Last week, I linked to a company called Beardhead that sells these awesomely funny ski caps that cover your face so it looks like you’re growing a Grizzly Adams-esque beard. I didn’t think much of it. Just thought it was something that AoM readers might find amusing. Then the other day I got an email from the owner of Beardhead telling me thanks for linking to him and asking if he could give away a few Beardheads to AoM readers. I love giving free stuff to you guys, so I of course said, “Heck yeah!”
With spring break almost upon us, a Beardhead can come in real handy for those of you planning to hit the slopes. They cover your whole head and face in warm beardy delight. Even if you’re not going skiing, the Beardhead is perfect for our manly friends living in locations, like say the Northeast, where winter is showing no signs of ending soon. Also, they’re good for readers who are planning on robbing a bank and are looking for a way to add a bit of panache to the old ski mask routine.
The Prize
Two splendiferous Beardheads, valued at $24.95 each, are up for grabs. They’re a knit one-size fits all hat that’s machine washable and sure to woo the ladies when you’re shoveling the snow.
How to Enter
Because the Beardhead could come in handy to those of you skiing over spring break, just leave a comment on this post sharing your best Spring Break trip ever. Did you hit slopes wishing you had a Beardhead? Did you go camping with your buds? Let us know.
Deadline to enter is Friday, March 6 at 11PM Central Standard Time.
After the deadline, I’ll draw two random entries and send them their Beardhead.
Looking forward to reading your stories. Good Luck!
Generalismo McKay plans la revolucion de manliness. Rise up comrades!
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It’s a shame that the knockoff of an Icelandic original is getting so much traction.
http://vikprjonsdottir.com/
While I’m a bit upset at the concept jumping the shark, I’m proud to own the original. It’s made it thru 2 north east winters already.
Best spring break was probably a trip to the bahamas. swam with dolphins, gambled to excess, drank in moderation. beautiful beaches and views. and no need for a beardhead.
but if i had had a beardhead during any of my spring breaks, then it would probably be a week of snowboarding without taking off my beardhead ever!
Best spring break ever, was a Caribbean cruise. 70 of my friends all went together for a week in the sun as our last hurrah before graduating.
Regarding Beardheads, I have fond memories of my “senior beard” during my trip to Europe while in school. No beards allowed at my current employer, so this would help me re-live my beard glory days.
About to go with my boys 9 and 12 to the beach. Spring training games, and air boat rides among other adventures. Really looking forward to it.
Five years ago I spent my spring break making my first out-of-country trip: Venezuela. It was quite the experience!
Best spring break ever was a trip to Telluride, Colorado, a one of a kind place to visit in any season.
This would be a great prize for my husband. His best Spring Break trip was with his friends when they drove from Ohio to Florida is a very cheap car, and later that summer he drove the car in the county fair demolition derby.
College trip with friend to Edwards, CO where we babysat my twin cousin girls and took them to the indoor pool and library. We spent lots of time at the local coffee shop and would take breaks to go outside just to yell “SPRING BREAK 2005!!!!!! WOOOAAWW PARTY!!!”
Really fun trip up to my friends in Utah where we did constant everything you could imagine. You name it we did it.
While spending a Semester in Austria, I spend my spring break traveling through Croatia. It was amazingly beautiful. The water along the Adriatic was a beautiful blue. I ate all sorts of new and exciting food from pasta with truffles to pizza with an egg on top to whole grilled squid. I spent 4 days in Dubrovnik and still think that it is an amazing city to visit. I’ll never forget the trip.
In high school, there was a weeklong trip over break for a whirlwind tour of Spain…it was incredible. Really late nights in really bad hotels with some of my best friends, long bus rides, incredible moments…mmm. Unmatched.
Best Spring Break ever was a backpacking/camping trip in Henry W. Coe State Park in California. I went with a group of people I had never met before. The weather was awful but I made some great friends.
Best Spring break…spur of the moment road/camping trip to the middle-of-no-where utah.
My favorite Spring Break trips have been home to see my girlfriend. I unfortunately don’t get to see her much during school so it’s nice to be able to spend a week with her.
One my spring breaks that’s had the most influence on my life has been visiting colleges, specifically UCLA. Which has affected where I’ll spend a total of four years of my life.
Best was last year to Smuggler’s Notch in Vermont with my daughters. They got to experience a big hill with great conditions and weather and they’re both now far enough up the learning curve to share the same runs as (former) ski instructor dad.
Best Spring Break Trip:
I had a buddy when I was in college who graduated a year or two before I did and landed a job in a major recording studio out in Hollywood. The next year, we went and visited him over Spring Break and played with thousands of dollars of vintage recording equipment in the middle of the night, saw the sights, the beaches, hit up the House of Blues on St. Patty’s day (saw Flogging Molly), and delivered some recordings to Larry King. An absolute blast. Send me my beardhead!
