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Thursday morning was a chilly 42º when Keith and the vineyard vines® truck pulled up to the University CO-OP in Austin, TX. Little did we know, bundled in our fleece Whale Rep vests, that it would turn out to be 80? and sunny! I guess that’s just the crazy Texas weather for you. Because the College Tour hasn’t come through Austin in a few years, we had some really excited fans waiting to greet us. Some of the first to stop by were a few ecstatic Pi Beta Phis who showed up in their pj’s and couldn’t wait to get their picture taken wearing foam whale hats. Now that is dedication! UT proved that the Good Life isn’t just for undergrads as a good helping of law students and grad students, like Amy Saikin, stopped by to show their support! As word spread across the 40 Acres that vineyard vines® had come to town, a steady flow of Longhorns came by to snag anything they could get their hands on, whale hats, stickers, key chains. And, as the once named “#1 Party School in the Nation” it’s no surprise that the vineyard vines® koozies were the first to go!

vineyard vines® couldn’t come to Austin without making a stop at St. Bernard Sports downtown. Some dedicated fans came out, and although the wind was fierce, the brave ones stepped up to play corn hole and won the highly coveted College Tour ’08 t-shirt! So, as the blazing Texas sun got hotter and all the vineyard vines® giveaways were gone, Keith packed up the truck for the next stop on the tour. But as for us, we;re already counting down the days until the vineyard vines® College Tour comes rollin’ back into Austin!

The Florida State University community was super excited to host vineyard vines® on our campus. This was the second year we were honored with their presence and we were determined to make it bigger and better than ever. For over six months we had planned to host them in our Student Union in the center of campus, but that proved to be impossible. Still determined to bring them to campus, we arranged for them to arrive at The Heritage Grove instead. Even with the late change of location they drew a crowd as students from all over campus came for a throw at corn hole or a race against fellow students in tie tying contests.

Later in the day we packed up and made a trip to the other side of campus and posted up at the Alpha Delta Pi House figuring we’d already successfully switched spots once, why not try it again. The girls were so happy to receive advance copies of the new VV catalog and even more excited about the possibility of making their own custom products for their organization. Overall the event was amazing and I know I can speak for the entire Florida State student body when I say we cannot wait to have the college tour stop back by next year.

What would a college tour be without a stop at the University of Miami, home to South Beach, palm trees and of course, vineyard vines® fanatics. Eager and waiting, especially since this was the first time the boys in pink and blue rolled into the U, the crowds started to file in interested as to what the heck was going on. Some random passersby thought we were a wine company and others a free trip to the Cape, but those in the know (lots and lots of them) were ecstatic to finally have us on campus.

On this beautiful Monday morning, with temperatures much higher than Keith had experienced over the past week, the breezeway was packed with students, teachers and even some little kids who wanted to know how they could join in on the fun and, more importantly, get themselves a pink whale hat. Many V. Vines fans hung around for hours to make sure they were around when the contests got underway. Some students tried their hand at tying the perfect tie in between many games of blow-hole (the Tie Guys version of corn hole). But the real hit of the day was the official College Tour T-shirts that students were just going crazy for! Some guys wanted them so badly that they immediately went into the bookstore to purchase a custom Miami tie just to be eligible to get one. All in all, the day couldn’t have gone any better, which just proves that the Good Life has really made its mark up and down the east coast…literally.

Although the morning was cold and overcast, we waited in the parking lot with anticipation for the whale mobile to appear. Being that this is the first year the college tour has stopped at UCF, we were so excited to see what the day would bring.

The truck was unloaded, tent set-up, and Buffett blaring when the first group walked over to see what the early morning noise was all about. Hot chocolate was flowing as the games got underway. With all the excitement bringing in the masses that we had been hoping for all week, we quickly turned the crowd into a sea of bobbing whale heads. Ties were tied and totes were won, sending happy contest winners home with great VV gear. After six hours of spreading cheer on campus, we felt packing up a little early would be all right…but the fun didn’t stop there. Later on that evening, we brought Keith to a local UCF hot spot, Lazy Moon. The pizza slices are enormous and the atmosphere is care-free and laid back just how we like it. We talked about the day and what’s in store for the Good Life at UCF in the future. Needless to say we all agreed another visit is in order real soon.

With a reputation as part country club, part bastion of higher learning it’s no surprise that as soon as the vineyard vines® college tour was up and running in the spring of 2006 they made Rollins one of its first stops on its inaugural route. Hoping to build on the success of the first tour, Keith ventured his way back to Winter Park on Tuesday afternoon. This time around he had help from the brothers of Phi Delta Theta, who quickly set up the pop tent and wasted no time spreading the Good Life! Throughout the day the President of Phi Delt, Tristan Boylan, manned the cornhole station while Keith passed out Whale hats and stickers to students and other passers by. While some students stuck around for the greater part of the afternoon, others were making their way over to Down East to check out the new vineyard vines® shop.

The day passed filled with various tie and bowtie contests with the upset of the day coming when Tristan, a frequent vines wearer, was crushed in a competition by Liza Daigh. The Phi Delts did a great job in promoting the event and by the end of the day there was barely anything to pack back into the truck having given away most all of our gear. People are already getting excited for the next time vineyard vines® rolls through town…hopefully they won’t have to wait another two years.

After visiting schools one campus at a time, the vineyard vines® college tour switched gears and decided to try spreading the Good Life to students from all over the southeast, all at the same time by attending the 2008 Southeastern Interfraternity Conference February 14th-17th in Atlanta, GA. The conference hosted over 500 college men from around the region. We certainly had our work cut out for us, but after setting up in style our booth quickly became the most popular there…so much so that we might have made more than a few enthusiastic students late for their educational sessions. Sorry guys.

We’re not sure if all these folks were familiar with vineyard vines before they came, but we do know that by the time they had left we had almost everyone begging to be a whale rep back at their school, inquiring how to make custom ties for their university, or just clamoring to get their hands on some of the free gear we brought.

As the guy who was in charge of planning all the vendors for the conference I was given most of the credit for bringing the college tour to town and used my ties (no pun intended) with them as a boost in my run for SEIFC president. So while vineyard vines® remained tie partisan, I myself did not. I ended up wining the election and though it might not have been all because of the amazing tie I wore…I believe it had a lot to do with it.