Over Spring Break this year, students from Mayo High School traveled to a wide variety of places. While a majority of these spots were somewhere warm, not everyone traveled to a beach over break. Although students shared their travels with us on social media, not all experiences were described. Below is a collection of places visited by the students of Mayo and their experiences visiting new places.

Santa Cruz, California

Soph. Eryn Fjelsted and soph. Sophie Butterfass took a trip to California to escape the cold and slowly approaching spring of Rochester, Minnesota.
According to Butterfass, “Santa Cruz is a really cool town because you can see a palm tree next to a pine tree. Parts of the Redwood Forests are less than 20 minutes away from the beach.” While Fjelsted and Butterfass were in Santa Cruz they described themselves as “beach bums.” Although they spent much of their time at the beach they did make it to a local boardwalk. Butterfass claims, “The boardwalk had amusement rides, which of course we rode until we felt sick.” While in Santa Cruz, Fjelsted and Butterfass learned some interesting facts about the boardwalk. “The famous movie “The Lost Boys” was filmed there and even featured a wooden roller coaster called the ‘Giant Dipper,’” Butterfass claimed that because they were so close to downtown they walked everywhere and felt like they were locals. Fjelsted and Butterfass enjoyed some amazing weather and stuffed themselves with delicious food. One of their beach trips consisted of learning to surf in the chilly ocean. “That was definitely the highlight of our trip. At one point I was paddling back after catching a wave and Eyrn said to me, ‘Sophie, look to your left!’ When I looked I saw a giant sea lion swimming about three feet away from me.” Fjelsted and Butterfass had such a good time, they will definitely remember this trip for the rest of their lives.

Cruise through the Bahamas

Soph. Erin O’Hara took a cruise with her family through the bahamas over break. They traveled to Nassau and CocoCay Island, both a part of the Bahamas. “I had an awesome trip, but spent most of it relaxing.” O’Hara enjoyed some time in the sun with her family and even got to play some volleyball while she was away. While we all want to go to new places and learn about culture and history, O’Hara enjoyed some well deserved relaxation during her week away from school.

Playa Del Carmen, Mexico

Sr. John Hostak and sr. Tristan Wentworth too a trip to Mexico over break to enjoy the warm weather and bask in the sun. The first few days in Mexico, Hostak and Wentworth relaxed and simply appreciated the sunny weather. In order to experience something they couldn’t in Minnesota, Hostak and Wentworth went snorkeling in a few different places in the area where they were able to get very close to some sea turtles. The two also went to explore some ancient Mayan ruins. “It’s really cool to think that they’ve been around for 10,000 years,” reflected Hostak after seeing the ruins. Hostak and Wentworth had a great time in Mexico and said it was an overall great experience.

Las Vegas, Nevada

Sr. Katelin Shaft visited Las Vegas over break and shares, “Las Vegas was really cool, but also kind of overwhelming. Coming from the cold temperatures of the Midwest to the middle of the desert was a difficult transition that took a few days to get used to.” While in Vegas, Shaft  went to three shows. These shows included Michael Jackson’s “ONE” Cirque du Soleil, David Copperfield, and the ‘Legends in Concert.’ The Jackson show was based off of acrobatic dancing and Shaft would definitely recommend it. While she enjoyed the Jackson show, the Copperfield one was her favorite. Copperfield is a world famous illusionist and he had a life size dinosaur appear, a space ship fly out of nowhere, and a paper rose turn into a real one. Shaft claims that this was the best part of her whole trip. At the Legends show Shaft saw impersonators of Adele, Prince, Michael Jackson, and the Blue’s Brothers. One day on her trip, Shaft drove two hours to see the Grand Canyon and was able to walk on the skywalk which was “surreal in a way to be standing over the canyon.” Shaft and her family stayed right on the Strip in Monte Carlo, which she thought was a beautiful view. Although she had an amazing trip, Shaft recommends visiting Vegas when 21 or older in order to get the full experience.

Scottsdale, Arizona

Fresh. Anna Colby and Sr. Claire Colby visited Arizona over Spring Break with their family and soaked up the sun and the heat. While in Arizona the
Colby’s took the opportunity to visit the Grand Canyon, which is definitely somewhere that should be visited in one’s lifetime. Although the heat was something that was hard not to focus on, the Colby’s took many hikes while in Arizona. Even though they did a lot of hiking and sightseeing, Claire claims, “We definitely took a large amount of breaks!”