Ha ha. My best spring break is going to be THIS one, because I’m going to be in the north woods of Wisconsin taking a week-long class on how to ride and take care of horses. Yes!
Best spring break for me was volunteering on Easter Island helping to teach english in schools. I stayed for three weeks, missed two tests while I was gone, but it was by far the most beautiful place I have ever been. Bonus: I met my fiancee there.
By the way, love AoM, keep it up.
My best spring break will occur in two weeks when my collegiate cycling team travels to north carolina to train in the mountains, climb some rocks, and enjoy some good food and hangin out.
My friends and I rented an RV and drove from Michigan to Cali to see The Price is Right before Bob Barker retired. Along the way we manage to break down in Arizona, eat the best steaks ever in Texas, sleep on the side walk while waiting for tickets for The Price is Right and shake Bob Barker’s hand. best trip ever.
Best spring break ever – traveling the upper northwest coast to Whistler/Blackcomb Mountain and snowboarding the best trails of my life. The one thing that would make those trails better is a beardhead. I guess I will have to go back this spring once I win my beardhead.
Best spring break I had was when the Mrs. and I rented a cabin up in Michigan. Spent the days walking through the woods or on the beach of Lake Michigan.
But really I just want one of these Beardheads, then I won’t have to grow the winter beard to keep my face warm, which I’m sure the Mrs. would appreciate even more than another spring break cabin rental.
Best spring break trip I’ve had: heading up to the Adirondacks for some late season ice climbing with college friends. We did some great routes (multi-pitch, mixed climbing, etc.) during the day and relaxed in the cabin in the evenings. Absolutely the best way to enjoy oneself before getting ready for finals.
I’m beard free in preparation of my sister’s wedding, but it’s still cold here in the Midwest. Beardhead would keep me warm until my beard can return to its full glory.
Three men, thirty women, ten days touring Spain. It was awesome. I remember riding up front on a double-decker bus during the first day around Costa del Sol. The thing was rocking back and forth from the sharp turns, tree branches cracking against the upper level. I loved it, but all the girls around me got scared, and being one of only three guys on that trip, a bunch of them ended up clinging to me for support, haha.
A few of the girls and I also ended up flying one of the other guy’s boxer shorts up a hotel flag pole at one point.
Amazing trip. Definitely worth going.
Spent a semester abroad in Austria in ’96. Spring break involved a train ride to Normandy, followed by a ferry ride to Ireland. After spending the night in a hostel, we were fed a marvelous Irish Breakfast (do they just call it “breakfast” in Ireland?). We toured the Guinness brewery and quaffed several freshly-brewed half-pints and then took off for parts west.
I left the group after we spent the night in Galway and ventured toward Belfast to catch a ferry to Scotland. Sometime after we crossed the border into Northern Ireland, we were instructed to disembark and take a bus to the next station due to a bomb threat. When I arrived in Belfast, I went looking for an ATM and passed by at least one policeman armed with an automatic rifle. The tension in the air seemed much thicker in Northern Ireland.
The ferry to Glasgow arrived late and my only option for transportation was with a lorry driver. I should mention that I stayed with a family in Glasgow that I had met in a pub in Dublin. They, upon hearing I intended to go to Scotland, had immediately invited me to stay with them and gave me their contact info. They probably didn’t expect me to arrive at 1 AM, but were extremely hospitable nonetheless.
The next day, I was taken around Glasgow by the lady of the house to accomplish my goal of finding a kilt. After searching through Paddy’s Market and various other used clothing retailers, we finally found my holy grail. My guide commented that she had experienced a number of things for the first time due to my quest, such as riding the Underground and going to Paddy’s Market. She was a bit concerned that one of her friends might see her there and wonder if she had hit on hard times! She gave me a parting gift of a special pin with the emblem of the MacGregor clan, which is part of my heritage.
Ferry ride back, train back to Dublin to meet my friends, ferry to France, train to Austria. We were all so broke and hungry that we were eating peanut butter right out of the jars we had brought. When our train stopped in Munich, we hit up the ATM again and enjoyed the most delicious Burger King burger I have ever tasted.
Hard to believe I did all that. I would never have considered doing half of that stuff here in the states.
My best spring break trip was down in Mexico helping build a house for a community in need. I was with a group of students down there for a week helping out and experiencing what living in poverty was like. Although it would have been fun to go down and party somewhere along the beaches, I think I had more fun helping a community.
In Daytona I got a concussion in the ocean, got mugged, and destroyed my cell, but it was all worth it because I got sexually propositioned by a 60-something woman at a dance club in front of my friends
i’d have to say, on many, many cold campouts with the guys, i would have loved one of these to wear whilst smoking a cigar or pipe and talking of manly things around the campfire. ohhh the memories, and hopefully future memories…
The last two years for spring break I’ve gone to Moab to mountain bike with friends. We camp out and bike all day, great times with great guys. Last year there was a unicycle festival going on at the same time and there were actually guys on unicycles going on the slickrock…wouldn’t be surprised if a couple of them did stuff on one wheel I was afraid to do on two.
