Tens of thousands of people are heading to the Delmarva coast this Memorial Day weekend, and the resort towns say they’re ready.
Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan said about 150,000 visitors are expected in his town alone, rain or shine.
“Everybody’s open. Everybody’s excited,” Meehan said. “The boardwalk looks great. The beach looks just as pretty as I’ve ever seen it. We’re ready for the big crowds, and there’s so many things to do.”
He’s also confident the weather forecast this weekend won’t keep many people away.
“We’re not expecting it to be a washout. We’re going to have intermittent rain, hopefully it’s going to break Saturday, be nice Sunday and Monday,” Meehan said. “So we’re still excited. I think there’ll be big crowds. People are looking — it’s been a long, cold winter — are just looking to get away.”
He said whatever weather that does make its way to the coast this weekend, it won’t dampen their excitement.
“Don’t miss an opportunity. If you’ve got three days, take advantage of spending that time with your kids and your families,” Meehan said.
Similar greetings come from a few miles up Coastal Highway in Rehoboth Beach, where around 50,000 or so visitors could show up this weekend regardless of the weather, according to Mayor Stan Mills.
“Our star attractions are waiting for your arrival,” Mills said. “Our star attractions: our boardwalk, our stores, eateries and beach.”
He said there’s just too much happening for the rain to wash any plans away.
“Rain or shine, we are ready,” Mills said. “You can still walk a mile and a half along boardwalk. You can go to Fun Land amusements and arcade. Stores that have roofs over them.”
He has no doubts anyone who’s been planning to do all of that for a while will follow through.
“We believe a lot of people have already made their vacation plans. They’ve already rented houses or hotel rooms,” Mills said. “They’re going to make the best of it. We have a saying here that a bad day at the beach is better than a good day back home.”
Both towns touted a calendar of events from concerts to fireworks, and all sorts of other free, family-friendly activities throughout the year, beginning this weekend.
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