The beaches are busy for Labor Day weekend.
It was the last day for beach tags, the last day for parking fees and, for many, many vacationers, the last day of summer at the shore altogether – until 2025.
Thousands of beachgoers stubbornly clung to their last few precious hours in Sea Isle City before Labor Day weekend wrapped up for 2024 and the summer season came to its traditional close.
Vacationers Toph Miller and his family, of Wyomissing, Pa., could hardly believe just how fast summer flew by.
“We had a great summer. Every summer, it seems to go a little quicker,” Miller said with a trace of melancholy in his voice.
He and his family were savoring what little time they had left on the beach in Sea Isle before having to contend with the bumper-to-bumper northbound traffic on the Garden State Parkway during the mass exodus from the shore as the three-day holiday weekend slowly came to an end.
Barring major traffic delays, the Millers had about a 2½-hour drive back home to Wyomissing. But Toph Miller was hopeful that they could return to the shore in the fall.
“This is likely our last month here at the shore. But if a weekend opens up, we’ll try to get back,” he said. “Never say never.”
The Miller and Macrina families, of Wyomissing, Pa., pose for a group photo on the beach.Tom Zodrow, a vacationer from Harleysville, Pa., spent his last day on the beach for the summer with his daughters, Lucy, 7, and Sadie, 2, and his brother, Kevin.
Zodrow was planning to drive back home to Harleysville to close out the holiday weekend. He said he and his daughters had a memorable summer.
“They got to hang out with their cousins this week. They were also boogie boarding and played in the sand with their toys,” Zodrow said of his kids.
Labor Day weekend traditionally serves as the unofficial “last hurrah” for the summer season at the shore. After Labor Day, Sea Isle no longer requires beach tags and also ends its parking charge, giving an extra incentive for visitors to continue coming to the shore in the off-season.
“It was a wonderful summer in Sea Isle City, with plenty of good times and smiles along the way,” city spokeswoman Katherine Custer said. “Our concerts and other family events were well-attended, Sea Isle’s beaches were teeming with beachgoers, and from all indications it was a terrific summer season – and fortunately there’s much more fun to come this autumn.”
Sea Isle will hold its Fall Family Festival on Sept. 14-15, a popular event that features a crafts market on the Promenade, a food court, live music, free amusement rides in Excursion Park and an antique auto show.
Tom Zodrow and his 7-year-old daughter, Lucy, take a dip in some puddles on the beach.Another Sea Isle vacationer, Dawn Gorczyca, of South Amboy, N.J., vowed that she and her husband, Kevin, would return to the shore through the fall.
“We’re going to keep coming down,” Gorczyca said, noting that her husband has been vacationing in Sea Isle for 40 years.
“I’m not ready to give up,” she continued. “September is the best month. There’s a lot going in September.”
She said she is already looking forward to celebrating her birthday, on Sept. 12, at the shore.
Gorczyca spoke to Sea Isle beach tag inspector Carole Yoder for probably the last time this summer before heading down to the beach to join her husband.
“Carole is great. She’s awesome,” Gorczyca said. “We’ve been seeing her all summer.”
By 1 p.m., Yoder and Sea Isle’s other beach tag checkers were allowed to leave their posts to close out the summer. They won’t be back until Memorial Day weekend in 2025.
Beach tag checker Carole Yoder, left, and vacationer Dawn Gorczyca say goodbye to end the summer.