Unfortunately this year I’ll be in class instead trying to get all my credits to graduate in May so no moab for me.
I spent spring break in Wisconsin building race cars. Twas awesome. And I really need a beard head to take to the South Pole.
Best spring break: two years ago with my girlfriend in Tanzania. Did the usual things, Safari, hiking, Zanzibar, Dar-es-Salaam. And on the slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro and in the Usambara mountains it can get quite chilly, such a hat would’ve helped!
Oh I miss Tanzania and its friendly people.
This year round I’ll spend spring break in my lab. Nice in its own way…
Every spring break for years now all the men in my family go down to the Florida Keys and fish for the week. Male bonding, paradise style.
I hope a girl can win! cuz those are sooo awesome!
my favorite spring break was hitting the sunny beaches while my friends shivered in the cold!!
I guess my best spring break was going out to San Diego for a lacrosse trip. It was an awesome sunny 50 degrees there while back at school in MN it was -50. It was so funny seeing all the Californians in their parkas as we ran around shirtless. This year I am got mono so I am spending break in the cold catching up on homework. yay…..
Boy, could I have needed a Beardhead during one spring break in Paris, a couple of years ago. This was the first weekend in March and when we arrived at the railway station for our train back home we noticed that one clock was an hours fast. And another, and… Right. Daylight savings got us right in the back of the neck. A Beardhead would have nicely covered our red faces and at the same have made sure nobody would every recognize us again after buying a couple of new tickets for the next train.
Surf,Spanish,Restraining Order:
Best spring break was to Costa Rica. a VERY COLORFUL trip. Some highlights:
Driving through the mountains in the middle of the night to a remote beach town, and none of us spoke Spanish.
Learning to surf in 6-8 foot swells that required a paddle like none other as they broke far out and were hell to get through.
Refusing to pay more than nyc prices for two drinks when some con artists thought they had us. (Remote spot, guy outside had machine gun.) They let it go.
Ending up in a passionate vacation affair with a very spicy yet insance Columbian mamma. After making it clear that I didn’t want a girlfriend, she flips out, breaks something in the bar, cops come, she hits them, she gets the billy club, all of us to station. In Costa Rica. They slapped her with a restraining order. She was not allowed within 200 yards of me.
While it’s warm there, I could use the beard in case I ever return, as a disguise!
Jim
Best spring break was spent hitting every nightclub in toronto, of all place.
The best spring break I ever had was traveling to Michigan to ask my wife to marry me. :-)
Please enter me to win a beard head.
Best Spring break was after I graduated and started working in Japan, but I was a teacher, so it was still a Spring break. 3 friends and I all got cheap courier flights to Thailand, first Bangkok, then south to Koh Samui, a little island off the east coast. Mopeds, snorkeling, and Muy Thai matches at night, and I got to find out that mangoes really are the best fruit on earth.
I commute to work by bicycle in NJ, even when its cold, and since I sport a trim Balbo beard it would be nice not to have to hide it behind a boring old balaclava.
I went up to Boston my sophomore year of college… and that was quite a treat. I went up with my girlfriend at the time (who is now my wife!), to spend a few days with our friend who lived right outside of the city. The weather was supposed to be in the mid-40s and sunny, but God had other plans, and we ended up getting stuck in 2 feet of snow. Although this ruined all of our plans, we made the best of it, and had a great time (and also spend a lot less money!). A Beardhead would have been rather useful, not only would it have helped keep me warm, but would have helped in wooing my now wife!
Hmmm, spring break.
Best one would have to be when I actually didn’t attend. I spent the entire time, just laying on my back, relaxing….
Spring Break 2002. My girlfriend (now wife), her youngest brother, her best friend & boyfriend went camping on the beach in Port Aransas, TX. Spring Break on the Texas Coast…hot, right? No. It was cold (especially the water – my neither regions still hold a grudge) and windy. We ended up “extreme surfing” and by extreme, I mean the cold water with no wetsuit. We played football on the wet sand & almost broke my wife’s knees when touch football turned to push football. And the wind…so we go into town for some grub & browsing and we have a good time. When we make our way back, someone notices my brother in law’s tent is missing. We start cussing about someone stealing a tent, etc. Then we notice what happened…The wind blew his tent over our other two tents. Right into the fire. That was still smoldering. With all his stuff in it.
We stayed in a motel that night.
Still the best one, though. The company was great & we had a great time.
That Beardhead is SWEET! I missed the link ealier.
Springbreak: I never really did a spring break in highschool or college, but between the two while I was in the Navy stationed in Orlando for school, I took a trip out to Daytona for Spring Break. Definately good hedonism for a 19 year old, fresh out of boot camp, sailor!
