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If the current trends persist, he said, it will be a very good year for the Cape.
“We’ve had a very, very strong start to the season,” D’Ambrosi said, “and I say that knocking on the wood, knowing that things can change on a dime.”
Across Cape Cod, business owners and employees who have spent the past 15 months trying to operate during a pandemic began adjusting to their new worlds.
Masks are now optional. Tourists are coming back. And navigating how to make visitors feel welcome — while respecting the safety of workers — was the focus for many businesses.
“Business by business, they’re trying to sort it out — [how to] keep their workforce safe and happy, keep their customers safe and happy,” said Wendy Northcross, the chief executive officer of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce.
She said she sees many signs of a strong summer season ahead: Along with more reservations, parking lots have been filled, and lots of customers have been visiting shops and restaurants.
“This year, it just feels like a [much] more normal kickoff to the summer season,” Northcross said in a phone interview. “Everyone can be open, there are not capacity limits. You can expect a much stronger summer.”
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Steve Tait, an owner of the Aerie House bed and breakfast in Provincetown, said bookings are up, and even though a few canceled because of the weather, he’s also seeing longer-term reservations from guests, he said — a stark contrast from last year, when his business had to wait for June to open.
“We’re bracing for a spectacular summer season,” Tait said.
Part of what’s fueling the Cape’s tourism this year is patronage from visitors who are opting against an international trip this summer, according to Tait.
“People are still reluctant to travel overseas, people who would normally take a trip to Europe are coming to the Cape,” he said. “We are seeing lots of week-long stays, eight nights, nine nights.”
Governor Charlie Baker lifted most pandemic restrictions Saturday, changes that cleared the way for restaurants to bring customers back indoors at full capacity.
But even with a green light to return to pre-pandemic operations, some restaurant owners Sunday said they would consider how the changes would affect their workers.
Sarah Robin, an owner of the Flying Fish Cafe in Wellfleet, said customers at her seasonal restaurant praised its handling of the pandemic last summer. When the pandemic began last year, the restaurant focused on take-out service, then converted an existing patio to serve as the main dining area.
Those changes allowed her staff to feel “very calm” as they served customers outside, she said. “That lent [itself] to an ease of business for everyone involved.” And now, she said, they’re building a new outdoor deck.
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Over this Memorial Day weekend, business at her restaurant was up by about 50 percent from last year, though it didn’t reach its indoor capacity, she said. The slower pace helped her staff get used to the changes in routine, she said.
This year, Robin will be looking for feedback from customers and staff on the restaurant’s approach to summer.
“I am pumped and looking forward to a good season,” she said. “I obviously want customers to be as cozy and comfy as possible, but I also want my staff to be as cozy and comfortable as possible.”
Guillermo Yingling, an owner of the Provincetown restaurants Local 186 and Bubalas by the Bay, and Blackfish in Truro, said state officials should not have initiated the lifting of restrictions on a major holiday weekend.
He said the changes should have been implemented on another date to give the tourism industry a chance to adapt.
“Choosing to lift the rules on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend showed a little bit of a lack of respect for us front-line workers who have to deal with the rule changes,” Yingling said.
At other Cape eateries Sunday, ordinary life began to creep back into the daily routine.
Inside The Daily Paper, in Hyannis, manager Andrea Ianniello began her day wearing a mask, as were most employees, and plexiglass barriers between tables had been kept in place for customers’ comfort.
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But about an hour before closing at noon, Ianniello had taken her mask off.
“I started the day with mine on,” she said. “But it got to the point where my phone is ringing off the hook with orders, and it’s hard to understand people.”
Down the street at Katie’s Homemade Ice Cream, Kaya Cormier of Barnstable was behind the counter with her mask off, too. As of Saturday, customers entering the shop could decide if they wanted to wear a mask inside.
Two of the shop’s customers — Miriam Prendergast of Hyannis and her boyfriend, Turin Sarkar from Boston — wore masks inside the shop.
“It’s weird to be so close to so many people again, it’s taken us a minute to adapt,” Prendergast said.
Other Cape visitors were also wary of dropping their pandemic-era guard Sunday.
Dianela and Saidy Lopes, visiting for the weekend from New Bedford with their 2½-year-old son, Nathan, kept their masks on as they walked down the street, partially because their toddler is not yet eligible for a vaccine.
“We are still of the mindset that this is real and this is serious,” Dianela Lopes said, though she noted that it was nice to see things begin to approach normalcy again.
And for people like Fran Henderson, who welcomed visitors to her painter’s studio at Artist Shanties at Harbor Overlook in Hyannis, Sunday meant having to navigate the new normal.
If potential customers come in masked, she offers to put hers on as well. Otherwise, she didn’t wear it.
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“I’m vaccinated, and I just feel safe,” she said. “So it’s a personal choice.”
John Hilliard can be reached at john.hilliard@globe.com. Gal Tziperman Lotan can be reached at gal.lotan@globe.com or at 617-929-2043.
The Link LonkMay 31, 2021 at 07:19AM
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How did the Cape fare on this holiday weekend reopening? - The Boston Globe
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