Crowds Swarm Gov. Chris Christie on Ocean City Boardwalk

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie visited the Ocean City Boardwalk on Saturday afternoon as part of his "Stronger Than the Storm" campaign — an effort to spread the word that the Jersey Shore is open for business after recovering from Superstorm Sandy.

But in Ocean City, at least, it was clear that thousands of people already had received the word.

It took 45 minutes for Christie to move from the boardwalk ramp at Eighth Street three doors down to Manco & Manco Pizza through a mosh pit of well-wishers hoping to shake hands or rub elbows with the rising Republican star. Even outside the swarm of onlookers around Eighth Street, the boardwalk was jammed with visitors on the sunny but brisk first day of the holiday weekend.

Christie crept along to the popular pizza store to greet co-owner Chuck Bangle and a host of Ocean City officials and community leaders in a staged photo-op.

Christie's visit included no speech to the public and no comment on issues related to the storm — just an opportunity for the governor to meet and greet shore residents and visitors.

As a crowd waited for the governor's arrival, his staff announced that Christie would walk from Eighth Street past Gillian's Wonderland Pier to Sixth Street. But after about an hour and a half, Christie had not made it to Seventh Street.

Earlier in the day, Christie made a similar appearance in Surf City on Long Beach Island, and his schedule called for him to continue southward to Wildwood for another boardwalk stroll.

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