Even though some beaches along the Jersey Shore remained closed due to dangerous surf conditions caused by Hermine, the storm's shift in course brought sunshine instead of rain to the coast on Sunday.
A "freak show" storm was supposed to wash out Labor Day weekend, keep visitors away from the shore and put a premature end to summer.
And then the sun came out.
After Tropical Storm Hermine unexpectedly shifted to the east overnight, blue skies and sunshine welcomed visitors to the Jersey Shore on Sunday morning.
New Jersey will still face dangerously high seas and strong rip currents, tropical storm-force winds near the coast and a large storm surge that will likely cause coastal flooding in towns along the Jersey Shore, if the storm maintains its easterly track. However, rainfall amounts will be far lower than projected, and wind gusts will likely be much weaker in inland areas.
Asbury Park's iconic boardwalk was already busy by 10:30 a.m., as people strolled along the boards looking out at the pounding surf, popped into oceanfront businesses and even stopped to play games of miniature golf.
In nearby Bradley Beach, visitors unable to go into the ocean walked with their feet in the sand and the edge of the water, as the boardwalk there was also filled with people.
Freehold resident Marianne Contessa made the trip to Bradley Beach on Sunday morning, to check out the condition of the ocean and the beaches.
"I expected it to be rainy and nasty. But when I woke up and saw the sun, I checked online to see how the waves were, because I am a surfer, and of course they weren't surfable because of the hurricane, but the beauty of the ocean and nature is just so powerful, I wanted to come down to the shore and see it for myself," Contessa said while walking along the water. "It's actually a nice beach day."
While strong winds whipped the red flags on the beach that signaled that the surf conditions were too dangerous for swimming, Bradley Beach still had lifeguards stationed on the beach to keep visitors safe.
"It's a lot nicer today than we expected it would be. When I went to bed last night I expected there would be rain and heavy surf, a total washout and that nobody would even be out here today," said Joe Jankewicz, who has been a lifeguard since the early 1970s. "But you can see that people are walking the boardwalk and they're curious to see what's up, even though they can't go into the water."
Because swimming was prohibited, the lifeguards stationed near 4th Avenue found different ways to keep themselves occupied when they had no one to look out for, including playing a round of golf on the beach.
"We have horseshoes back at the house," Jankewicz said. "That might be the next game."
Hermine followed Largo, Florida resident Jim Linkin on his vacation to New Jersey, as the storm dumped approximately 12 inches of rain on Largo several days before he was sitting on Bradley Beach's boardwalk waiting for the worst of the storm to hit there.
"We were just going to hunker down today, stay inside and maybe play some games when we thought today was going to be a wash out. And from what we're told, the worst is still yet to come," Linkin said. "But when it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day, we decided to come out here to check out the huge surf and to enjoy the breeze and the sunshine while we can."
Even though the skies were clear Sunday morning, emergency management officials said that the Shore had not weathered the storm quite yet, and warned residents not to let down their guard.
As rainfall projections dropped and forecasts showed coastal storm Hermine shifting its path, some beachgoers tried to make the most of the sunny day. But authorities cautioned against going in the water, where rip currents and rough surf still pose danger.
Atlantic County spokeswoman Linda Gilmore said although some area beaches were still open to swimmers, several others were forbidding people from entering the ocean.
"We just caution anyone that is thinking of going into the water to only do so at guarded beaches and to certainly exercise extreme caution in doing so," she said.
Vince Jones, Atlantic County's emergency management coordinator, in a press release told residents to prepare for moderate to major flooding during high tides tonight and Monday morning. People who live in low-lying, flood-prone areas should move their cars to higher ground, Jones added.
In Bay Head, beaches were closed along with neighboring Mantoloking and Brick Township to the south because of large waves swallowing the beach reduced to a ribbon of sand by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Crews wrapped yellow caution tape across the stairways leading to the beach, keeping dozens of spectators on the decks.
Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden said his emergency operation's center is on low-level activation. Officials will continue to monitor the storm track and communicate with the local office of emergency management managers, he said.
"I think we've dodged a big one here," Golden said.
He said there's still a concern for flooding along the oceanfront and in the back bays, especially during Monday morning's high tide.
"We're always worried about that because of the pressure of the surf surge on the back bays," Golden said. "If they don't get drained out, it backs up. So we're always looking at the coastal flooding during those high tides."
--Staff writers Alex Napoliello, MaryAnn Spoto and Marisa Iati contributed to this report.
Rob Spahr may be reached at rspahr@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheRobSpahr. Find NJ.com on Facebook.