Families make final trips to Jersey Shore before school starts

OCEAN CITY, New Jersey (WPVI) -- As the prime summer tourism season starts to wind down, many families are making their final beach trips to the Jersey Shore before school starts.

Ocean City was packed on Friday. The Lewis family spent the day with their two kids at the beach.

Seven-year-old Gavin Lewis, of Williamstown, N.J., loves jumping in the ocean but did not want to think about starting school soon.

His mom didn't want to talk about it either.

"I teach at Rowan. I teach writing. So, I got to go home and do my syllabus after this," said Ellen Lewis.

Up and down the beaches of Ocean City, families were squeezed in tight.

Jasper McGahee of Maple Shade, N.J. took this week off to spend time with his kids before they hit the books.

"We were just down in Cape May on Wednesday, took them down to the Cape May Zoo. Just took the week off from work to spend some time with them," said McGahee.

Ocean City released beach tag sales figures for 2022 through July 31.

So far, beach tag revenue is just under $3.5 million compared to a record-breaking $3.75 million at this time last year.

Still, city officials say revenue this year is on par with 2019 figures.

And while the crowds are still going strong, some businesses have had to shuffle things around as they struggle with late-summer staffing.

Businesses like Bert's Beach Rentals have had a lucrative summer, but are now faced with many student workers going back to school.

"A lot of my coworkers have started dropping like flies going back to school one after the other," said worker John Iannelli. "And I'll be going back to school at the end of the month as well."