NC beach towns grateful for heavy Memorial Day traffic

After a rough year and a half because of the pandemic, the ocean is calling people back to the beach.

Kia and Isiah Cadwell came down to Wrightsville Beach from Durham today.

“We are going to get some seafood, hang out, just enjoy the day,” Kia Cadwell said.

Emily Jones drove down from Virginia Beach with her family.

"It’s really nice to not have to be in lockdown or anything, and really celebrate and be with my girls," she said.

Rentals and hotels are booked, the beaches are packed and restaurants and bars are full in Wrightsville Beach tonight. For coastal towns, It's shaping up to be the kind of Memorial Day weekend that was desperately needed.

Wrightsville Beach Mayor Darryl Mills has seen businesses here fold because of the drop in business in 2020.

He has just one word to describe the surge back to his town: “Nice.”

The places hit hardest by the pandemic, like restaurants, hotels, and entertainment venues, are seeing the biggest swing back this Memorial Day weekend.

“We’ve been booked for a couple of months now,” said SeaScape Properties vice president Robert Huckabee “Usually Thursday and Friday is when people are scrambling to get a property booked and unfortunately, but fortunately for us, they’re already booked.

And business leaders and officials are banking on this positive trend to continue.

“All signs are that this is going to be a huge, huge summer,” Mills told WRAL News.

Busy roads, airports

If you’re headed out this Memorial Day weekend, expect a lot of company.

According to AAA Travel, more than 37 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles this holiday weekend. That’s an increase of 61 percent over last year, when the pandemic and related lockdowns limited travel.

Air traffic is expected to be sharply higher, too. AAA is predicting 2.5 million travelers will take to the skies this weekend.

In North Carolina, AAA estimates about a million people are expected to hit the road.

Highways in the Triangle area and eastern North Carolina were already getting busier by noon Friday as Triangle residents head for the beach. Afternoon traffic on I-40 eastbound out of Raleigh was bumper to bumper, and Highway 70 eastbound out of Clayton is also busy.

I-95 is also seeing backups as vacationers come down the coast from the Northeast corridor.

Know before you go:

• The entire Carolina coast is under a rip current advisory. Beaches from Brunswick County northward through Cape Hatteras are considered high risk. North of Ocracoke, the risk is moderate. South Carolina beaches are also at moderate risk.
• If you’re driving, buckle up or it could cost you plenty. Law enforcement agencies across the state are taking part in the annual “Click it or Ticket” campaign. You can be fined $180 for not wearing a seatbelt, and the fine goes up to $266 for people under 18.
• According to the state Department of Transportation, officers will also be cracking down on speeders and looking for drunk drivers this weekend.