VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Across the city's beaches, Mayor Bobby Dyer said there have been no major incidents of rules not being followed over Memorial Day weekend.
"This was a great weekend to get started, granted the weather held us back a little bit, but people are still enjoying going out to the beach," Dyer told News 3 on Monday afternoon.
The city and state worked together to come up with a plan for reopening, including prohibiting large groups and requiring people to sit at least six feet apart. Sunday and Monday were not particularly good weather days, but Saturday saw nice weather.
"I'll tell you what - I think it's been a spectacular success," said Dyer, adding he had just got an update from the interim police chief.
Gov. Ralph Northam visited the Oceanfront on Saturday and said he felt people were following the rules.
Red flags were posted at the Oceanfront on Monday due to rough surfing conditions, keeping many out of the water. Still, some sat along the beach, but were spread out.
Dyer says the city will take what they saw this weekend and continue to re-evaluate the plan. "This is an opportunity to evaluate and debug the situation," he said. "There's going to be things that we're going to have to tweak to improve to get ready for more crowds coming."
Businesses are adjusting to all the changes, with many offering seating outdoors. "Business has been fair to moderate," said Dan Perrella, a partner at Beach Bella Pizza on Atlantic Avenue.
Going forward, everyone is trying to stay optimistic about the rest of the summer.
"Summer is about 120 days long through September," said Perrella. "We want to be optimistic. Virginia Beach is a fun city, and people love Virginia Beach. We love Virginia Beach."
