This won’t be your typical Memorial Day Weekend on Cape Cod

SANDWICH, Mass. — Friday kicked off what is typically a busy travel day ahead of Memorial Day Weekend, but for people heading to Cape Cod, the venture looked a lot different this year.

What is typically a several-mile backup at the Cape Cod bridges was far shorter all day, as seen in aerial shots captured from Sky 25.

“It’s going to be a different summer for sure. We’re working really hard to make sure it’s a safe one,” said Wendy Northcross, chief executive officer for the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce.

Northcross added that she expects more people to take day trips to Cape Cod, due to a ban on short-term rentals.

Restaurants across the Cape remain curb-side pickup only.

With temperatures around 70 degrees, many people did go to local beaches Friday afternoon.

At Sandy Neck Beach in Sandwich, Boston 25 observed a near-full parking lot around 1 p.m. with beachgoers spreading out and keeping a distance on the sand.

According to the Cape Cod Reopening Task Force, the following beach safety rules will be enforced over the holiday weekend:

• Stay home if you feel sick
• Practice social distancing. Maintain at least 6-feet of distance between you and others
• Practice beach distancing. Maintain at least 12-feet of distance from your nearest neighbor in any direction
• Masks are required when 6-feet of distance cannot be maintained for ages 2 and up. Masks are not required to be worn while swimming or sunbathing
• Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds and/or use hand sanitizer frequently
• Groups larger than 10 are not allowed to gather
• Group games are not allowed

For business owners on Cape Cod, the holiday weekend typically kicks off the busy summer season with tourists flooding in for a vacation.

This year, however, many businesses were unsure of what would be in store for the weekend ahead.

“It’s not like any season we’ve ever had before. That’s for sure,” said Katie Kimball, owner of Katie’s Homemade Ice Cream shop on Main Street in Hyannis.

Kimball said the weekend would be a trial run, adding that many were using the weekend as a model to predict what crowds may be like on normally busy summer weekends like the Fourth of July.

>> Previous: A socially distant Memorial Day: Cape businesses struggling with lack of tourism during busiest season

Financially, she explained that many local businesses need the revenue to make it through the upcoming winter.

“It’s just trying to get through to next year. I think that’s the main hope for a lot of people around here. Not just me.”

Cape Flyer, a train that runs from the Boston area out to Cape Cod, typically begins operations on the Friday before Memorial Day Weekend. This year, however, due to COVID-19, the train service announced they would begin running on June 26th.

For more information about the rail service schedule, click here.

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RESOURCES:

- Massachusetts Coronavirus Information

- Boston Coronavirus Information

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