VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - This Memorial Day weekend, thousands of tourists and locals flocked to the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. The holiday marks the unofficial start to summer, and businesses along the Oceanfront say this weekend was a first for seeing the area so busy.
"We’re visiting. We just finished college and taking a little day trip," a group of tourists said.
The rain held off during the holiday weekend, with temperatures reaching the high 80s.
With several tourists visiting the Oceanfront, businesses say this weekend was high for revenue.
"This is the first weekend we’ve had a crowd this size. Now it's probably going to stay this way most weekends going forward," Gary Felch, the deputy chief for the Virginia Beach Lifesaving Service, said.
Ricky Salander, the general manager of Chix on the Beach, says this Memorial Day weekend was the busiest he’s seen the Oceanfront this year.
"How many customers would you say you saw this weekend?" News 3 reporter Leondra Head asked Salander.
"In the thousands," he replied.
Slingshot Adventures says they saw more than a hundred customers this weekend.
"We’ve been sold out every day. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough. We couldn’t keep up," Christina Goodnight, a manager at Slingshot Adventures, said.
Their customers say they are enjoying the ride.
"We’re trying to drive a slingshot. We're visiting from Fairfax," one said.
A lifeguard at the Oceanfront says lifeguards rescued five people this weekend, a lower amount than in previous years.
"The water has been calm. [There were] a handful of lost kids, but not the number that I was quite expecting. Usually we have quite a few on holiday weekends," Felch said.
Workers tell us they expect business to be steadily busy moving forward, and they're anticipating the large summer crowds.
