Men's Journal

Fight the urge to spend your Easter Weekend lazing around eating chocolate bunnies and instead opt for some sunshine at Cocoa Beach, guzzle some suds in Oregon, or catch some of the best skateboarders on the planet compete for the coveted title of Ultimate Boarder.

By Cannon Kinnard and Nate Storey

The Ron Jon Easter Surfing Festival, April 10-12
Cocoa Beach, Florida

For an Easter weekend filled with skim, surf, and paddle boarding head to south Florida for the legendary Ron Jon Easter Surfing Festival. For 45 years boarders have taken to the waves of Shepard Park and Cocoa Beach Pier at this annual festival, scrapping for bragging rights and cash (prize money this year tops out at $5,000). Rise at 8 a.m. on Friday and catch riders shredding the early-morning breaks at Cocoa Beach Pier in the Shortboard Open. See how your balance stacks up against skimboarders with similar skill sets in the Easter Bunny Skim Bash on Saturday morning ($25, entry form here) and stop by the Ron Jon surf shop in the afternoon to meet the Ron Jon and Hurley surf teams. Sunday morning features the stand-up paddleboard, shortboard, and longboard finals, beginning at 10 am. That should leave you sufficient time to wrap up the weekend by catching a few rays at the beach that afternoon.

Travel and Accommodations:
Fly into Orlando and make the hour trip east to Cocoa Beach. The Radisson Resort at the Port has a Surf and Stay package starting $179.95 a night, which includes a two-hour surf lesson and eight-hour board rental (radisson.com).

Spring Beer & Wine Fest, April 10-11
Portland, Oregon

The 15th Annual Spring Beer & Wine Fest kicks off in Portland on Friday, serving up 80 different brews from a panoply of micro-breweries ($20 package includes admission, plastic mug, and ten beer tokens). Armed with your souvenir chalice ($8) full to its brim, rove the cheese-mongers’ booths on the Tour de Cheese before heading to the chef’s stage at 1 p.m. for some beer-cheese soup. Chocolate and beer may seem like an odd combo, but Lillie Belle Farms chocolatier Jeff Shepherd will demonstrate the cohesion at a 4 p.m. pairing. If you’re yearning for something with more bite, stop by the Hip Sips Lounge and try the Crater Lake Vodka or Cascade Mountain Gin from local Bendistillery. Saturday is all barbeque and blues as “Mr. BBQ” Bruce Bjorkman serves up his stout beer ribs and the Blues Music Award nominated the Insomniacs bring the jams.

Travel and Accommodations:
The Red Lion Hotel Portland Convention Center is located right across the street from the festival and offers a special rate of $89 per night. (redlion.rdln.com, the promotional code is SPRINGFEST)

The Ultimate Boarder Skating Competition, April 10-11
Ventura, California

The snowboarding component took place last weekend and surfing finished up Thursday, but the final and deciding stage in the Ultimate Boarder competition still remains. This weekend pros like Omar Hassan, Adam Taylor, Tosh Townend will each try to skateboard their way to a championship in Ventura, California. Steven Caballero and Andy Macdonald will soar over a custom-made 66’ ramp as they fight for a $58,500 purse and Reggae rockers Rebelution, with Soul Majestic and Emilbus, will play along to the rhythm of the competition from 6-10pm on Friday. Gates open on Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m. and wrap up Sunday with an awards ceremony. Make sure to take advantage of the free skateboarding lesson by pro Andy Macdonald from 10-11am on Sunday. Singer/songwriter Tyrone Wells and South African band Civil Twilight will provide some on-sight live music before the transition to the Ultimate Boarder After Party ($20) at Candlelight, 211 E. Santa Clara Street, Ventura, where the competition athletes will all be there cooling down to DJ Mark Moreno’s beats.

Travel and Accommodations:
The Ventura County Fairgrounds will host the skating portion of the event. Ventura is northwest of Los Angeles and LAX services all major airlines. Find hotel deals for Ventura here.