Folks look forward to start of holiday weekend

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (WPVI) -- It's a chilly night on the boardwalk Friday, but many families and businesses are looking forward to a beautiful weekend - or a whole week if you're lucky.

Folks down here are ready to celebrate Independence Day down the shore.

Runners are kicking off their holiday weekend with a speedy mile - the Ventnor Mile - a 46-year tradition.

"My mom's a real big runner, so I just like running with her," Elana Maser of Center City said.

"I love to run. I've run this boardwalk for like 30 years," Debbie Maser of Center City said.

The race goes straight down the boardwalk, and for many, it's the start of their Independence Day weekend.

Race Director Jerry Thomas said, "It's just a family thing, they come back, it's a good time and it's a way to open up the 4th of July."

Nearby, the breeze had thinned out the crowd on the beach, but locals like Ashley Grist say - that's why they're here.

"We're hanging out on the beach before the crowd gets here," Grist of Linwood, NJ said.

When 3-year-old Ashlin Gall of Linwood, NJ was asked, was it cold?

"Yeah. The sand was cold too," she said.

But it wasn't too cold for a sweet treat. SunDaze ice cream shop was packed.

Alison Kauffman of Harleysville, Pa. was asked, if ice cream is part of the tradition?

She said, "It is. We're here almost daily."

That's what owners like to hear - heading into the busiest holiday of the summer.

Joe Schafer, co-owner said, "This is what we look forward to. This is what pays the bills all winter when it's not ice cream weather."

At Steel Pier in Atlantic City, many grabbed a sweatshirt and hopped on some rides.

Four-year-old Nyla Cepeda of Brooklyn NY was asked, was it scary?

"Yes," she said.

Nyla and her brother Julian are enjoying their long weekend at the beach - which means Mom is, too.

"Walk the boardwalk, come here and let the kids enjoy pretty much," Tamara Cepeda of Brooklyn, NY said.

In Atlantic City, police are trying to cut crime this holiday weekend. They'll be enforcing a new summer curfew starting tonight.

Juveniles age 17 and younger, who are out without a parent or guardian, could be stopped by police between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

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