Easter Weekend Draws Visitors to Sea Isle

By DONALD WITTKOWSKI Baskets in hand, 9-year-old Jaxon McGowan and his little sisters, Aria, 6, and Lily, 5, scoured Sea Isle City’s beaches looking for hidden treasures tucked in the sand. No, they weren’t hunting for seashells. They were searching for eggs – brightly colored plastic Easter eggs in different sizes. “I found a lot of big eggs and a lot of little eggs,” Lily exclaimed while holding up a purple egg that she pulled from her basket. Starting a new tradition for her children, Cortney McGowan, of Haverford, Pa., brought her children to Sea Isle on Sunday for their first Easter at the shore. “I was the beach bunny. The Easter bunny gave me the eggs to put on the beach,” McGowan said with a laugh. A digital sign next to the Promenade greets visitors with the words "Happy Easter!" McGowan noted that she has been vacationing at the shore since she was a child and now wants her kids to enjoy the same experience. “It’s our first Easter at the shore. I hope there will be many more,” she said. With temperatures climbing into the 50s by early afternoon and the skies perfectly blue, other visitors were also enjoying the shore during the Easter weekend – lounging on the beach, taking a walk with their dogs, riding their bikes on the Promenade or attending church. The weather was mild enough for Allison Bolot to go barefoot on the beach while watching her 4-year-old son, Asher, dig in the sand with a toy shovel. They were joined by Bolot's mother, Nancy Glenn. Glenn, who lives in Hatboro, Pa., said she and her family spend every Easter at the shore during what has become one of their favorite times of the year. “We love the beach. We love Sea Isle. It’s nice and close for us,” she said of the relatively short drive from Hatboro. Using a toy shovel, 4-year-old Asher fills a bucket with sand while his mother, Allison Bolot, at right, and his grandmother, Nancy Glenn, relax on the beach. Asher had a big stretch of the beach virtually all to himself, giving him plenty of room to play in the sand for Easter. Glenn and Bolot relaxed on a blanket while soaking up the relative solitude of the shore in early spring. “We love the off-season,” Bolot said. “We come down to the shore from April to October. All of the crowds are gone now.” Up on the Promenade, Jamie and Robert Bellows, of Williamstown, N.J., were joined by their children, Riley, 18, Katie, 15, and Bobby, 7, and their family friend, Delaney Harbison. They also had their dogs, Philly and Harley. They were spending the entire Easter weekend at the shore and having a great time. “We’re hanging out by the fire and going to the beach,” Katie Bellows said. Jamie Bellows said this was the first time the family celebrated Easter at the shore. She noted that everyone enjoyed it so much that it is bound to become a family tradition. “Honestly, this was new for us. Definitely, we’ll be back every year,” she said. Members of the Bellows family take a walk on the Promenade while enjoying their first Easter in Sea Isle.