K
The past two years I have spent Spring Break with other college students doing relief work in New Orleans. Over the two years we spent time rebuilding houses, painting at schools, gardening and weeding, and all other sorts of clean-up efforts. While others were spending their Spring Break intoxicated on the beach, some of us chose to help the needy. These absolutely the best Spring Break’s I had during college. I wouldn’t trade that time for the world.
Driving from DC to Key West, without using 95. EPIC!
Aw the spring break of 08….got lost in mexico, drank 40′s with the natives, survive a love assault from some older hispanic women, drank bad tequila, almost missed my cruise ship, misplaced a bag of liqour in town, got sunburned, enjoyed beautifal women on the beach, the list goes on.
Cruises are a lot of fuN!
The best would have to be the living in Europe while in the Navy. Skiing on the north slope of Mount Etna and watching the smoke rise from the volcano.
Best “spring break trip” ever was when me and about 15 other men went up to Marquette in Michigan’s UP. We shot guns, went off-roading. baja’ed, ate bison burgers, broke at least 4 ATVs and an H3, built a 30 foot tall bonfire……and we didn’t even shower.
I could have used a Beardhead my first year of college. The guys in my dorm had a Spring Float Trip each year on the Meramec River in mid-Missouri; usually during early April. We camped on Friday night and a cold front came through. Temperatures were in the 20s on Saturday morning. I used a tarp as a tent stretched over the bed of a pick-up truck. I woke up on Saturday morning with frost covering the inside of the tarp! We still had our float trip though. Beer is a wonderful thing…
I’m from New Brunswick, Canada, and for me it was hitting the slopes in Quebec at Mont Saint Anne. The 8 hour drive was definitely worth it! I loved the high-speed chair lift equipped with a bubble-dome to keep out the rain and sleet as you ascend. It was also my first time getting a chance to ride a gondola! What a blast. Although, I don’t think I should have tried that double-black-diamond run at the end of the day…
For me (being from Texas) I went with a group to S. Padre and we organized a free taxi service for anyone to drunk to drive. It was pretty wild how messed up people get.
The best Spring Break for me would have to be in 2005. My wife (then fiance) and I went to Myrtle Beach. She had never seen the ocean so this was a big deal for her. The weather wasn’t the best. There were lots of windy storms, but we had a lot of fun. We even got in the water even though it was freezing, but we had came all that way and we were determined to go for a swim in the ocean. We could have used a couple of Beardheads then. That was also when we went to Midevil Times. That place was great. Another good time for a Beardhead.
It seems like every school I’ve ever gone to has early Spring Breaks; in Colorado, the weather makes this a challenge for anything other than skiing. The early time also brings its surprises, especially with a blizzard a couple years back. My family wanted to get somewhere warm for break, so we bought tickets to Florida. A week before the trip, the blizzard hit: we had 9′ snow drifts in our driveway after we shoveled. School was, of course, canceled, and our break was extended by an entire week.
Favorite spring break was going on a short road trip with my cousin, catching two nights of Pearl Jam live in concert and drinking with the crazy canadians that were camping in the spot next to us…
Oh and watching my cousin tear open the back of the tent in the middle of the night because he thought it was the door and REALLY needed to go pee….
Whoops… that anon was me.
This spring break I am returning to my home state of KY to participate in Appalachian Service Project with a campus group here at college. It should beat a vacation.
My best spring break was spent in Key West.
Here’s what I did every day:
I woke up at noon with a bloody mary by the pool on top of our hotel.
Wandered the street in flipflops and baggies til I found a good fish sandwich for lunch.
Had a few more beers and take in the sights.
Mozy over to Mallory square to watch the sunset and a guy balance a scooter on his face.
Stumble over to Hog’s Breath for a Goombay Smash.
Meet up with complete strangers and become best of friends.
Stumble home. Sleep.
Repeat.
I could have used a Beardhead to enter the Hemingway contest though!
My best spring break trip shave always been staying at my folks’ house and boiling maple sap to make syrup. all week sitting next to the stove outside reading books, playing cards and drinking. plus tasting the sap to check if its done wasnt too bad.
Just like you said, best spring break would have to be my trip to skiing in California. went to Tahoe. it was to warm at the time for a beard though, I ended up falling and smacking my butt on a rock which knocked me out. I had a black and blue bruise all down the side of my body for a few weeks!
but it was fun!
trip to the grand canyon with my family… damn right it got wild…
The best Spring Break I participated in was my senior year of college. I went on a mission trip to southern Arkansas. I was recently enfranchised with a car, so I was among the drivers. In rural Arkansas, we were pulled over because the policeman thought my car was stalking/chasing the car in front of us. He was in for quite a shock when we told him we were on a mission trip!
Once we got down there, we spent the first half of the week rebuilding a burned out garage for an elderly gentleman. We then spend the second half of the week replacing the roof on another house. It was good hard work, and we did it for a good cause. In the end, we were treated to big fish fry dinner. Things taste so much better when you’ve been working hard outside all day.
