Wrightsville Beach businesses braced for Hurricane Matthew on Friday, with owners taking different approaches. Meanwhile, a few surfers challenged the waves while the beach had dozens of people seeing the choppy surf and experienced the gusty winds.
Businesses took different levels of preparation. While Tower 7 boarded up and shut down, the Oceanic had nothing on the windows and had several diners eating on the pier to the sight of the incoming storm. Jerry Allen’s Sports Bar & Grill had a band scheduled for Friday night, while a completely boarded Lagerheads was also open, as was Jimmy’s at Red Dogs and King Neptune’s. By Crystal Pier, South End Surf Shop was still greeting customers and the SUNdays Cafe upstairs was planning on serving customers on Saturday.
Wrightsville Beach on Friday encouraged swimmers not to enter the water, though some took on the challenge anyway. The lifeguard stands have been removed from the strand and commercial trash collection for the island was cancelled.
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