Indoor venues were able to have their best weekend of the last year as state-mandated restrictions lifted in Massachusetts.
It has been mostly a washout of a Memorial Day Weekend, but Massachusetts' reopening on Saturday meant there was fun to be had indoors.
The Cameo Theater in Weymouth also got a kickstart this weekend, with people flocking back to a mask-optional box office for the first time this year.
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Theater manager Ryan Chandler is confident in theaters' ability to provide an atmosphere that can never be fully matched at home.
"We’re never going out of business in that regard. There’s nothing like going to see a movie.”
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“Everyone’s a lot happier. That’s for sure," he added.
Rollerworld, a roller skating rink in Saugus, opened at full capacity for the first time since the pandemic began.
For owner Jerry Breen, who has lost thousands of dollars over the past 16 months, it was a relief to fully open his business.
"It’s about time, you know? It’s a long time," he said.
Breen says he was fortunate to have renters to help him stay afloat, when otherwise he had no or few paying customers coming in his doors. He had earlier been able to open at 20 percent capacity, but it required spending thousands of dollars on plexiglass and other safety equipment, which will all be coming down soon.
"We luckily had some tenants in the building to pay some of the bills," Breen said.
Kathy Venuti of East Boston was one of many excited people to lace up her skates at Rollerworld this weekend.
"We’re just happy to be out around people, to see everyone’s faces," she said. "It's just great. We feel alive again, and we’re just happy to be here."
Some, however, said they were still getting used to the new update in public guidelines, where masks are now optional for fully vaccinated residents.
"To be honest, it’s a little awkward because you don’t know when to keep your mask on or off," Nia Howard of Jamaica Plain said.
More on COVID-19 in Mass.
For others, taking off the mask provided a simple relief.
"Now I can wear my glasses without them fogging up," Ashley Vaccaro of Salem said.
