A Trip Down Memory Lane
Over the years I’ve been able to celebrate my birthday away from home. As my birthday this year was effected due to the pandemic, I wanted to remember the ones that brought great laughs, memories, and stories to share for years.
My 18th birthday I was a freshman at the University of Memphis. I had the opportunity to participate in a group called Freshman Frenzy. It was like a big pep rally for freshman before the first two football games of the season. There would be activities before the game where you would get to know more freshmen as well as attending one home game and one away game. I can’t remember who we played the day of my birthday but the away game was against Ole Miss and where my healthy rivalry began. But during the pep rally of the first game, we played a game of “who has…” It varied from favorite color, hometown city, dorm you lived in and it narrowed onto “who has a birthday today” and I got serenaded. It was a great time and since our football team wasn’t that great until 2004, I don’t think we won that game. That marked my first birthday away from my normal.
Fast forward three years, I’m finally legal and still in Memphis for school. My college best friend’s birthday is two days after mine so we’ve celebrated a lot of birthdays together. This year she won a contest that included a trip to Tunica. For those that don’t know, Tunica is a casino town in Mississippi. The trip was planned, hotel booked, other college friends ready to go but here comes Katrina. This was the first of many natural disasters that threatened or canceled birthday plans. Hurricane Katrina actually struck the week prior to my birthday so we were able to reschedule our plans. But celebrations for the “day of”’ were bleak as people were fleeing and heading our way to Memphis. We finally were able to celebrate later in the Fall and I found out then, I don’t like losing money.
I didn’t do anything special for my 25th birthday but my 26th birthday was New York. My college best friend won another contest that included a 3 day trip to New York at the Mansfield Hotel. Our birthday usually falls around Labor Day weekend and in New York, there is a Caribbean parade that happens every year, so we extended our stay an extra 2 days. The first few days went as planned: New York Times Square, off-broadway play, shopping, taxi rides, loud horns blaring, of course eating, and more. It wasn’t until we were to move from our tourist bubble that things began to shift. I won’t go into all the details of the trips but the lesson from this trip is to listen to your instincts and always carry your money on your body. After visiting 4 of the 5 boroughs of New York, we made it to the parade and got to experience the celebration.
Here comes Flirty Thirty in Sin City. It was our (college best friend and sorority sister) first time in Vegas so we didn’t know what to expect but adventure was sure to find us. The trip was taken in mid-September which one would think the weather is cooler, negative!! The heat was still ever-present as we walked the strip. By this time I had traveled internationally so I knew of jet lag, time change, etc. But traveling from the east coast time to west coast time, my body could not adjust. By 7pm (Vegas time), I was ready to go to bed but the night was just getting started. And I was awake by 4am (Vegas time) because my body thought it was time for work back in NC. One of the days in Vegas, we had lunch at the Stratosphere and watched people bungee jump from the side of the building. That was the best seafood omelet I’ve had to date. There is so much to see in Vegas: Fremont Street, the welcome sign, wedding chapels, casino hotels, famous chef restaurants, street performers, and night clubs, you can find something for everyone to enjoy. And it’s a 4-hour drive to Venice Beach, which we also did.
Now my last planned birthday trip was to Puerto Rico to celebrate year 33 again with again my college best friend. She wrote a blog last year that was featured in Travel Noire detailing our experience, go check it out. This trip had every detail was planned out from the hotel, activities, and some eateries. We did engage with some locals to find out where they let loose at night or authentic food, we found both to be great recommendations. We toured the Barcadi Factory, walked around the El Yunque Rainforest, paddled a kayak in the bioluminescent bay, snorkeled, and sunbathed at Flamenco Culebra. Thankfully, we were able to enjoy all our planned activities as we had no idea what was heading our way. It wasn’t until the last two days of our birthday trip that we would find out the dangers of Hurricane Maria that were approaching. Luckily we were already set to fly out as many natives and tourists were scrambling to book tickets to fly out of San Juan and the wrath of Maria. We made it back safely to our respective homes, but the disaster Maria caused on that small little island is still affecting them today.
Grateful that I have a birthday partner and we’ve been able to travel to celebrate our birthdays. There are so many more of our traveling ventures. And although this year was thwarted by the pandemic, that just means I have a year to plan Chapter 37!!! Where should I celebrate next? I’m thinking rich in history and culture….South Africa.