My Spring Break In Greenwich

In lieu of a glamorous spring break tanning on a beach in St. Baarth’s, I spent my two weeks off from college asking myself the same question I did every weekend in high school: What is there for teenagers to do in Greenwich? 

Fourteen months shy of my twenty-first birthday and with just twenty bucks left in my wallet, I was left with few ways to unwind and recover from a grueling round of midterms. So for my peers wondering what there is to do that doesn’t involve neon tropical drinks with little umbrellas or luxurious ski trips in the mountains, here are my top six tips on how to enjoy spring break in Greenwich.

1. Meander down Greenwich Avenue and check out the latest stores to close their doors. Every season, shops vanish forever to be replaced by banks, short-lived boutiques, or preppy brand names that trigger my gag-reflex. Starting at the top of the Ave, I shed a tear for the long lost Sam Goody, now housing Vineyard Vines, and glared resentfully at the shoe store that took over my precious Borders Express née Waldenbooks. Latest to pack up and leave us behind is Victoria’s Secret, where I never once purchased anything but enjoyed making fun of tweens shopping for sexy (and hopefully unnecessary) lingerie.

As always I ended my trip down memory lane by mourning the loss of Clearview Cinemas, the theater of first dates and franchise premiers, now the home of Greenwich’s first well-lit Apple store. And then I swallowed my cynicism and played with the iPods for half an hour. 

2. Wash your dog. You’ll be more drenched than at a wet t-shirt contest, without all the degradation. Plus, pets are adorable!

3. Feel briefly nostalgic for your high school years. It’s easy to think back to “the good old days” when you’re sleeping in your old bed, unless your parents turned your room into a personal gym or home office. I went back to Greenwich High School to watch the annual senior production of SRO, and it brought a grin to my face to see that the tradition of the boys' strip tease and veiled references to past shows live on. Congrats, class of 2012. I even went to a party in the basement of high school friend, played Ruit and drank cheap beer. Ah, high school parties. But instead of wandering across campus to buy a grilled cheese and settling into my dorm room bed with Neftlix and a bottle of water at the end of the night, I scored a ride home from a sober friend and had to tiptoe around to avoid disturbing my parents, only to stumble over the (clean!) dog and wake up the whole house.

4. Go see The Hunger Games, now in theaters. Not only is it a kickass franchise with a strong female lead, but listening to the squeals and inappropriate applause of the tween audience anytime someone dies is simultaneously hilarious and disturbing. For a film intended to highlight the inhumanity of reality television, consumerism, and governmental control, the sheer number of middle school girls wearing Team Peeta shirts and clapping after an “evil” tribute is brutally murdered made me suspect that the message of the film might be lost on their demographic. But it can’t be denied that Liam Hemsworth is like, so yummy as Gale.

5. Enjoy the effects of global warming and work on your tan. Take a drive down to Tod’s Point or just do what I did: Stretch out on a towel in your backyard and read a magazine while blocking out the constant roar of near-by condo construction.

6. And finally, realize if you don’t line up a summer internship or find a job, you will spend the four months of your looming summer vacation asking yourself over and over again what is there to do in Greenwich. A scary, sobering thought.