Spring Break Road Trip

By Roxie Farina

What better way is there to start your spring break then by taking a road trip? Well, that’s just what I did to kick off my spring break! After my last class on Thursday, March 7, my friends Jess, Shay and I packed the car and headed to North Carolina. Our best friend Cayce is currently enrolled at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. We all have grown up together and also attended high school with one another, so having her live so far away gave us the perfect opportunity to spend our spring break with her.
 
North Carolina is about ten hours away from New York, but we managed to make it there in about nine hours. Since we left early in the day we did not hit any traffic, which also helped the drive not feel as tedious. As we crossed over into each state, we would take a picture of the sign welcoming us to that state, which brought us closer and closer to our final destination! It was around eight at night when we finally arrived in Wilmington, North Carolina. 

We all jumped out of the car as Cayce greeted us with a big smile and a hug! When we opened the door to Cayce’s apartment we were all in awe. She lives in a three bedroom apartment and each bedroom included a walk in closet and a bathroom with a shower. We were all shocked at how cheap it was to have your own apartment down south.
 
After arriving and touring her apartment we all unpacked, relaxed and began to prepare ourselves for the next few days. It has been over eight months since we have all partied together, so we knew we were in for a good time! The first night we went to a bar called Liquid Room in downtown Wilmington. Downtown is only about ten minutes away from campus and Cayce’s apartment so the cab ride wasn’t long. We met a lot of her friends and had a really great time.
 
The next morning we woke up early and decided to tour her campus and the downtown shopping scene. UNCW is a large campus so we only stopped to see a few different buildings and parks, but all in all, it was a very nice campus. Downtown looked a lot different during the day then it did the night before. We went into many shops and sampled food from several different restaurants. I’ve never seen such a small area have so many different food choices.
 
After shopping and touring we met a few more of Cayce’s friends and patiently awaited the arrival of our friend John. John’s nickname is Waffles and he is originally from our hometown in New York, but currently he is stationed at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville in the Marines.
 
After he arrived we headed out to a bar called Sputnik. We all had a blast the second night and were so excited to finally be reunited with Cayce and Waffles. My friend Jessica was also very excited because Waffles is her brother, who she hasn’t seen since December. A lot of the bars close around 2 am, which is early compared to the bars in New York, so we decided to grab some food at this place called Cookout. Anything you could think of for under $3.00. After trying about everything on the menu we decided it was time to head back to Cayce’s apartment and call it a night.
 
For our third and last night of going out we decided to go back downtown and try a bar called Level 5. This bar was located on the fifth floor of the building, which was also the rooftop. During the summer they unzip the huge screen they had set up which allows you to enjoy a nice, warm summer night. We stayed inside because it was still cold at night but normally Cayce and her friends go for some drinks outside. Level 5 was definitely a fun place to spend our last night and I’m glad I was able to experience the club scene in Wilmington.
 
For our last day in North Carolina we toured Waffles’ Marine base. I was very excited to finally see where my friend had been living for the past two years! This was also my first time touring a military base and seeing how things worked. Waffles showed us where he works and all the different types of machines they have on base. This was definitely one of my favorite parts of our road trip. After touring the base we headed back to Cayce’s apartment and cooked dinner. We decided to do a taco night and relax in before our long drive back to New York.
 
The alarm was set for 7 am and we were on the road by 8 am Monday morning. We arrived in New York shortly after 5 pm and we were sad to be home. Taking a road trip was a great experience and since we had such a great time we are already planning a second trip back down to see Cayce and Waffles this summer. I’m glad we decided to visit North Carolina and see the place where my friends are living. It’s sad that they are far away, but it’s comforting knowing that they are surrounded by people who love them and friends that care.