String of gloomy weekends impacting Jersey shore businesses

OCEAN CITY, N.J. (WPVI) -- You can bring all the sunscreen and snacks you want, but lately the sun seems to come and go as it pleases.

"Mother Nature promises nothing!" proclaimed Kathy Kassner of Woolwich Township.

The sun and blue skies had the beaches in Ocean City packed on Thursday, but this won't last for long.

"C'mon Mother Nature, give us a break! We need some more sunshine!" said Linda Gullo from Northfield, N.J.

"There's no one to serve, nothing to do," said Kaylee Santoro, who works at Monkey Bread on the Ocean City Boardwalk.

She's noticed the effects of the recent gloomy weekends: fewer people are out to buy delectable, gooey monkey bread.

So employees do their best to make just enough.

"Saturdays we do a full case and if it's raining we just do a third or a half just so we don't waste our stuff because not a lot of people are going to show up probably," said Santoro.

Rain can also be a dealbreaker for businesses with rollercoasters like Playland's Castaway Cove.

"Lightning - we're done until that passes. A light rain we can continue to run some rides. But a lot of rides with motors, the moisture gets sucked in. So even some of the nights we've had a heavy mist, we've had to shut down a couple of the rides until that passes," said Castaway Cove Vice President Brian Hartley.

He says the beach continues to be the main driver of crowd volume.

The silver lining? The arcade at Castaway Cove is back open, four years after it was burned in a fire.

"We're hoping that even in the not-so-great days people still have some indoor activities to do," said.

Hartley also says this is the time of year when they have a lot of events like field trips and parties. Some of them have had to cancel or reschedule.

Business owners we spoke with say they're thankful for the folks who come down no matter what and are still hoping for more weekends filled with sunshine.