Wrightsville Beach businesses prep for busy season

WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, NC (WWAY) — Area beaches will soon be full of vacationers, with spring here and summer around the corner.

“Spring is kind of the awakening and summer. It’s cool to see everybody out, and the fish are back and people are on the water and our town is definitely alive again,” Wrightsville SUP owner Jarrod Covington said.

Wrightsville Beach is a popular vacation spot for families and people who want to relax by the ocean, but businesses do a lot of work behind the scenes to give visitors that effortless feel.

“I think each year we learn something new, and if we’ve learned one thing it’s when we are out of the busy season and into the quieter months of the winter; that’s the time that we work the hardest to get everybody in the spring,” Blockade Runner Marketing Director Karen Pennington said.

At the Blockade Runner, Easter weekend kicks off a constant flow of check-ins. Flow they expect to see until the end of summer.

“Rolling into the spring, it’s an especially exciting time. It’s like if you worked at a university when the students come back to school, it’s the same kind of feeling of energy when all the people come back to the beach for the summer,” Pennington said.

Meanwhile Covington works in a little bit of a different setting.

“Winter is a good balance, so we don’t get burned out. Obviously there are some long days in the summer, and you get tired from the sun beating down on you and salt and sand wearing down on you. But we are very blessed to do what we do,” Covington said.

But both businesses said it is an exciting time they are ready for. The Blockade Runner said even though it can get hectic at times their favorite part is to see families come back.

“Grandparents may have come here 25 years 30 years ago when they were young. They brought their kids here. Now they’re coming back with the kids and the grandkids, and to see that element happen year to year is a lot of fun,” Pennington said.