Mild winter keeps shops open at Jersey Shore

OCEAN CITY, N.J. - March 23, 2012 (WPVI) -- In some beach communities they are calling it the winter that wasn't.

In past years on winter weekdays, shore towns could become ghost towns.

Despite the fog, those were not apparitions behind me Thursday but real life people strolling the boardwalk in Ocean City.

This year's mild weather and lack of snow has brought unusually large numbers of day trippers.

"It is nice and it is warm and this is going to come off and i am going to go and take my new beach chair and sit down on the beach in the middle of March," said Maria Riggio of Clayton, N.J.

At Schrivers Candy, where they have been selling candy for more than a century, General Manager Holly Kisby was skeptical about staying open all winter for the first time ever.

"I was the first one to say no, and I was wrong. This weather has shocked everybody," she said, adding that the turnout has been "amazing."

Rental bookings are up not just for the summer, but for spring.

One theory is that folks who shied away from so-so skiing conditions in the mountains this winter are opting for spring at the shore.

"People are taking advantage of coming to the shore, maybe renting on the beach that place they would not be able to afford in the summer," said Michelle Gillian of the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce. "So rentals are up for Easter."

Though Thursday's fog made it tough to see the ocean, there were beach goers out there.

"Its amazing," said Hilary Gentile of Abington, Pa.

"It's a little scary though. It's the second day of spring and I am already on the beach in March!!!" said Lauren Welsh, also of Abington.

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new jersey, jersey shore, ocean city, local/state, john rawlins

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