The big weekend is here, and many of people will be meeting up with friends or relatives and, hopefully, having some fun. Early predictions are that this weekend will be one for the record books.
Memorial Day weekend, typically called "first weekend of the summer," will be packed with travelers taking to the road or skies. By the time the weekend is over, according to AAA, 38 million people, nationwide, will have traveled.
As the rubber hits the road this weekend, Chad Mason and Alexina Antonson, will be heading to Upper Marlboro to participate in Aratari's Mayhem 2016, a medieval-themed event that was set to last through Monday.
Mason said he was excited to "hit my nerds, hang out with my friends, [and] have a great weekend."
According to AAA Mid-Atlantic, the couple are two of about 814,000 Marylanders also heading out of town.
Traffic was of little concern for some at a Wawa near the Bay Bridge, of which 377,000 drivers are expected to cross this weekend.
"[The] traffic was earlier in the day, so we waited until later on. It should be calm," said David Washington, who was on his way to Ocean City early Friday evening.
At BWI, the line to get through TSA screening on Concourse D -- where ABC2 video captured a line last week that was hundreds of people long -- was but a brief hold up for the Martello family, on their way to Chicago.
"Celebrating my parents 60th wedding anniversary. The kids live here and all their cousins live in Chicago, so they really enjoy being with their cousins," said mother Monica Martello as she accompanied her three teenaged children.
According to AAA Mid-Atlantic, about one out of every 14 people traveling this weekend, or 58,000 people, will travel by air, combining with the total number of travelers for the most since 2005, a strong test for BWI's TSA security screeners, working amid high scrutiny due to lengthy lines.
Tonette McClamy was returning from a cruise Friday evening, but said going through security on her way out on Monday was a breeze.
"It probably costs more to leave going out on a holiday, and it's probably more crowded, I would assume," she said.
AAA said low gas prices, about 40 cents per gallon less than at this time last year, are spurring people to travel by car, which was welcome news at the Wawa.
"Ain't no better way at all" to spend the Memorial Day weekend, Mason said.
The Memorial Day weekend also kicks off what is known as the 100 deadly days of summer, a period when DUI-related deaths and accidents increase. Police are stepping up their presence across the state as a result.
Follow Dakarai Turner on Twitter @Dakarai_Turner and on Facebook.
