Gov. Chris Christie, 'Jersey Shore' Cast Cut Ribbon To Open Shore Just In Time For Memorial Day Weekend

Governor Chris Christie, R-N.J., joined an unlikely band of celebrities to "cut the ribbon" to the Jersey Shore on Friday, just in time for Memorial Day Weekend 2013.

In 2012, Hurricane Sandy ravaged the coasts of New Jersey and New York, leaving most of the boardwalk along the Jersey coast and The Rockaways, N.Y. either missing or mostly destroyed. With the help of the unfaltering American spirit, the coastline that was once in Sandy's path has been renewed in record time.

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"This is an incredible day for New Jersey...Anybody who lives in New Jersey, the Jersey shore is in your heart," Christie said at the ceremony in Seaside Heights, Ocean County. Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Paul "Pauly-D" del Vecchio, of MTV's "Jersey Shore" program joined Christie to welcome Memorial Day tourists and Jersey residents alike to the revitalized beachfront.

"To see this place rebuilt makes me happy," del Vecchio said.

Reuters reported that despite the celebrations along the Boardwalk, the actual beaches themselves may be as much as 40 feet narrower than they were before the massive erosion and storm surge from Sandy destroyed everything from the protective dunes to an iconic Jersey Shore roller coaster.

Across New York Harbor, from the beach towns of Long Beach and Sandy Hook, folks in Coney Island, N.Y. were holding a celebration of their own. The beachfront neighborhood in Brooklyn was celebrating the grand reopening of the iconic cousin to "The Cyclone," Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs. Until late, passengers debarking the D, N, or Q trains at the Stillwell Avenue terminal were greeted with the loud sounds of machinery instead of the scents of fresh hot dogs wafting up from the corner of Surf Avenue.

While Luna Park, home to the famous "Cyclone" roller coaster, had been open for some time, Coney Island was missing its claim to culinary fame. Nathan's CEO Wayne Norbitz announced that the famous hot dog stand would be open in time for Memorial Day weekend, and that the famous food stop would be reintroducing its clam & oyster bar, which disappeared from the shop in the mid-20^th Century. Norbitz said he wanted to recreate the "historic feeling, tradition and heritage of Nathan's so that it's the same as it always has been."

Following the autumn hurricane, Nathan's was deluged with over six feet of water: quite a tasty turnaround.