Labor Day crowds a relief after tough summer (PHOTO GALLERIES)

As visitors headed home Monday, folks in the tourism industry celebrated what turned out to be perhaps the strongest weekend in two months.

“We were blessed,” said Marti Carpenter, reservations manager for Destin Princess Destiny Party Boat Fishing.

Labor Day weekend is not traditionally a big time for charter fishing, she said. But this year, they had two trips on Saturday, two on Sunday and a boatful of hopeful fisherman heading out Monday as well.

“Anything is going to look good to us after this summer,” she said, chuckling. “But we were pleased.”

Click here to see a gallery of boaters at Norreigo Point

Click here to see a gallery of photos from Big Kahuna's water park

Click here to see a gallery of photos from The Track in Destin

That was a sentiment echoed up and down the coastline, from a small vegetarian bed and breakfast in Grayton Beach to Newman-Dailey Resort Properties, which has hotels and rental properties stretching to Panama City.

“We did record numbers,” said Cheri Peebles, innkeeper for Hibiscus Bed and Breakfast. “They wanted to get back to the beach. The weather has been pretty. The water’s fine. Everybody’s happy to be here.”

Skies were mostly clear for the holiday weekend, with temperatures dropping into the low 70s overnight and rising near 90 during the day.

Emergency workers reported no problems on local beaches and, in some areas, green flags were flying.

The only nuisance was June grass, dense algae that turned the water along some shorelines to a brownish-green soup.

“The only complaint we had all weekend is that people didn’t like the color of the water,” said Eunice Hemsley, property manager at Beachside Inn, a Newman-Dailey property in Destin. “They were asking, ‘Is it going to go away? Is there somewhere farther down the coast where we can go?’”

Hemsley said that was the only negative in a successful holiday weekend. The hotel was full, the café was busy and a small scooter, kayak and bicycle rental business also did well.

She said it was a tough summer in the local tourism market, and it was hard to stay upbeat through it all.

This weekend, it was easy.

“It’s a relief,” Hemsley said. “It’s refreshing.”