VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — We're approaching Oceanfront season: vendors selling lemonade and hot dogs, 4-person bikes rolling down the boardwalk, and cabanas littering the beach. They're just a few of the familiar sites down at the beach.
At least to start, the 2020 season will look a bit different. Bike rentals are allowed, but only because they constitute exercise. Sunbathing is prohibited, so chair and cabana rentals are gone. Vendors likely won't appear on the boardwalk at their usual time.
All of these usual sites will be revisited in June as the Governor's executive order nears its hopeful conclusion.
One business, however, will not. Horseback riding in Virginia Beach and the Outer Banks season only goes through May, and May has been canceled.
As a seasonal business with 14 horses to care for, owner Chase Foster says the company will be experiencing some hardship in the coming months.
"We soon began getting calls about refunds, and I tried to give as many as I could," he said.
Foster remains hopeful that with hope and hard work, his horses will be giving rides again come Fall of 2020.
"I believe if you don't give up, it's never over."