When I first read the headline, I immediately thought they meant the Irish gypsy "travelers". Let's pray they can afford to go out of town.....
High gasoline prices might not keep area travelers from the road for Memorial Day weekend, but they might keep them from going far from home, travel experts say.
With some schools beginning summer vacation today, many families will travel to the beach or lake for the weekend. Columbia County's Wildwood Park at Thurmond Lake expects lots of activity, said Jeb Bell, the park's program coordinator.
The 61 campsites have been reserved for more than a month, and a fishing tournament will bring many visitors.
"Most campers come from within an hour's drive," Mr. Bell said.
Many travelers nationwide will choose to travel by car and stay fairly close to home, said Judy Reville, the division manager of the Augusta office of AAA Auto Club South.
"People are budgeting money, and they are still going to take their vacation. Gas costs are a small portion of vacation budgets, less than 10 percent," Ms. Reville said.
The auto club projects that 37.8 million people will travel over the weekend, a slight decrease from the 38.2 million last year.
Gas prices in the Augusta-Aiken area averaged $3.72 per gallon on Thursday. One year ago, they averaged $3.03, according to Ms. Reville.
She recommends that drivers employ gas-saving methods, such as driving at slower speeds on the interstate and avoiding quick acceleration and braking.
The weather will not put a damper on the holiday weekend.
Vacationers can expect mostly sunny weather with highs in the mid-80s and lows in the upper 50s, said Al Moore, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in West Columbia, S.C.
A stationary front is expected to bring widely scattered showers to the area this afternoon and evening, but a high pressure system will push the front south for the weekend, just in time for Memorial Day.
ROAD HAZARDS
ATLANTA --- The Georgia State Patrol predicts that there will be more than 2,300 traffic accidents resulting in 19 deaths during the 78-hour Memorial Day holiday weekend beginning at 6 p.m. Friday.
Last year, during the same holiday weekend, there were 2,062 accidents and 10 deaths.
-- Associated Press
Comments
When I first read the headline, I immediately thought they meant the Irish gypsy "travelers". Let's pray they can afford to go out of town.....
Does It, I have to confess, that i thought the same thing. LOL
Sorry Does, only most of the men are gone for the next few months. The women are still here putting $3 worth of gas in their Lexus's and Caddies.
LOL me too...I was thinking OMG they are going pull their scams locally!
It sure would be a good time for the local tourism department to advertise some things around Aiken/Augusta/Columbia County to do. Keep the dollars locally since people can't afford to go out on the roads and keep kids off the streets doing things they shouldn't. I have never been to our local museum, but I intend to do that this summer and visit some of the local historical places and take my kids. Why not have tours at a reasonable cost setup and make our CSRA a vacation spot this summer.
Oh good grief, some if not most still didn't get their "stimulus package" from the IRS yet and once they do, they will put it in the tank just to get out and away from their stress (or here) for a while.
Disney World in Florida offers a special "in-state" rate for Floridians that is substancially lower than the going rate....maybe the CSRA attractions could band together and offer "regional" rates to us locals....I hate to say it, but some attractions locally aren't worth the money. God help big families......
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