Stephanie and Kris Kaufmann, of Philadelphia, and their daughters, Alexis and Ella, spend time on the beach with Lorraine Corvino, in dark blue top, and Kaufmann's mother, Patti Karam, of Allentown, Pa.
By Donald Wittkowski
Los Angeles resident Ian Gill caught the red-eye Friday night and landed in Philadelphia at 5:30 a.m. Saturday on his cross-country flight.
His parents, Chris and Susan Gill, picked him up at Philadelphia International Airport, and by 7 a.m., he was exactly where he wanted to be for the Fourth of July weekend – in Sea Isle City.
“I grew up coming to this town and this beach,” the 23-year-old Gill said, surrounded by his friends while enjoying the start of the holiday weekend Saturday afternoon on a packed beach at John F. Kennedy Boulevard.
Gill’s parents have a summer home in Sea Isle. He plans to stay with them until Tuesday before heading back to Los Angeles. He is looking forward to what is basically a whirlwind, Fourth of July getaway on the East Coast.
“Even as beautiful as the beaches of California are, they can’t keep me there. They have nothing on the beaches of New Jersey,” he said. “Three days in Sea Isle are worth an $850 plane ticket.”
Gill won’t be the only visitor in Sea Isle. Mayor Leonard Desiderio estimated that more than 60,000 people will pour into town for what he predicts will be a blockbuster holiday weekend.
Ian Gill, of Los Angeles, center, is joined by beach friends Ryan Pater and Weston French, both of Doylestown, Pa.
“The weather is going to be beautiful. The people are coming,” Desiderio said. “They’re going to enjoy a beautiful holiday weekend and week.”
Hotels, rental properties, retail shops, bars and restaurants are all expected to do brisk business right through the Fourth of July. Desiderio, who operates the Sea Isle Inn and the Kix McNutley’s bar and entertainment complex, will be one of the business owners to benefit from the throngs of visitors.
“It’s going to be difficult getting a room if you don’t have one already,” Desiderio said of the hotel and rental bookings. “This is going to be the start of a banner summer season.”
If there were any lingering doubts about the strength of the local economy, this summer is expected to prove that Sea Isle has fully recovered from the 2008-2009 recession – and more, the mayor stressed.
“Sea Isle and Cape May County have rebounded in an amazing way,” Desiderio said.
Rosemary Deery serves up a food platter to customers at Mike's Seafood & Dock Restaurant.
Mike Monichetti, owner of Mike’s Seafood & Dock Restaurant, was equally effusive in describing his expectations for the Fourth of July weekend.
“I think it’s going to be the biggest Fourth of July weekend ever in Sea Isle City,” he said, pointing to the bumper-to-bumper traffic inching along in front of his Park Road restaurant.
With the Fourth falling on a Tuesday this year, the calendar is working in Sea Isle’s favor because it will extend the holiday weekend an extra day, Monichetti noted.
“It’s like a huge weekend,” he said.
Monichetti has a unique way of gauging the success of a holiday weekend. He counts the number of clams he sells at his restaurant.
On Friday, he sold 18,000 clams. By the time the weekend is over, he estimates he will probably sell 75,000.
Workers at Mike's Seafood & Dock Restaurant prepared 18,000 clams on Friday. The restaurant expects to sell 75,000 clams during the holiday weekend.
Meanwhile, Sea Isle’s beaches, which have been replenished in the past two years to add fresh new sand throughout the island, seemed particularly lively for the start of the holiday weekend. Whole stretches of the beachfront were crowded with sunbathers. One beach tag inspector described it as being “busy, busy, busy.”
Patti Karam, of Allentown, Pa., was soaking up the sun on the JFK Boulevard beach with her partner, Lorraine Corvino. They were joined by Karam’s son, Kris Kaufmann, of Philadelphia, his wife, Stephanie, and their daughters, Alexis, 5, and Ella, 3.
“We love the beaches here,” Karam said.
Corvino noted they have a summer place at the campgrounds in neighboring Ocean View. They have been coming to Sea Isle for 26 years for the beaches and restaurants.
Asked how they planned to spend the holiday weekend, Corvino laughed and replied, “We’re doing it,” as she relaxed in her chair on the beach.
Stephanie and Kris Kaufmann, of Philadelphia, and their daughters, Alexis and Ella, spend time on the beach with Lorraine Corvino, in dark blue top, and Kaufmann's mother, Patti Karam, of Allentown, Pa.
