At Mac’s Place in downtown Wiscasset, business has started to pick back up after a long, slow winter for the cafe, owner Karen McDorr said.

On May 16, as the veil continued to lift on tourist season, McDorr returned to her seven-day a week schedule for the warmer months.

“I have already seen people here from other countries, so I’m really optimistic,” McDorr said as she worked the counter with daughter Danielle Sylvain. The Main Street business opened last summer, so this will be its first year getting the tourist season from beginning to end.

It’s an even newer circumstance this tourist season for Heather LeMair, owner of the ladies’ consignment clothing shop Livy Lane. LeMair moved the business downtown to Water Street, nearly opposite Red’s Eats, last November, from a Route 1 location further south in Wiscasset.

“I”m very optimistic. I haven’t ... had a summer downtown yet ... I kind of caught the tail end of the tourist season last year. But everybody on the block says that it’s going to get pretty crazy, pretty busy, so I’m really looking forward to it.”

LeMair has expanded the shop’s hours later in the evening, to be open during suppertime at Red’s Eats, and will soon add Mondays, making the shop open seven days. The shop had been fairly busy in recent days, with mostly local customers, she said.

At Red’s Eats, manager and co-owner Debbie Gagnon has observed some early trends: “I do feel that more people are traveling, but very much on budget,” Gagnon wrote in an email response to the Wiscasset Newspaper’s request for her outlook on the season. “I find that in our business people are vacationing closer to home ... still wanting to vacation, but still on budget.  Lots of New Englanders (are) vacationing in New England,” she continued.

“The weather definitely plays a huge part...in our business. It was a tough winter that has led to an unpleasant spring,” And spring is typically a slow time for seasonal businesses, Gagnon wrote. She anticipates more foot traffic after school lets out for the summer.