Tourists flock to the boardwalk in Myrtle Beach Thanksgiving Day weekend,
/ Lisa Edge
As we head into the Thanksgiving weekend, you may have noticed more cars on the road and not just around shopping malls. At one time, the tourism season along the Grand Strand went only from Memorial Day to Labor Day. But now, more and more people choose to visit year round. The boardwalk in Myrtle Beach looked more like a typical summer afternoon on Friday.
"We had nothing to do on turkey day. I'm going to be here until next Thursday basically it came up in my mind, let's come down to Myrtle Beach and take a look around and walk around see if anybody is out here. But what I can see is a lot more people thought the same thing I did," said David Fulwood.
Fulwood drove down from New Jersey to visit family in Florence. He's enjoying many things the area has to offer including the weather. Some left their jackets at home and others hit the beach.
"It's nice and brisk it's not cold or nothing. And you can see people out there swimming so I guess the weather is kind of fine," said Fulwood.
Tresa Walko is spending time away from her home in Virginia. She added, "The sun's been good. We've enjoyed being outside today and hitting the malls a little bit, really enjoying it."
Data analyzed by Coastal Carolina University's Center for Resort Tourism shows reservations going into Thanksgiving weekend is down in Horry County, but up in Georgetown County. Numbers aside, tourists are enjoying their extended weekend.
AAA reports 42.5 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, that's up four percent from last year.
