Brian Farias entered Memorial Day weekend seeing people coming to the beach this summer, no matter what, remnants of a pandemic or not. “Summer is going to be here,” he said. “This isn’t going to be the year without a Santa Claus.”

The shop owner had decided by Wednesday that Farias’ Surf & Sport in Ship Bottom would open. The day before, Gov. Murphy’s daily briefing had delivered a definitive pass because bicycle shops had now been declared approved to open.