Once we were done, we packed up and headed back to the much cooler north.
Bike Week in Daytona Beach, two years in a row. It’s like Mardi Gras, only with motorcycles. Awesome!!
My best spring break trip was when I went with a group of volunteers up to the Mohawk community Kanatsiohareke. I shoveled a whole lot of frozen cow manure that week, and really could have used something like the beardhead–the one day I didn’t do much shoveling it was negative something degrees Fahrenheit with an even negativer something wind chill. Quite a spring break!
My best spring break was during my senior year in high school. I had applied to St. Louis University to attend college, went there for a meeting with the Dean of Students and received an academic scholarship. Met some random woman and lost my virginity to her. That is how I knew it was the right school for me!
I used to live in Colorado and very much needed the beardhead during various snowboarding trips. Having a real beard with frozen snot and icicles hanging from it is simply not fun.
Does the red one remind anyone of something out of a Monty Python skit?
Spring Break 2007 was incredible. My current girlfriend and I set up a trip to a cabin that her sister owned in the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains right above Atlanta. We were leaving for three nights and left Monday morning. Now this isn’t anything like climbing Mount Kilimanjaro (read: extreme) but this was a life changing trip. So Rebecca and I invited two of our favorite couples and away we went. The two of us left the earliest (about 5 O’clock Monday morning) to beat the traffic and because I had to turn in a set of blue prints to the fire department for review for work. It turned out that on Monday’s they don’t accept blue prints, but I did my best appealed to his compassionate side by explaining my situation, that i needed a review before I could leave on my break. After a minute he smiled and said “alright you’ve always been a nice guy” and took care of it for me. So that was it, the beginning to an amazing trip.
So from there we took the 2 hour drive up to the mountains with our mountain bikes and cooler full of our year old mismatched beer (read: poor college students). We were the first of the couples there and set up and took a nap. Within a few hours we had a full house and the cabin was full of laughter. Every night it got nice and cool and we would hike up to the top of the mountain (5 min) and star gaze. One of my male counterparts had a nice warm beard, but neither I nor my other pal have never been able to grow one, though I was the oldest of the group.
Now this is probably a good time to give myself a plug and try and score some sympathy. I’m a 23 year old outdoors man, and I have truly only seen my dad’s face without a beard once, and I don’t really remember it. As a kid I always expected to grow a beard, but its never worked out that way, I take after my grandfather, a real man, but one without much facial hair. People always tell me I’m lucky that I don’t have to shave much, but I feel life just has a nice sense of irony. Anyhow, I couldn’t honestly ask for much more out of a life I already deem as wonderful. So back to the spring break.
For the rest of the next 2 days and 2 nights, we spent the going on the best hike from the mountain cabin through the mountain and back into town for a good brew at a great pub, and riding some amazing singletrack with great friends. When looking back in fact, the setting was just mediocre, but the company, wow, that is were the love was found. It just happened to be 3 couples of friends at the right place at the right time and the chemistry just hit. The last night there it was the coldest. We went star gazing (another time the a beard would have been nice) and then we all hit the hot tub in the freezing night, rotten beer in hand. After a few hours everyone returned the their rooms with their respective partners.
All three mornings we work up one of the couples there had already gotten up and would be making french toast, or some other awesome breakfast. Now this didn’t go without thanks, we each claimed a dinner and My girlfriend and I and the third couple cooked dinner during the nights. This was a great set-up that lead to a more family style gathering.
I really could go on and on about this trip, I truly is one of my fondest memories, but I think one of the coolest parts about the whole thing was 2 years later and all three couples are still together, and we all get together every so often. On top of that one of the other couples found out they were to have a baby boy shortly after the trip (but not a result of the trip) and now they are engage to be married as they had a wonderful baby boy named fisher.
When I look back I really question how it would could get any better than the trip I took. I realize it couldn’t, it was perfect, except that a beard for me and my other pal. THAT would have made it perfect, and rest assured, if by some chance I won, I would be MORE than happy to share my new found beard with my pal.
2006 South Padre Island with 11 friends. Beautiful weather, not a care in the world and a week to take it all in. Doesn’t get better than that.
Would have loved to have a BeardHead when I returned home to all the snow though…
Best Spring Break ever was when my very manly man proposed to me in the Florida Keys. We drove with another dating couple from Annapolis to Sugar Loaf Key where we crashed at friends house. He told everyone that he was proposing at some point that week and waited (or delayed) asking me until the last night we were there. He was so romantic and tried to think of everything that whole week…cooking, planning fun outings like kyacking and deep sea fishing by day, hitting Key West at night. I was badly sun burned and not exactly pleasant to be with; to this day, (12 happily married years later) can’t believe he went through with it. Best Spring Break ever!
I’d love to give him this hat for when he chooses to wash my car while it is below freezing out!
