Beachgoers don't let overcast skies dampen July 4th plans

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND - Even though the sun wasn't out for most of the Fourth of July, that didn't stop beachgoers from enjoying South Padre Island.

Roy Haarmeyer, his wife Joyce and their family planned their trip to the Island for three weeks, he said.

For Haarmeyer, the overcast skies meant not worrying about getting sunburned, he said.

"I don't mind it at all," Haarmeyer said.

The Haarmeyers have spent the Fourth of July holiday on the Island for the past five years, he said.

The couple from Conroe, north of Houston, said they planned to stay on the Island for four days, and decided to make the trip despite rising gas prices because it's one of the few times they travel each year, Roy Haarmeyer said.

"It (high gas prices) just made us think about it a little more, but we still came anyway," Haarmeyer said.

South Padre Island resident Michael Jones said he's lived in the area for about 20 years.

Jones said he thought the Island was as busy, if not busier, this Fourth of July as in years past.

"If you're making plans, you're going to come," Jones said.

Jones said he was shopping at the Blue Marlin, a grocery store on the Island, early Friday and saw employees there restocking shelves.

Jones said the Island is an ideal driving distance for travelers from places including San Antonio or Monterrey, Mexico.

"I think people are more willing to make the short drive here as opposed to getting on a plane and taking a longer trip," Jones said.

Monterrey resident Cesar Arriaga and his family made the drive to South Padre Island Friday from Matamoros, where they were staying with family for a few days, he said.

They planned to go to the beach and spend the remaining days of their vacation shopping in Brownsville, he said.

It was their first trip to the Island he said, and they enjoyed what they had seen of the town.

The trip was longer for David Payne, his wife Monika and their children, Steven and Jessica, who were visiting from Germany.

They were on the Island with David's mother, Lynda Kramer, a Harlingen resident, he said.

The family stood overlooking the Laguna Madre as a light rain came down.

They were very disappointed with the weather, he said, and hoped the sun would come out.

"It was coming down in buckets earlier," David Payne said.

The family walked along the beach collecting sea shells between bouts of rain and ate lunch at Amberjack's, Kramer said.

"Other than the rain, the ocean is very pretty," Kramer said.