Cape Fear preparing for the start of summer tourism this Memorial Day weekend

CAROLINA BEACH, NC (WWAY) — Travel for Memorial Day this weekend is expected to be the second highest on record, and towns and businesses in the Cape Fear are preparing.

According to Triple-A, nearly 44 million people are expected to be on the move this weekend.

That would be a nearly 4% increase from last year.

Carolina Beach Mayor Lynn Barbee said the town is ready for everyone to go there.

“I mean, I’m happy to say that all of our lifeguards are fully staffed, they completed their preseason training so we’re ready for the beach-goers,” Barbee said. “The fire and police are ready, we expect to have some extra patrols out to handle the larger crowds and we’re looking forward to it.”

And many businesses are also ready for the unofficial start of summer to hit.

Roger Monk, owner of the newly opened bar The Tropical, said other businesses have told them what to expect so they can handle the expected increase in customers.

“We’ve tried to make sure that we’re ordering heavy on both obviously our alcoholic beverages, but also our food and our non-alcoholic beverages,” Monk said. “So we are prepared, we’re prepared for the weekend, which we do expect to be very busy.”

If you are planning to travel by car this Memorial Day Weekend, Triple-A says the best times to avoid traffic are before 11 am Thursday and Friday, before 1 pm Saturday and Sunday and after 7 pm on Monday.