Tourist Spotlight

(Photo and story by: CARL PHILLIPS/ Island Breeze)

Mike Jacobs brought his son John and his daughter Alex to South Padre Island for Spring Break.
Jacobs, who has spent more than 20 years as a long haul trucker specializing in hauling rigging, especially over-sized and sometimes overweight loads, is divorced but loves spending time with his children.

Although he lives in Pharr he was born in Chicago and lived in Detroit before he moved to Pharr. He doesn’t travel as much as he used to because now he owns his own trucking company brokerage, arranging hauling jobs for other truckers as well as for himself.

Tourist Spotlight

(Photo and story by: CARL PHILLIPS/ Island Breeze)

Jerry and Cindy Carter from Indianapolis visited South Padre Island Saturday, March 1.
“We’ve been in the [Rio Grande] Valley for a week,” he said. “We’re visiting my wife’s sister and her husband in Mission.”

This is their first trip to the Island since the Queen Isabella Memorial Bridge collapse in 2001, he said. Their first stop was the tourist center to collect information on the various dolphin watch tours available.

“I haven’t been here long enough to see what changes there are [since our last visit],” he said. “I’m sure we’ll find some.”

Tourist Spotlight

(Photo and story by: Carl Phillips/ Island Breeze)

Jose Camacho and Sarah Arb of Houston spent a week on vacation in the Laguna Madre area.
Although Camacho, a mechanic, was born in Port Isabel, and still has family here, his family moved to Houston while he was still very small. This was his first trip back to his birthplace.
Arb, a delivery driver, had never been here. “I really like it,” she said. “It’s different.”

Tourist Spotlight

(Photo and story by: Carl Phillips/ Island Breeze)

Mike and Janice Townsley arrived in South Padre Island Monday, February 4.
They had never heard of South Padre until they found it on the internet. “It looked interesting, so we came,” Mike said. “It’s south, it’s warm, and it’s great.”
Excited about what they had discovered, they spoke to friends about it, and learned some of their friends had already visited the Island.
When they crossed the causeway, Mike said, it reminded him of Cancun, Mexico without the traffic, or maybe Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Tourist Spotlight

(Photo and story by: CARL PHILLIPS/ Island Breeze)

Glenn and Carole Perry are spending their second winter in the Rio Grande Valley.
The couple is staying in Mission, Glenn said, and they make a couple of trips to South Padre Island while they are here.

Unlike most visitors, the beach holds little interest for them.

“We shop,” he said, “and I go fishing. Carole goes dolphin watching.”

Tourist Spotlight

(Photo and story by: CARL PHILLIPS / Island Breeze)

Dean Strickland takes good care of his thumb. For one thing he plays guitar with it. But he also uses it to get from town to town.

Strickland, on his second visit to South Padre Island, is here through the end of February, playing three times a week—Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday—at the Texas Moon.
He has been hitchhiking between gigs since 2005, he said.

Strickland was playing a coffee house in Dallas when a friend advised him to check out the Austin scene. So he saved his change until he had the bus fare.

Tourist Spotlight

(Photo and story by: CARL PHILLIPS / Island Breeze)

Jack and Dolly Bouk, of London, Ontario, Canada will celebrate their 66th wedding anniversary on January 31.

The two have been spending their winters in Port Isabel for 34 years.

They don’t sit idly and watch the world go by, however. Jack helps out with repairs at the White Sands Motor Lodge and Marina, where they park their motor home.

Tourist Spotlight

(Photo and story by: CARL PHILLIPS/ Island Breeze)

Delores and Dale Hemmy, of Bloomer, Wisconsin, have been winter Texans for 15 years, they said.

“We came on vacation in 1970,” Delores said. “The Island was sand dunes and campers, two hotels and a restaurant.”

She said they checked into the Surf Motel. “The wind was blowing, and we were sleeping in sand,” she said. “Next day we checked out and came to Port Isabel and spent the rest of our vacation at the Yacht Club.”

Tourist Spotlight

(Photo and story by: CARL PHILLIPS / Island Breeze)

Monty and Sherry Montee, of Salina, Kansas, arrived in Port Isabel Tuesday to spend the winter in the Laguna Madre area.

“We’ll leave for home about the end of February,” Monty said Friday. Referring to the cold front that had people breaking out their winter clothes, he joked that he could find weather like this back in Kansas.

“Not really,” Sherry said. “I called home this morning just so we could feel better. The wind chill there was eighteen.”

The Montees visited relatives here about seven years ago, they said, and so this is their second trip to the area.

“There’s a big difference between now and seven years ago,” Monty said. “A lot of things have changed.”

Tourist Spotlight

(Photo and story by: CARL PHILLIPS/ Island Breeze)

Mel and Linda Kutcher of Alberta, Canada, are enjoying their first visit to Texas.
“We heard about the state from people who had been here,” Mel said. “We’ve been in Texas about ten days. We spent the first few days at Lake Palestine before we came on down to the Rio Grande Valley.”

In their five days in the Valley, they have made two day trips to South Padre Island, he said. “You have a very beautiful place here,” he said, “but there’s a lot more development than I expected.”

The couple has driven from Isla Blanca Park to the end of the pavement on Park Road 100, Mel said.

It’s still possible to imagine what the north end looked like before the newest developments up there, he said. “I think maybe you are overdoing it (the development). You’re losing some of the appeal.”