Area ready for 'last big weekend'

Graham Wiggs won’t be traveling anywhere this Labor Day holiday weekend; he doesn’t see the need.

The full-time resident of Waterway RV Park in Cedar Point enjoys the park’s location on the water, where he can launch his boat for a day of fishing or relax on the beach on a nearby island.

Some make the area a vacation destination. For Wiggs it’s already home.

“A lot of people are going to make it their last big weekend of the summer. I don’t have to worry about it, I’m already here,” he said.

For vacationers planning a trip to the coast, there was still some availability at hotels and other accommodations along Bogue Banks and Topsail Island late in the week, but the outlook for the three-day weekend was a positive one.

The Loggerhead Inn in Surf City was at three-fourths capacity Thursday, with time still left for vacationers making last-minute plans.

“We’re anticipating a good final weekend of summer,” said general manager Tony O’Connor.

The N.C. Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores will be open throughout the weekend and Monday, and if visitation numbers for the summer are any indication, it will be a popular stop for many.

A total of 194,024 people visited the aquarium during June, July and August, up from 182,084 visitors during the same time in 2008.

Attendance at the aquarium Family Nights held over the summer was up 31 percent from 2008, with more than 6,500 attending the themed events held after 5 p.m.

Visitor/Member Services Coordinator Cindy Meyers said the aquarium strives to provide quality family programming for visitors. And it’s affordable, a plus that may help explain a strong attendance even during tough economic times, she said.

“I think people are picking more affordable vacations, and the aquarium is glad to be part of that,” Meyers said.

The summer season started with cautious optimism among tourism officials and the businesses that rely on the people who shop, dine and visit the beach and area attractions.

As the summer comes to a close, there were impacts from the economy — visitors making shorter trips and spending less during their stay — but they still came.

“I think at the first of the season people were leery of what was going to happen; they were not sure what was going to happen with the economy the way it has been,” Lohr said. “I think now we can breathe a sigh that we’ve had a decent summer.”

Debbie Parker of Century 21 Coastland Realty, which has 200 or so vacation rental properties in Emerald Isle, said it took some incentives and encouragement, such as reservations for shorter stays, to bring people in but they had a good summer.

And now they are optimistic about the Labor Day weekend.

“We have quite a few reservations but we still have a few openings,” Parker said. “We’re looking for a good weekend.”

Contact Jannette Pippin at 910-382-2557 or jpippin@freedomenc.com.