The Not-So-Accidental Party

I still have no idea why we decided to visit South Padre Island a week ago. We knew it was spring break, for God’s sake. And I had been there before, and was well aware that there was nothing particularly attractive about the place. It must have been that we simply missed the ocean and beach, having been in San Miguel de Allende, in Mexico, studying Spanish for three weeks.

It was the last few days of spring break the desk clerk told us. You should have seen it two days ago. The first thing I...