Spring Break...

 

Wooohooo!  Spring Break - party on!  Well, maybe not this year.

March in this area means Spring Break on South Padre Island.  In the hey-day, it was Party Central, with MTV broadcasting from different beach venues.  When MTV got out of the music (that's the "M" in their name), there was less national exposure for Spring Break on SPI.  That didn't stop the college age youths from looking for a place to escape the frozen northland where they could "party on the beach."  And, South Padre Island has a great beach.

Spring Break isn't a one-week event - most consider it to be all of March.  Colleges across the land are out at different times for spring break, making for a bell curve of party people being drawn to the island: lighter crowds at the beginning and end of the month, peaking somewhere around mid-March when the majority of Texas schools are off for spring break.  As it is known locally: Texas Week.  Over time, that has stretched into more of a two-week onslaught.  Nightly concerts at the bigger venues, all the bars in town hopping.  The cheaper motels packed with a bunch of people in each room to some condos that don't rent to spring breakers.  Over the month of March, it has generally meant 100,000+ kids coming to the island to party... where their parents can't see what all goes on.

In 2008, I worked for the Coastal Current (local paper listing all the goings-on on the island), part time.  I wound up working on the spring break tab: the middle 8 pages devoted to all things Spring Break.  I won't embarrass myself by listing the names of DJs and rappers, of which I had no clue, that I was assigned to write about prior to their performance dates... "Who is this Florida guy, and why does he hyphenate his name?"  (Flo-rida)  I was the oldest one in the office back in 2008.  That was also the last time we were here during Spring Break.

This year, in the age of Covid, things are going to be different.  The SPI Chamber of Commerce would have you believe that the island is going for a more "family friendly" Spring Break.  People over 65 have been going after the vaccinations, so some may stay here longer, and others who had stayed up north may be willing to get some beach time, just a bit later than usual (January through early March is the prime Winter Texan season).  I don't know... I think college age (not necessarily just those in college) people are still going to want to come to the beach and party 'till they puke.  The City of South Padre Island is not allowing any large concert gatherings - they let things slide until after Spring Break last year, and the local numbers of Covid-19 rates skyrocketed.

It isn't just college age kids from up north - every high school in the Rio Grande Valley has spring break, and those kids can come to the island as day trippers with fake IDs to try to get in on the party.  Again, no idea how that is going to play out.  I guess we are going to find out, since we have no plans for getting away this month.

We have seen the lines of traffic backed up for several miles to get on the causeway.  A steady line of beer trucks delivering to stores and bars in the area.  Going to the grocery store and seeing 4 guys with pasty skin with a shopping cart full of beer and a large bag of Cheetos.  Packs of young people walking... they seem to walk in a group, most dressed with some group protocol (one group all in tank tops, another group in freshly bought Spring Break T-shirts, another in the same college logo hoodies, etc).  The streets empty out around 5:00 to 6:00 pm as people go from the beach, bars, and restaurants, back to their rooms so they can clean up and get ready to head out for another night of partying.

With some personal insight on this: some do meet their special someone during Spring Break... that's where Steph and Dan met.  Pretty sure that is the exception, not the rule.

Party on, Wayne.  Party on, Garth.  Keep in mind how the Covid cases expanded after last year's spring break before you head to that foam party.

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In a somewhat related vein: our Governor had a press conference today where he said he is removing the mask mandate in the state and eliminating any occupancy restrictions on all businesses.  Of course, he said he still recommends that people follow CDC suggestions, but further said that "No County Judge can issue fines or jail time for anyone not wearing a mask."  So, if you own a business, you can put up a sign that says "Mask required" but you will have no way to enforce that.

Personal opinion here: that is a step in the wrong direction.  Unfortunately, a sizeable portion of our population refuses to wear a mask unless they are "forced" to.  County Judges (consider them more like a County Commissioner, not a court related position) have been able to decide mask-wearing and occupancy allowances in their county - the Governor proclamation eliminates that authority.  In the past year, our county has had on/off mask mandates and occupancy rates... and we were seeing a small decline in Covid cases.  It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure out what will happen here now.  Right before spring break gatherings.

We'll continue to avoid restaurants and any gatherings; we'll wear masks in public.  Glad we have had both of our vaccine shots.