30 Spring break
 |
| David Pellerin/Caller-Times |
| More than 60,000 people a day crowd Nueces County beaches during spring break, including college and high school students, and families. |
Beginning in early March, about 44 public school districts,
colleges and universities from Texas and Oklahoma adjourn for
a week. About 18 more break before the end of the month.
Thousands come here, with friends or families,
to live out what will become some of their fondest memories.
The crowds generate entertainment for the locals, who can gawk
at the flower of youth and the rosy-ness of ill-advised sunbathing.
March madness also makes merchants mighty merry.
Estimated beach crowds in Nueces County
60,000 to 70,000 a day
Number of visitors through Corpus Christi Visitor
Information Centers in March
20,114
Number of visitors through Corpus Christi Visitor
Information Centers in January
10,361
Visitors at Padre Island National Seashore during
March
26,000
Visitors at the seashore in January
12,491
Some spring hotspots
Lexington Museum, Texas State Aquarium, Texas Treasure,
Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History, Heritage Park,
Christopher Columbus ships, Botanical Gardens.
Percentage of annual retail collected during spring
20 percent
Demographics of visitors
50 percent families, 50 percent students.
Cases of beer sold at Sharkey's Beach Club in Port
Aransas
300 to 400 cases a week
Cases of beer sold during the winter months
10 to 20 a week
Sources
Precinct 4 Constable Robert Sherwood; Shana Beck,
day manager for Sharkey's; John Trice, board member for the
Corpus Christi Convention and Visitors Bureau; and Kimberly
Lemley, director of tourism for the Corpus Christi Convention
and Visitors Bureau.