If you want to meet a Wisconsinite, just wander down to Alabama during spring break.
You’ll find us, and only us, chillin’ in a lukewarm pool or a frankly cold ocean, blue-lipped and determined to enjoy the amenities.
Both anecdotal and causal evidence supports this statement.
With the air temperature hovering just under 60 degrees, we headed down to a pool on Dauphin Island one fine, crisp morning last week.
One of us let loose with a Tarzan yodel and leapt in, shocking even himself. I fished him and his shoes out and sternly explained the rules.
“Sorry,” he said cheerfully and took a running jump back in the pool. Gingerly I followed, smiling through gritted teeth at the other seven folks assembled there.
I might have been a pinch surprised that anyone else had braved the waters that day, but I was not at all surprised to discover that every last one of them hailed from Wisconsin.
We Cheeseheads are a friendly, practical bunch — so polite we routinely wave cars, people, even winter in if it’s missed a turn or two and is looking to squeeze into spring.
We’d never travel 1,150 miles to a beach and then not jump into the water.
And, once we settle in (maybe so our teeth don’t), we’re going to chatter. So I learned that Parker from Sheboygan loves hockey and that his brother Jackson taught him to blow air out of his nose so he would stay under water longer.
And I learned that William from Milwaukee is a wrestler who also tosses an impressive ball and could probably take us all in pool football, but still waited politely for an invitation to join in.
We all spent as much time as we could outside, chasing waves and sunsets with equal abandon.
One of us spotted a dolphin during a sunset stroll, and that sighting remains his favorite part of the trip.
We’re back home now, noting wind chills and snow accumulations and relying on our memories of our sweet, second home Alabama to keep us warm.
Loved this!! Thanks for sharing the spring trip. I love seeing places I haven’t been.