Love the stylish layering going on with the BeardHead and Fedora action, McKays!
spring break last year was spent camping in northern New Jersey. Was a great time, and luckily not that cold. However…last January we also attempted a camping trip, and that was a pretty rough (though mantastic) trip. The Beardhead would have made things much more bearable, and the pictures more memorable.
This mask would come in handy when I go skiing at the end of this month!
My best spring break trip was definately the week I spent in Turkey. It’s an amazing country with amazing people and great food. My whole expierence was caputred in one photo that had a brand new multimillion dollar hotel on one bank of the river, and gigantic mosque (they had to make some part smaller so as not to surpass Mecca) on the other bank of the river, and a heavily travelled bridge built by the Roman Empire connecting the too. That was my Turkish expierence in a snapshot.
Best spring break involved Colorado mountains and my wife. Didn’t learn how to ski, but got to see some beautiful sights with the woman I love.
My best Spring Break was probably one in Orlando with my girlfriend a few years ago. I wish I had that beardhead for a ski trip before it’s too late.
best spring break ever was a 10 day road trip from miami to new hampshire with 2 other buddies. We stopped to visit friends along the way each night—from dodging tornadoes to sleeping in a parked car in d.c.—it was a phenomenal time—something I won’t soon forget
The best spring break I have ever had was when me and the buddies went and stayed in a log cabin. We had no power/water and we had to chop wood if we wanted any heating, but it got all of us really connected with each other and nature.
My best Spring Break involved a trip back in 2002 while I was in high school to Gunma-Ken in Japan. Most of my best buddies went with me and we did a home stay exchange with local Japanese students. It was such an amazing experience to travel Tokyo as well as the beautiful country side with both my old friends and the friends we made in Japan. It’s one of the memories of youth that I’ll keep with me for a good while.
Also, being from Hawaii, it was one of my few experiences with snow up to that point. We had a blast going snowboarding for the first time, and a Beardhead would have been awesome to have.
my freshman year of college, spring 2004, about 15 of us rented a three story beach house in cocoa beach, florida. fellow rugby mates, their girls, some other random friends. we had the time of our lives, and i’ll never forget that spring break… here’s why:
the first day we got there, we were playing on the beach all day… volleyball, frisbee, attempting to surf, etc. i’m a pretty fair skinned fellow. i burn a few times before my skin gets used to the sun for the summer. if i start slow, i’m fine. my skin hadn’t seen the sun since the previous summer, though, and i never remember to wear sunscreen… :-/
i got burnt so bad that i did not go outside during the day until the very last day we were there, and even then i had a shirt on. i had blisters all over my chest, shoulders, forehead, even some under my left eye. i could barely move without agonizing pain. it itched like crazy, it was miserable. but looking back now, pretty hilarious (as long as i don’t end up with skin cancer from it!). my friends took good care of me, my buddy Brett’s girlfriend (now wife) Candice was so precious and really saw to it that i was as comfortable as i could be. i had fun though, and it was definitely a spring break i will NEVER forget.
Best spring break – Camping at Starved Rock in Illinois; car got stuck in the mud; accidentally set a picnic table on fire; beer and roasted marshmallows wreaked havoc with my lower intestine; still had an awesome time.
I suppose it must have been ten years ago…It was late April or early May, and my close-knit group of friends were all back in town, and we made plans for a near-typical camping outing.
An aside: A “typical camping outing” is not what you may be thinking of as your own typical outing. Our usual madness consisted of five guys with enough food for two guys, and enough booze for ten guys. Sometimes, girls would come, but they never stayed long. We were that repulsive.
What I said, though, was “near-typical”. All of us had been away for most of a year, absorbing the atmosphere in various centers of art and culture. The ultimate result of all this hob-nobbery was that we brought more food, and that our alcoholic choices were more focused on grape than grain.
we had eggs and meat (properly stored on ice), flour, sugar, coffee, all of the associated pots and utensils, and a cheapo propane camp stove to cook it all on.
Remember that phrase… “Cheapo propane stove” It’s relevant to the story.
Anyway, we laughed, and played and sang and frolicked, and I was getting ready to open a bottle of wine, riesling, I think. The conversation went something like this:
“Hey Matt, toss me the corkscrew.”
“The what?”
“Dude, you brought a corkscrew, right???”
I don’t suppose I need to tell you the answer to that last question.
There we were, miles from the nearest corkscrew, with nothing to drink but creek water and most of a case of reasonably good wine.
Well, part of being manly is being resourceful, so we explored possibilities. We discarded the ones that would result in us drinking broken glass, and came up with a simple study in fluid dynamics. If you score the neck of a bottle, right about the level of the bottom of the cork, then heat it over a cheapo propane stove, then pour cold creek water over the scored and heated area, the bottle says “CLICK”, and the top comes off cleanly.
