VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Labor Day weekend at the Oceanfront went off without a hitch.
Even though a few people started to leave the beach Monday, there were still crowds of people having fun on the sand late into the day.
As this is a national holiday, many people had the day off, and a good many of them came to the Oceanfront. Crowds were out on the sand playing games or just relaxing.
Thankfully, the waves looked calmer than they did last week when the southern part of Hampton Roads and the Outer Banks were feeling the effects of Tropical Storm Idalia.
There were a number of boats and jet skis on the water as we reached the unofficial end to the summer tourism season at the Oceanfront.
“We’ve been bodysurfing and catching the local concerts and just having some fun in the sun and in the sand,” said tourist Amanda Meyer. “We come here from Maryland, and we just love to visit during this holiday weekend.”
Ocean Eddie’s general manager Parkerson Hague said it’s been busy at the restaurant, especially at its busiest time between 1 and 2 p.m.
“It’s been packed all weekend,” Hague said, “and I’m expecting it to be packed tonight too. Line out the door, every table full, servers running around, controlled chaos.”
Hague said finding people to work the late summer has been a challenge.
“We lost a lot of staff due to people going back to college this week and last week,” Hague said, “so we had to bring on some additional staff from our other restaurant, 501.
Dee Nachnani, owner of Coastal Edge, said the start of school has also affected his store.
The week school started slightly shifted the flow of money for Labor Day.
“We had a lot of back-to-school shoppers last weekend,” Nachnani said, “and we didn’t get those back-to-school shoppers this weekend.”
However, he reported a great close out to an amazing summer season.
“Resort wise it was nice to finish off with a 10-miler with the J&A racing 10miler,” Nachnani said, “so we’re excited about the fall season and all it holds for us and of course our holiday season is ahead of us.”
He told 10 On Your Side what’s in store for Coastal Edge for the fall season.
They’re about to begin preparing for their Surf for the Cure event where they’ll be giving out free mammograms during their surf contest.
