By MADDY VITALE
Girls Weekend did not disappoint in Ocean City, judging by the pleased shoppers on Asbury Avenue on Saturday afternoon.
The Downtown Merchants Association hosts the annual event each year. It kicked off with a sold-out fashion show at the Ocean City Yacht Club on Friday. Deals on merchandise and discounts at restaurants were the main attractions. Visitors also enjoyed discounts on hotel and bed and breakfast accommodations.
Eileen Monteleone, of Longport, Pat Madden, of Margate, and Dina Mellace, of Cherry Hill, have been friends for 25 years. The trio did a lot of laughing and shopping while hitting the shops Saturday on Asbury Avenue.
By early afternoon, Monteleone and Mellace had already made some great buys. Monteleone bought a journal with a butterfly motif and a dress for her friend’s baby. Mellace picked up a pillow and some trinkets.
And the longtime friends were just getting started.
“We are here to have a good time on Girls Weekend and that is what we are doing,” Monteleone said with a smile.
This wasn’t their first Girls Weekend in the resort. They make it an annual tradition.
“Every weekend is Girls Weekend for us,” Monteleone joked. “Really, it’s more like a monthly tradition.”
While friends got together to head to the resort for some shopping, families also made it a point to spend an April afternoon in Ocean City.
Kevin and Beth O’Brien didn’t have to travel far. They live in Ocean City with their son, Owen.
The family took advantage of the weekend to pick up some beach tags and amusement park tickets, Kevin O’Brien said.
With summer in mind, they stopped at City Hall to buy some beach tags.
“We bought some discounted beach tags,” Kevin “O’Brien said. “Now we are going to buy some half-price tickets for Playland and tickets for golf and go-karts as well.”
The family enjoyed the specials offered during Girls Weekend and also reflected on the importance of Ocean City’s special events for not only visitors but locals.
“We love the themes that they do on the shoulder seasons to draw people in,” Kevin O’Brien said of the city. “We think it is great.”
“Ocean City is the best place to live. There is a lot to do,” Beth O’Brien added.
In an interview about Girls Weekend on Thursday, Michele Gillian, executive director of the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce, noted that the weekend is all about families as well as ladies.
“Girls Weekend is becoming more and more of a destination weekend for a lot of women and families to visit Ocean City,” Gillian said of the blockbuster event sponsored by the Chamber each year.
While some friends and families make Girls Weekend a tradition year after year, friends Therese McHugh, Susan Olivo and Dorene Fearon, all of Marlton, were experiencing it for the first time.
“It definitely could be an annual event for us,” McHugh said.
Olivo, who also has a second home in Ocean City, chimed in, “Since I have a home in Ocean City, we figured it was a good reason to come down to Ocean City and go shopping.”
And that is exactly what they did.
“We bought clothes,” Olivo noted. “I got a pair of jeans.”
“I bought a dress for a graduation I am going to in Austin,” McHugh noted of an upcoming trip to Texas.
After shopping, the friends were going to grab something to eat.
For those who couldn’t make Saturday for Girls Weekend, Sunday offers another full day of buying enjoyment as well as a new feature — entertainment.
The addition of a Dance Showcase with performances from eight local dance studios will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday in Mark Soifer Park at 901 Asbury Ave.
For updates about activities and participating businesses for Girls Weekend, visit facebook.com/DowntownOCNJ or call 609-399-1412.