Huzzah! We were drinking again! The bottle opening technique made us feel like geniuses, and the more we drank, the smarter we felt. Until…
On about bottle number four, we noticed that the cheapo propane stove was on fire. Not just fire where it was supposed to be, but fire pretty much everywhere. I reached into the ball of fire (not the best of ideas… mmmm… overindulgence) to turn off the main gas knob. A plastic knob inside a ball of fire is pretty soft, and pretty much like napalm when it’s smeared all over your hand.
We looked at the stove and the ball of fire. We looked at my hand.
I’m sure it was comical to an outside observer, who might have been unaware that we were fleeing for our very lives, bounding like alcohol-soaked deer, over rocks and logs, to a safe distance, about a hundred yards. There we regrouped and reconnoitered the situation.
We decided that something needed to be done. Otherwise we couldn’t leave. Did I mention that our frantic dash for the trees was without car keys? Car keys which were now warming up on the table in the glow of the cheapo propane fireball…
Patrick turned to me, handed me his wallet and said, “In case I don’t make it…”, and headed off, bobbing and weaving, ducking behind trees, and peeking around, almost like he was trying to… “sneak up” on the fire. It was ridiculous.
After about ten minutes of this nonsense, I was fed up. I strode over, hooked my finger under the edge of the stove, and slung the whole mess into the creek.
I don’t know if a BeardHead would have lessened the danger any, but it would have made the situation less embarassing…
My favorite and most memorable spring break was a man-trip with my father. It was my junior year of college and we decided to visit the ancestral homeland (Ireland). We visited castles, neolithic burial mounds, ancient churches, and many, many pubs, including the oldest pub in Ireland, which was established in 1198ad. The trip was simple, care-free, and memorable, but my face was cold. Sure coulda have used a beardhead to help protect my then clean shaven face from the vile bite of the wind.
My most miserable, I mean memorable spring break was going on a ski trip with a group of friends. Some of us were on a borrowed school bus and some in conversion vans. On the way through the mountains of NC, the bus broke down about 2 hours from our destination. We decided to go in shifts, so we let most of the girls go in the vans and check in (it was late night and freezing cold), then the vans returned to pick up the rest of us. By the time we got to the hotel, the girls were up and ready to go skiing, while we were cold and exhausted and wanted to rest. Well we all went skiing. A few days later, we were able to call for another bus and they came to pick us up. It broke down, too, so we rented vans and drove home. Fun.
Best spring break was spent at Saranac Lake for a week-long retreat with a bunch of friends. Kayaking, hiking, exploring and marvelling at God’s creation…great week.
I recall us all receiving sun burns the first day with perfect weather and sun followed by a week of sub-50 degree rainy days. Sun didn’t come out again till we boarded the bus for the long ride home. None of us had brought clothing for such a cold week and a Beardhead would have helped me stay warm.
The absolute most memorable Spring break I had was when a team of 15 or so of us volunteered to spend Spring Break 1984 in Appalachia!
We spent the week helping the needy and homeless build shelters and fix roofs and work the soup kitchen and generally helping our fellow brothers and sister of THIS Grand Country who are still in need of assistance… Wow… what a feeling to help those who can’t do it by themselves.
I still remember it like yesterday and it was 25 years ago!!
I’ve never done anything remotely exciting for spring break, but I would love to win a BeardHead so here goes!
This year’s Easter-week vacation will be spent driving across the country to visit relatives. Yes, I know how to live.
Best Spring break was probably driving from college in Michigan out to Utah with three friends. We spent the week at a campsite near Arches National Park, mountain biking on the sandstone trails, exploring and hiking the trails (or blazing some of our own), and hiking back from Delicate Arch by moonlight. I also enjoy geology, so I coerced my friends to come rock collecting with me–where on some pretty rough “roads” and rocks the minivan we drove there proved its mettle. I found (and got excited about) some pretty impressive fossils (to the mocking amusement of the others all too often, who spent their time parodying my excitement and smashing boulders they threw down the hill).
We made the trip back in 24 hours without stopping to sleep, and so arrived back at school with only a few mishaps from our trip: a slightly bent-up bike rack (the hotel awning on the way there didn’t have *quite* the clearance to drive under…oops), a snapped bike frame (I guess the hard sandstone can be a little rough sometimes…my friend then had to walk the remaining miles of the trail in blazing heat), and what seemed to be a sprained wrist from a tumble. But we also had a pile of rocks collected, scenic photos as well as video clips of various biking highlights, and good memories.
My best spring break trip was my first one. There were 9 of us piled into two cars, and we left out of Salt Lake to Lake Powell. We were only 17 and we must have had 9 cases of beer between the two cars. When we arrived at Powell 7 hours later, we realized that it’s no fun there unless you have a boat – you can only cliff dive for so long. Half the guys wanted to stay and crack into the beer, the other half wanted to back track and go to the sand dunes – because there’d be chicks there!! We backtracked 4 hours to the dunes only to be pulled over by the state troopers who subsequently confiscated all our beer. We found out the sand dunes are no fun without beer or three wheelers so when we woke up the next morning we drove back to Salt Lake. When we got back, we ended up hitting a crazy house party where we all hooked-up just fine. We still talk about that trip to this day!!
