On the Fourth of July, more than fireworks brighten the day for local businesses in Baltimore?s Inner Harbor as thousands of tourists and residents alike pack the waterfront.
“The Fourth of July is always a huge day for us,” said Kevin Bonner, general manager of McCormick & Schmick?s Seafood Restaurant at Pier 5 in the Inner Harbor. “Locally, it brings people from all over, but people are also looking for a place to get close to the water and the fireworks.”
For many local restaurants, the holiday can bring as much as a 50 percent increase in revenue over a non-holiday.
Velleggia?s in Baltimore?s Little Italy neighborhood brought in additional servers and cooks to handle the holiday crowd Tuesday. And Cindy Bacon, co-owner of Obrycki?s Crabhouse and Seafood restaurant, also in Little Italy, opened the shop to cater to local carry-out customers.
“We?re a hospitality business, and we want to be open for people when they want to have a good time,” said Bacon.
Water taxis, street vendors and wandering performers all kept more than busy and drew plentiful crowds Tuesday afternoon despite scorching temperatures.
Mike Evitts, spokesman for the Downtown Partnership, said Independence Day is one of the bigger weekends of the year for locals to visit the Inner Harbor and surrounding neighborhoods.
“The Inner Harbor has about 22 million visitors per year,” Evitts said. “It?s always been Baltimore?s backyard, and the Fourth of July and New Year?s Eve are when people really take advantage of it.”
Dorvetta Coleman, of Baltimore, brought her 2-year-old granddaughter to the Inner Harbor early in the day, but said she would probably go to her mother?s home to watch the fireworks.
“I just wanted to get out of the house today,” she said. “I love to come down here and just people watch.”
Examiner intern Heather Faison contributed to this report.
