Photos: Crowds Flock To Beaches And Lakes For Memorial Day Weekend

From Venice Beach, California to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and from South Padre Island, Texas, to Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, people are flocking to the water to enjoy the long holiday weekend, albeit with varying degrees of social distancing and face-mask wearing during the coronavirus pandemic.

In the opening photo, above, the beach town of Ocean City lifted its COVID-19 related beach and boardwalk restrictions May 9 and lodging restrictions on May 14. The state of Maryland moved from a stay-at-home order to safe-at-home order May 15.

Despite the digital billboard saying “wear face covering,” only some people wore face masks as they enjoyed a stroll on the Venice Beach boardwalk on Saturday. Los Angeles County officials announced on Friday that beach bike paths will reopen and curbside service at indoor malls will be permitted. The county reopened its beaches a week ago but had kept beach parking lots, bike paths, piers and boardwalks closed.

Yesterday on South Padre Island on the Texas Gulf Coast, local news channel WFMZ filmed beach goers and reported, “Looking down the beach, you see groups of more than 10 people and not a mask in sight.”