P.S. I’m in Alaska and I can use the Beardhead year round!!!
My best spring break trip was when my family and I went to the Black Hills and went camping. The cool and dry high-altitude air is one of my favorite sensations and every time I feel it here in the mountains of Tennessee where I live now, it always brings me back to the Black Hills.
The best Spring Break is the one I never took, because I never had a Beardhead.
As a bald guy (30% by nature and 70% by choice), winters are brutal. For Spring Break, I can never go anywhere cold. We always go somewhere warm. While I wouldn’t have used a Beardhead on my best Spring Break trip eve, the Bahamas, I would have used it this morning. It’s Friggin’ COLD in Baltimore this week! My wife knitted me a skullcap, but I would much rather wear the Beardhead. (Nobody tell her that)
Taking my wife and two girls to Disney World. They were still young enough to be excited about meeting the Disney princesses and characters.
About 5 years ago my friends & I went to one of our favorite snowboarding stops, Mt. Bachelor Oregon. Anyone who has been there knows that the weather can be both unpredictable & brutal. Storms roll in quick with little or no warning. We wanted to make the peak our first run so we jumped on the lower lift as the first of 3 chair rides we would have to take to make it to the summit. 2 chairs & 25 minutes later we found ourselves unloading in a white out with 40 mph winds. Since that side of the mountain is totally exposed for the first 1/4 mile of the decent we decided to wait it out by the wheel house. After 30 minutes the wind let up a bit & we decided to head down only to find that all of our beards were completely frozen with icicles totally covering our mouths. It worked out well however since we just used them for hydration on the way down. By the time we got down to the lodge the mountain was closed for the day. (and yes, we got a refund) That was the best spring break ever.
March of 01′ skiing at Killington in Vermont for 3 days with the GF – our legs were sore, but the skiing was awesome. It snowed 5 feet while we were there, and being a day behind schedule b/c of a train delay, we were put up in the “Honeymoon Suite” at the inn (the nicest room they had) because of a reservation conflict.
My best Spring Break was with my middlest daughter. On her Bucket List (she had one waaaay before the movie) was deep sea fishing. I took her and her best friend deep sea fishing out of Pensacola with Captain Chuck. He had guarenteed me we would catch some fish and he delivered. Two high school seniors and one tired dad hauled in over 100lbs of grouper, amberjack, and porgies on a 4 hour trip. Memories to last a life time.
My favorite spring break trip was to South Padre, Texas. One of my favorite things was it’s proximity to the Mexican border town Matamores. It was like a typical florida-esqe american spring break, with a down and very dirty mexican day trip. It was certainly an experience I will never forget. Just the cabdriver’s complete disregard for stop signs and his use of illicit drugs while sitting on top of the cab for while waiting for three hours to bring us back was memorable enough. There was a virtual stampede of Americans back across the border before the sun went down. Plus, the big controversy at that time being the Matomores police using stolen American cars as marked police vehicles, was reason enough for even a spring breaker to value our wonderful law enforcement officers on our side of the border. Just a great time and a great mix of palatable water and general lawlessness to make any spring breaker happy.
Best spring break was by far last year. I turned 30 and took a bunch of friends up to the snow at Lake Tahoe. We buried a keg of Sierra Nevada Brown Ale in the snow outside our cabin and got to drinking. I can’t help but think now how much better it would have been with a BeardHead to keep me warm on those many, many beer runs out to the keg.
My best spring break happened last year. I was invited by a roommate of mine and his brother to go on a road trip. We are from Wisconsin and they have family that lives in Brownsville, Texas so we started out by driving there. Once there we were in a short driving distance of South Padre Island and spent some time there. After that we drove to Tempe, Arizona. The drive was about as fun as anything. We got pulled over 5 times on our way. Once for speeding, where we managed to get away without a ticket, and the next 4 were because the License Plate light was out on the back of vehicle. It became almost laughable how frequently we were getting pulled over for something we had no means of fixing (it was 3-6ish AM so nothing was open). Once in Tempe we watched some Milwaukee Brewers Training Camp games and I celebrated my 21st birthday in an awesome underground dueling piano bar called The Bang Bang. My friends got me way too drunk, but I still managed to be the only one who didn’t throw up that night. The next morning we filled in the mental gaps we had of the previous night from photographs as we rushed out of the hotel room to go to our next destination: Las Vegas. Once in Vegas we watched some March Madness in casinos, won a few bets, lost a few more and then relaxed when we finally made the LONG trip back to Wisconsin. Awesome spring break.
Without a doubt, it was the year I went to NYC to see some old friends. Took Amtrak from Kentucky, through DC, and to NY. Hung out the whole way in the smoker car and had a great time flirting with the gals going home for their spring breaks. Went to the top of the World Trade Center and ate real pizza. Good times.
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