Indiana beach closures sends more visitors to Michigan beaches

ST. JOSEPH, Mich.--- The beaches of St. Joseph, Michigan saw more visitors than normal Saturday. This increase was in part due to Michigan City and Washington Park closing their beaches this weekend.

The Westerholm family has made an annual tradition of visiting St. Joseph's beach but has never seen such a crowd as they did Saturday.

"Since the last few times we were here it seems like more and more people were coming to the beach," said Amy Westerholm. "There’s been an increase in population at least."

For people living in St. Joseph, the increase in visitors during a pandemic is troubling.

"I don’t think people are being careful enough," said St. Joseph Resident, Sandy Robertson. "I think people need to be more cautious and careful here."

The increase in beach visitors have also made it difficult for St. Joseph residents to navigate through the city.

"It’s super crowded everywhere," said Robertson. "The restaurants and the stores and the beaches. We were on a boat last night and there were a lot of boats on the water."

While there might be an influx of visitors, the Westerholm family is thankful for the precautions the city is taking to keep people safe.

"The biggest thing was the parking lot was stopped for a while, they said it was full, based on social distancing," said Don Westerholm.