Late last month, Seaside Heights began to prepare for the pop-culture hurricane that is the cast of "Jersey Shore." After sunning themselves down in Miami, Snooki, the Situation and their pals headed up north to their old Jersey stomping ground, where they resumed shooting what will be season three of their hit reality show.

And as the "Shore" crew swooped into town, so did hundreds of "Shore" wannabes and GTL-obsessed hangers-on.

" 'Jersey Shore' has definitely brought a lot more people out than in previous years," said a manager at Adrenaline, a body-piercing shop on the boardwalk. "Everybody's trying to get in on the action, get into the show."

Perhaps no one has had a closer view at the cast's growing fame than Danny Merk, who owns both the T-shirt shop where the cast worked in season one and the house where they crashed. "I think it's a phenomenon," he said. "It came out of nowhere. All of a sudden the kids came here, they just worked like average kids every day, went out to the clubs at night. Now it's just nonstop. Everyone wants to see what they're doing, go to the places they went to."

As visitors check out the clubs and stores that the cast frequents, they've made sure to sheath themselves in "Shore" tribute shirts. Fans MTV News spoke with rocked shirts that read "I Love Snooki," "I Like My Boys With Muscles and Blow-Outs" and "Come At Me, Bro!"

The die-hard groupies routinely gather outside the cast's house, follow them down the boardwalk and generally just hang out hoping to catch a glimpse of their gelled-up heroes. Even Emilio Masella, Snooki's ex-boyfriend, trekked to Seaside Heights with the hope that he could patch things up with his former flame.

"I'm here trying to find her," he told us. "I still have her heart, but I'm trying to get her back."

He'll have to get in line. The "Shore" cast is pop-culture royalty this summer in Seaside, and fans are paying them some serious respect.

"They actually worship them," Merk said. "It's really weird. Girls come into the store and actually start crying. They're like the Beatles."

Have you made a "Jersey Shore"-inspired trip to Seaside Heights this summer? Let us know in the comments!

Don't miss "Jersey Shore" every Thursday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on MTV.