New York City, New York

Sr. Isaac Madden went to New York City during break and “soaked in the city and spent all of my money in different shops, museums, and fancy restaurants!” While in NYC Madden was able to see the play “Eclipsed” starring academy award winner Lupita Nyong’o. “When the show was over I waited around and was able to meet the amazing actress along with the other fantastic women in the cast and got their autographs. That night I also got to eat Shake Shack. All the events tied together made it one of the greatest nights of my life.” Overall Madden says he had a fantastic time in the city.

Maui, Hawaii

Sr. Aaron Timm got to travel to the beautiful Hawaii for a total of nine days. After two different cancelled flights a nine hour delay, and an eight hour flight he finally made it to Hawaii. The first two days Timm spent his time on the beach soaking up the sun. After a few days of relaxing he went snorkeling and swam with some sea turtles and the endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal. After a successful snorkel, Timm took a trip called the “Road to Hana” which took him to a remote part of the island. One of the days spent at the beach Timm saw whales in the ocean. “Mostly the trip was just a time to get away from the stress of school and life. It is the most beautiful place I’ve ever been to and I highly recommend visiting it.”

Gulf Shores, Alabama

Soph. Sieannah Stammnes and soph. Hannah Stelly took a long, 18 hour car ride to Alabama for vacation this spring. Stammnes and Stelly spent a lot of their time relaxing on the beach and laying in the sand underneath the sun. “Most of the time we just hung out at the beach and played spikeball or tried to tan but instead got burnt,” recalls Stammnes. The best part of their trip was going out for ice cream, which they did many times, at a place called Matt’s Ice Cream. “It was so much fun, especially having my good friend along with me!”

Cancun, Mexico

Sr. Abby Marquardt visited Cancun over break along with her sisters sr. Sara Marquardt and sr. Emma Marquardt. In Cancun the three stayed at a resort on the beach. Most of their trip was spent relaxing on the beach and beside the pool, shopping and going out to eat. Even though they greatly enjoyed the beach, two out of the seven days they spent in Mexico the Marquardt’s went snorkeling at Xel-Há and visited an island off of Cancun called Isla Mujeres. The girls rewarded themselves with some much needed relaxation. “Cancun treated us well,” as Sara stated regarding their stay.

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Sr. Ashley Hammes visited Mexico with her friend jr. Lexi Grethen for Spring Break. While in Mexico Hammes and Grethen spent a lot of their time on the beach. While at the beach, the two snorkeled, sat in the sun, and even swam into a cave that lead to a hidden beach. They also explored the town and drove up into the mountains. According to Hammes, “the views were absolutely phenomenal and it was an amazing trip.”

Vegas, Nevada and Flagstaff, Arizona

Sr. Megan Gulino and soph. Jake Gulino took a trip to Vegas for a break away from Minnesota. When they first arrived they hiked to some multi-level caves in Red Rock Canyon. “It was really interesting to see how far people’s graffiti dated!” stated Megan. After a weekend in Nevada the Gulino’s traveled to Flagstaff, Arizona.According to Megan, “it was the most hipster looking place I’ve ever been to.” All of the shops and the restaurants were confined to a small downtown area. “I immediately fell in love with the small town atmosphere and how friendly everyone seemed to be.” The Gulinos got to experience two different places with two different cultures and had an amazing time experiencing the new places.

Montego Bay, Jamaica

Jr. Breckin Grinnell spent his Spring Break in Jamaica for a week. He stayed in Hotel Riu and claimed, “every single person that worked there was just happy to be alive and very energetic with everything they did.” Grinnell rode a catamaran to Margaritaville, climbed Dunns River Falls, scuba dove, and met many people from different countries. In Montego Bay they had entertainment each night including fire dancing, musicals, and a variety of instruments. “It’s insane how different everything is in another country and how many people were there from other countries.” Ginnell was able to experience many crazy and different foods. “It was just so much different the way people treated us there compared to here in America.” Overall Grinnell had an amazing experience and was able to enjoy a wide variety of food and culture.

Whether you spent your Spring Break watching Netflix or seeing the world, students of Mayo will definitely say it was a good and well deserved vacation.