Jersey Shore

Chilly weather aside, most of the Jersey Shore's towns were back in business for the Memorial Day weekend, which was capped by another joint appearance of President Obama and Gov. Christie on Tuesday. Those who would criticize the "bromance" between the Democratic president and the Republican governor should consider that this is what it looks like when politicians do their jobs. Their cooperation after Hurricane Sandy has shown how working together can bring about results. Boardwalks can be rebuilt; homes and businesses restored.

WILDWOOD, N.J. - Seven months ago, Gov. Christie, clad in the navy blue fleece that would soon become a wardrobe staple, told a group of residents at a firehouse in North Wildwood to get out of town - fast. Hurricane Sandy was bearing down on the Jersey Shore, and, in typical blunt fashion, Christie told the small crowd gathered at the firehouse to, essentially, prepare for the worst. Two days later, Sandy slammed into the coast, making landfall near Brigantine and leaving destruction up and down the barrier islands.

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J. - With a steel-gray sky overhead and a land breeze that brought biting gnats to the beachfront, conditions weren't as picture-perfect as Gov. Christie might have hoped as he reintroduced the Jersey Shore to the world Friday morning via a national morning news show and a ribbon-cutting certified by Guinness as a world record. Among those who came by to give the cause an assist at the start of Memorial Day weekend were Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and other cast members of Jersey Shore , though the governor has professed not to be a fan of the former TV reality show.

OCEAN CITY, N.J. - When a hundred or so suit-wearing, briefcase-carrying business owners plunge into the 57-degree ocean at noon Friday to signify the "unlocking" of the resort's beaches, they'll be hoping the world is watching. Jersey Shore towns are seeking the attention more this holiday weekend than ever in the history of the decades-old event, repeated up and down the coast annually to signify the unofficial start of the lucrative summer tourist season. The message is loud and clear: The beaches are fine.

LAVALLETTE, N.J. - Yes, they were here to show off the rebuilt boardwalk in this picturesque seaside town, with its touching buy-a-board messages such as "This too shall pass" etched into the compressed pine planks. But as much as they were peddling the "Jersey Shore is open" message on this foggy morning, neither Mayor Walter "Wally" LaCicero nor Gov. Christie tried to obscure some tough realities facing the Shore as it ushers in its first summer post-Sandy. Christie acknowledged that the fate of the blue-collar summer-home owner - a demographic that gives the Shore so much of its character - is particularly at risk since the Oct. 29 storm.

Before we do anything, let's address the giant elephant in the room - and we're not talking about Lucy of Margate. Nearly seven months ago, Sandy wrought devastation on the Jersey Shore like never before: The largest Atlantic storm on record created more than $30 billion in damage up and down the state's 127-mile coastline. More than 346,000 structures were damaged or destroyed when Sandy whipped across the state on Oct. 29. Some of the places that held memories so dear for many of us - beaches, homes, boardwalks, piers, shops, amusements, and restaurants - got washed away.

Not every day at the Jersey Shore can be 80 and sunny. That's when it's time to explore the alternate universe: shopping. You could head for the Atlantic City outlets, but you'd be missing out on the novel spots that dot the coast. Here are my favorites, in a handful of Shore towns: Ocean City has two main shopping hubs. The first, obviously, is the boardwalk, lined with T-shirt stores, eateries, rides, and mini-golf courses. Three stores to hit: The Islander , which sells quality women's fashions geared to 20- to 30-year-olds, plus some men's items and home accents; Air Circus , with every kind of kite imaginable (easy to spot from anywhere on the boardwalk since kites usually are flying on the beach in front of the store)

THERE IS no more enthusiastic mayor around than Len Desiderio, Sea Isle's capo for the last 20 years. Desiderio makes Ed Rendell look like Rip Van Winkle. When spirits were at their worst in town after Sandy, he organized what he has called the world's longest ribbon-cutting, opening the ocean during Presidents' Day weekend with a ribbon the length of the Sea Isle Promenade, about two miles, with hundreds of people holding it up. "I don't mind saying, we are the best place for a family to come," said Desiderio.

TO ALL THE OBNOXIOUS, yakking, shoving, foul-breathed Central Park pigeon-feeders of New York City who were displaced by Sandy, the gentlefolk of Margate, Ventnor and Longport would like you to know you're welcome to stay this summer. Just don't wear your damn N.Y. Rangers jersey into Maynard's Café, said Ed Berger, president of the Margate Business Association. To which this longtime Longporter visitor might add: _ Do not park on the beach blocks. And no, it doesn't matter that you drive a Bentley.

OF ALL THE images in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy last October, two seemed to linger - that of the unmoored roller coaster in Seaside Heights, and the one of the blown-away section of Boardwalk in Atlantic City. While the former was a real victim of the rain and high winds, the latter was, in many ways, just an unfortunate circumstance. The fallout from a perfect storm, if you will. "It caused a lot of misinformation about the damage from the storm and we have spent the last months trying to recover from that," said John Palmieri, executive director of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, overseer of the biggest swath of Shore tourism: the Atlantic City casino district.