FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP -- It was a perfect day outdoors on this Memorial Day in the Poconos.
Folks from near and far flocked to Beltzville State Park in Carbon County.
The grills were sizzling and so was the sun, warming the large crowd here at Beltzville State Park near Lehighton.
Memorial Day is seen by many as the unofficial start of summer, and the weather seemed to agree.
Inside the park there were plenty of things for all to enjoy whether playing in the water, flying a kite, tossing a ball, or grabbing a bite of something delicious.
People said it was a great day to be outdoors.
"It's beautiful. See the burgers, see the hot dogs. We eating good over here," said Noey Majis of Hazleton.
"It's a great way to spend the day out in the sun, watching everybody on the lake was a lot of fun and having the baby down at the beach was fun," said Dawn Trybulski of Philadelphia.
"We went in the water a couple times, it was cold to begin with but it felt really good. It got hot out here after a while," said Keith Howie of Stroudsburg.
Even a detour on the road out of the park wasn't a problem for people coming in from the Turnpike.
And despite all this fun in the sun, many still took time to acknowledge just what Memorial Day is all about.
"It's a way to just relax and wind down and enjoy a nice quiet day remembering those who served," said Jackie Rodriguez of Allentown.