“Beer bongs, wet T-shirt contests and cruising the boulevard; South Padre Island owes its humble Spring Break origins to a small group of Valley natives,” says Kay Lay, whose family moved to the Rio Grande Valley in the late 1950s.

“A group of us kids from school began coming to the Island for Easter vacation in the mid 1960s,” Kay recalled with a smile. “We always gathered at the Sandy Retreat Hotel. Among other things, it had two very valuable commodities; a swimming pool and restroom facilities. One year, a local band set up their equipment in the parking lot which drew a small crowd. The word spread quickly and by the following Easter the number of kids had multiplied substantially. Eventually, the Sandy Retreat blocked off its parking lot to through traffic for these gatherings so we could all just hang out and dance. Soon the crowd included college kids who were home for Easter vacation, some of whom had brought other friends home with them for the school break, still in those early days there was a much heavier influx of Mexican nationals celebrating Holy Week than college students taking a break from the hallowed halls of learning.” Read more »