CAPE MAY CO.--Rough surf and light rain peppered Cape May county's shore communities, but visitors and merchants say they won't let Earl spoil their holiday weekend.

Combine rough surf with sand-stinging winds and you get a less than ideal beach day in Strathmere. "The wind is rubbing the sand on us and it hurts," said 6 year-old Paige Trapp.

"We can't go in the water, the sand's like, killing us, and we need it to settle down a little bit," said 7 year-old Eliana Agugliaro.

But even with the poor conditions, it wasn't nearly as bad as some had though Earl would deliver. "I really thought it was gonna be like, 70 mile per hour winds," said Ali Trapp, "this is like nothing."

"You don't wanna take any storm lightly and preparedness is the measure." Which is why officials in Cape May county were closely monitoring the storm and even signed an emergency proclamation yesterday, just in case. "If Earl were to hit hard to the shore and there was extra equipment needed or the municipalities needed authority to take control for the safety of the residents and visitors, they had the authority to do so," said Lenora Boninfante, Cape May County Communications.

But luckily, Earl brought what was expected...some wind, some rain, and dangerous beach conditions that sent swimmers looking for drier ground. "It's not gonna stop us," said Jenna Guido of New York, "we'll just take advantage of you know, the arcade and things like that."

With today kicking off the busy Labor day weekend, merchants on the Wildwood boardwalk are breathing a sigh of relief and say the light rain that fell today was actually good for business, saying it kept people off the beach and had them up on the boards taking cover, and spending money in the process. "I was surprised this morning, it was busy," said Aris Tsakiris of Harry's Corner, "I thought it was going to be nothing."

"If they stay on the boardwalk, they're gonna come in here and we're gonna make a lot of money," said David Banks, who was calling customers to come inside the Seaport Aquarium.

And with Earl supposed to be well gone by tomorrow, merchants are hoping this weekend goes off without a hitch. "We're ready for the big weekend," said Tsakiris, "come back everybody, we're here waiting for you!"