meant Florida, specifically Fort Lauderdale.  I think Florida is still a destination, along with Europe. 

Have you seen the American coming-of-age movie “Where the Boys Are” (1960)?  It was based on the novel by Glendon Swarthout, about four Midwestern college co-eds who spend spring break in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Connie Francis sang the title song and played Angie.  The movie featured sun, sand and romance, all a teenage girl’s dreams.  “Where the Boys Are” was one of the first teen movies to deal with the changing sexual morals and attitudes among American college students. It won Laurel awards for Best Comedy of the Year and Best Comedy Actress (Paula Prentiss). 

Throughout the film, the four girls find their beliefs challenged.  Merritt, a freshman, meets the suave rich-boy Ivy Leaguer Ryder Smith, a senior at Brown. Melanie discovers that Frank, a boy from Yale who she thought loved her, didn’t. Tuggle gave her attention to a junior at Michigan State, who becomes enamored of an older woman, a “mermaid” swimmer/dancer in a local bar. Angie stumbles into love with the eccentric jazz musician. Eventually, the friends realize the potentially serious consequences of their actions and become more responsible, and mature.

If you have not had the joy of watching this movie, now would be a perfect time, as spring break pops up at the various schools around us.  It is definitely a fun movie that will pull you back to a time gone by, but embedded in our memories.