What Did You Do for Spring Break?

Picture this conversation among several college seniors choosing their destination for their final spring break: 

“Hey guys, what do you want to do for spring break? Visit Fort Lauderdale, Daytona Beach or Panama City in Florida? How about Cabo San Lucas or Cancun, Mexico? Or we could go skiing in Colorado or Vermont? Maybe a quick trip through Europe?” 

“Wait, I have an idea. Let’s go visit our buddy Ryan at his parent’s place in Sun City, South Carolina!” 

“Huh? Say what? Don’t they live in a retirement community?” 

“Wait a minute. Maybe it’s not such a bad idea after all. Cheap flights into Savannah, Ryan picks us up, we have access to cars, free lodging, Hilton Head Beach is close by, lots of golf courses, and great weather! Plus, we get to spend time with our old pal Ryan!”

“Let’s do it!”

And so it was that the answer to “What did you do for spring break 2023?” for six Penn State seniors was going to be, “We spent it in an active adult retirement community in the Low Country of South Carolina!”

So, the question on the minds of my wife and I was, “What do you do to keep college kids busy when they come to visit you in your retirement community?” Especially since Ryan’s friends Jeremy Bullock, Shant Kervandjian, Jake Manoukian and Will Alderisio were coming for the first five days and Zach “Marty” Martin and Ben Susser-Stein were coming later in the week.

Turns out you can do a lot, and I think the boys would all agree it was a great trip that they will certainly never forget. If nothing else, they are now all budding pickleball players and new ambassadors for the fastest growing sport in America.

The weather was perfect all week. Mostly in the low 80s with plenty of sun and a cool, light breeze. In fact, one day that was spent in Singleton Beach on Hilton Head Island (just a 30-minute drive from Sun City) it was 89 degrees, and the boys were tossing a football to one another in the Atlantic Ocean, playing Bocce and a new game called Viking Bowling. Yes, Viking Bowling. The best way to describe it as it’s a combination of bowling, horseshoes and Bocce.

Golf at Argent Lakes, Okatie Creek and Hidden Cypress in Sun City and Old South Golf Links in Bluffton made for a well-rounded experience for the boys who also seemed to enjoy tooling around our neighborhood in our four-seater golf cart.

While at the beach there turned out to be a lot of other spring break kids, so the guys didn’t feel out of place, especially after visiting Pool Bar Jim’s and throwing down a few Miami Vices (1/2 Pina Colada and 1/2 Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri). Throw in some Jimmy Buffet and Zach Brown Band and you have yourself a really nice day on a sunny beach.

The boys visited the Lighthouse and Marina in Harbour Town, Hilton Head’s signature destination, and had dinner at the world-famous Salty Dog Café. They even enjoyed a round of mini-golf at Pirates Cove Adventure Golf. There were trips to Savannah and time spent on a rooftop bar and exploring the Riverside District.  

Perhaps the most memorable activities for the boys were daily pickleball matches (some played until 10 p.m. when the lights automatically went off) and playing Viking Bowling at the beach. 

Pickleball for college students? Who knew? They couldn’t get enough! It took a while to get the scoring down (that is a pickleball drawback) and learning that just hitting the ball as hard as possible was not the recipe for victory. The first night the team of JoeBa and JBo (Jeremy) dominated play, but shortly thereafter the rest of the troops got the hang of the game making it more competitive, more fun and more raucous.

On Sunday morning a small audience of “experienced” Sun City residents watched curiously as our guest’s matches got intense and even humorous. Let’s just say the boys have a passion for the game but need to learn “the soft game” in essence, the art of the dink, before they can make it to the next level of play. On the last day in Bluffton, Shant and Jeremy decided to venture over to the courts and play in the “open pickleball” slot. They went up against a couple of seasoned 70-year-olds who schooled the college kids in dominating fashion that may have included a shutout. Overall, the guys couldn’t get enough pickleball and playing the game was a big hit.

After pickleball we watched the PSU-Maryland basketball game then headed off to the Sun City Riverbend Clubhouse (one of six to choose from in our community) for a little pool and hot tub time. Evenings included some card games of crush, spades and hearts along with some home cooked meals and a few trips to local restaurants. 

My wife and I took a break from the boys and went over to see the PSU men’s golf team at the Colleton River Collegiate Golf Invitational and hang out with longtime friend and head coach Greg Nye. The Nicklaus Course at Colleton River is spectacular and quite the challenge, especially when the wind is blowing. 

As we walked toward the first tee, we noticed a sponsorship sign from the Petracca family. Dean Petracca, my former Penn State hockey defensive partner, lives in Colleton River. I struck up a conversation with Jim Meyers, freshman golfer Jimmy Meyers’ father, and found out he was from my hometown of Penn Hills, and I graduated with his sister. Can’t make this stuff up! We grew up playing the Oakmont East public golf course (which became a parking lot for its more prestigious neighbor) and now the Meyers family belongs to Oakmont Country Club, one of the most historic golf courses in the country that has hosted numerous U.S. Opens and PGA Championships. 

We saw young Jimmy almost make a hole-in-one on the Colleton River Nicklaus course’s signature 17th hole, a par 3 that has the Colleton River as its backdrop. The team finished a very respectable fifth place against a strong field, but most importantly they finished ahead of THE Ohio State University team. When we got home from watching golf, we found an Ohio State Buckeyes Golf hat draped over our Penn State flag that flies in our front yard. No one has claimed responsibility for the despicable act.

On Wednesday morning we joined Coach Nye for a leisurely breakfast at Tangerine Cafe and gave him the VIP tour of Sun City. The golf team departed shortly after to play some of the nicest and most challenging courses they will see all season. Heidi and I returned home to give the first group of visitors a good southern sendoff as Uber Ryan took them on the 25-minute ride over to the Savannah airport. 

We then jumped in our car to join our Penn State Low Country Alumni chapter friends as The Singing Lions paid a visit to Driessen beach on Hilton Head Island. I had the honor of leading the group in its first “We Are” cheer. The group had recently performed in Charleston and would be heading up to Charlotte before going to Washington, D.C. The PSAA Low Country members led by Katie Jones and Nina Miller and numerous other families hosted the students for a wonderful time.

On Thursday, the second crew of college spring breakers descended upon the retirement community. They wasted no time getting into the swing of things. After dinner at our house, they went to the local Penn State alumni hangout, Okatie Ale House, to watch our men’s basketball team beat Illinois for the third time this season and give us bragging rights with our Illini neighbors Troy and Deb Willard. Troy rarely misses an opportunity to remind us that his Illini beat us in the longest game in NCAA football history. In fact, when the guys first arrived, Troy grabbed his 8-foot-high Fighting Illini banner and marched it over to meet the Nittany Lion students.

Ryan, Ben and Marty then joined me at the Argent Lakes pickleball facility for a 9 p.m. game. Once again pickleball was a hit, figuratively and literally, as the boys brought their tennis swings and hard-hitting shots. We played pickleball again on Saturday evening after spending the morning golfing and afternoon at the beach playing more Bocce and Viking Bowling. We got to teach these guys the “soft game” and to stay out of the “kitchen!”

These young men who will all graduate from PSU this spring (Shant graduated with Ryan in December) were polite, funny and seemed to really enjoy their rather unique spring trip to hang out with the old folks! Sun City may never be the same and the boys will have quite the story to tell when they are asked, “What do you want to do for spring break?”