Spring Break. April 1980

Spring break is a time to head south and party on some Florida beach. After weathering a Wisconsin winter, I had Spring fever, no doubt about it. But I wasn’t keen about the beach party scene. So some mates and I decided to go canoeing in Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp.

My hometown mate, Dan Hartman, lashed a couple of canoes on my dad’s Vista Cruiser and drove from Amery to Stevens Point to pick us up. My mates, Steve Eklund and Jay Peterson, were joined by our neighbours Sue and Carrie. We packed six of us into the station wagon and headed south in time for the first daffodils to bloom.

We split up at some point. Jay and the women took the car while Steve, Dan and I took a single canoe and paddled down the Suwannee River. We lazily paddled … or floated most of the time … down the river for a few days and camped along the ways amongst the Spanish moss and saw palmettos.