Sayonara, shoobies: Locals reclaim the Shore

With Hurricane Earl now history at the Jersey Shore, another storm also is winding down.

Labor Day ends the frenzied peak tourism season, and locals up and down the coast will tell you it's the moment they've waited for all summer.

The ocean is still warm, and the air is headed back to the mid-80s this week. Most restaurants, bars, boutiques, and amusements aren't yet closed for the season. And dozens of festivals, celebrating everything from beach-plum jam to clowns, are planned.

"There really is a sense among locals that now they finally have the place all to themselves. It's time for them to start celebrating," said Gregory Gregory, 58, whose family has owned Gregory's Restaurant & Bar in Somers Point since 1946.

When he walks into his bar in fall, winter, and spring, he knows just about every patron, Gregory said. By midsummer, he is surrounded by strangers.

"Locals don't like to come out in the summer and fight for a seat at the bar, or wait in line for a table, or sit in traffic," he said. "They wait until Labor Day is over, then they get back to their normal routines."

For decades, that has included Gregory's "Adios Turista" party at the end of September. The bash attracts a lively crowd of regulars who dress in "shoobie" wear: loud plaid shorts, oversize straw hats, dark socks with sandals. The shoobiest shoobie wins a prize.

Most Shore residents and business owners admit they're relieved to see visitors return in the spring. Their presence breathes life into the economy and means a long, cold winter is finally over.

"Honestly, I think by mid-August every year, we're a little sick of them, and they're probably a little sick of us," said Lindsey Marco, 26, a waitress at the Beach Bar at the Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City.

"I know my livelihood depends on catering to tourists," she said, "but it's been a hot summer here and a lot of hard work, so I'm ready for the fall and to take some time off for myself."

Come Tuesday, locals said, they'll reclaim places they haven't been in months - the boardwalk so clogged with humanity they couldn't get in a decent jog, shopping centers so packed with cars there were no spaces. They'll be able to get a spur-of-the-moment spa appointment and not have to wait to use an elliptical machine at the gym.

"We think of it as 'Super September,' " said Barbara Steele, director of public affairs and tourism for Ocean County, who is touting a long list of fall festivals.

Visitors from all over the country plan vacations around events such as Long Beach Island's Chowderfest, whose 22d edition will be held Oct. 3, or the two-decade-old "Hey Rube, Get a Tube," a raucous inner-tube race for charity in Point Pleasant Beach, this year on Sept. 18.

"I think the people who are here now, whether they're locals or they're visitors, all have a sense that this is their season," Steele said. "This is when they get out and really enjoy the Shore."

Diane Wieland, director of tourism in Cape May County, agreed. Summer's last act is when many property owners finally get to enjoy the places they rented out, she said.

"Our locals come out and support the businesses that have lost a lot of tourist traffic for the season, so it helps keep it going for everyone," Wieland said. "It's also a favorite time for some of our tourists. The big, noisy crowds have gone, and they can really enjoy it."

She added: "A lot of people think this time of the year is the best-kept secret about the Shore."