Area beaches ready to welcome vacationers back

Beaches welcoming back vacationers

Beaches in Maryland, Delaware and Virginia are welcoming back vacationers.

BETHANY BEACH, Del. - Area beaches are back.

That’s the message coming in loud and clear from the Eastern Shore as temps hit 90-degrees and vaccination numbers keep going up-and-up.

"It’s about as normal as it’s been since March 14th of 2020," said Steve "Monty" Montgomery, the owner of Starboard in Dewey Beach.

"Night and day," Bethany Beach Mayor Rosemary Hardiman told Fox 5 when asked to compare last summer to this one.

Hardiman added that unlike last year, fireworks, performances, movies on the beach, bonfires and other activities beachgoers are accustomed to are all slated to make a comeback in 2021.

"We really weren’t sure about that up until this past week when the CDC issued their guidance, their new mask guidance, a couple of weeks ago," Hardiman added. "It kind of, it was like whiplash, it changed everything. Everything changed on a dime."

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As for bar and restaurant owners, they’re starting to feel some relief too. While Montgomery said some businesses are having trouble finding enough people to hire, he said they’re having no issues whatsoever attracting a crowd.

"I think the excitement is going to be overwhelming because the amount of rentals, the amount of bookings, the amount of weddings, the amount of everything coming to the beach this summer is off the charts," he explained. "I’ve never seen anything like it."