'It's A Ghost Town Out Here': South Lake Tahoe Beaches Eerily Barren Over Memorial Day Weekend
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE (CBS13) — While some area beaches were packed this weekend, one of the most popular was barren.
South Lake Tahoe's controversial travel ban was a Memorial Day bust for businesses.
"This is just kind of crazy to look around and see this," said Jared Dayton, who lives nearby.
The summer kickoff they depend on was instead a bunch of empty tables and benches.
"It's a ghost town out here. Normally this beach behind me would be packed," said Ryan Brown, a dockhand for Ski Run.
On Memorial Day he said normally rents out about 135 boats. On Monday it was just 10.
"South Lake Tahoe fully depends on tourists. That's what we depend on," he said.
We spoke with a boat rental company employee. On memorial day they normally rent out about 135 boats. Today that number was 10. That's a huge bite out of the bottom line. @CBSSacramento pic.twitter.com/VRXCEltYSb
— Anna Twomey (@TwomeyMedia) May 26, 2020
So naturally, banishing them has become unpopular. The city said it's necessary to prevent COVID-19 spreading in a hospital system that can't handle it.
"The fact that they're making people stay away is a little absurd," Dayton said.
Someone started a fund to "move the South Lake Tahoe mayor out of town", calling him an anti-working class abomination. It's raised more than $13,000.
The Artemis Lakefront Cafe saw just 50 percent of the customers they normally do for Memorial Day.
"That takes away pretty much all our profit," said the cafe's owner Angela Luke.
The peace and quiet is a loud reminder of tough times ahead.
"It's a total unknown. We count on these summers to carry us through the whole year," she said.
It's unclear when the travel ban might be lifted. Coronavirus has canceled events all the way into July, including the annual fireworks show.