Picture Perfect Weather Offers Hope To Shore Town Merchants
By Suzanne Monaghan
SEA ISLE CITY, N.J. (CBS) - The first weekend of summer brought picture perfect weather, which lured large crowds to the Jersey Shore.
"May I see your beach tag," says Carol, a tag inspector in Sea Isle City. It's been a busy weekend for her. "It's been beautiful since Thursday. We couldn't ask for more pleasant weather."
The nice weather is turning around a season that got off to a slow start. That's a welcome change for Chantel Smith. She opened The Perfect Brew Coffee House and Cafe along the beach in Sea Isle City in May.
"The weekends have been slow because of the rain and it's been cold," Smith says, "but every beautiful day, people are flocking to the beach."
Including Butch and his family, who decided to take a day trip to the shore.
"It's nice and cool, the sun is out, there's not a cloud in the sky," says Butch. "So we're really excited."
But the weather hasn't cooperated for much of the season.
"The weather has been kind of crazy on the weekends, but the last couple days have been great," says Robert Heide, who has owned Touch of Fashion for seven years. "Memorial Day was a little iffy with the weather, but we're getting there. We're getting better. [There's] a lot of hope and we're looking for a great season."
Many merchants say if this turn around in the weather continues, sales will be a "shore" thing.
