What hurricane?

Following my trip to New York, I made my way to Florida to meet up with friends. My first stop was Fort Lauderdale and the Yacht Show to meet up with Blair, AKA Boo, and Dana, the original Zappy.

I arrived in the evening and Boo and I made our way outside to enjoy a cocktail by the poolside bar. As we waited for the bar tender to make up our drinks, a fierce wind gust came through that took our place settings clear off the table. Not a minute later I received a message from my mom asking if I was OK. Apparently a big storm called "Sandy" was building up off the coast of Florida and they were still trying to determine its course....was I being affected? Should I think about coming home early? 

Despite all the access to technology at my fingertips, I had not bothered to check the news or weather...I told mom it was a bit windy but everything seemed ok. The following morning we woke up to sunshine that quickly turned to rain, as the storm got closer to the coast. The streets were filling up with sand from the beach and the palm trees were blowing nearly sideways from the wind. It didn't bode well for the fun-in-the-sun experience I thought I would have while Boo was working the Yacht show during the day. 

I was able to get out of Fort Lauderdale as planned and made my way to Tampa to visit one of my favorite couples...the Slacks. After a mellow first evening, we hit downtown Tampa the next night. It was the weekend before Halloween and loads of people were dressed to impress in their costumes. As we queued up for the restroom we found ourselves in line with the cutest and most IN LOVE couple dressed up as Lilo and Stitch. Stitch was going on and on about how fabulous Lilo was, how he wanted to spend his life with her and make babies together. When the bathroom door opened and they walked in together, I said a silent prayer that they wouldn't start the baby making attempts tonight...who knew how long it would take them to get those costumes off....and I really had to pee. 

By the next day it was apparent that Sandy was making her way to the Northeast. I quickly got online and changed my flight home so I could arrive in advance of the storm. I came in on the second to last arriving flight into Philadelphia airport before it closed down. The drive home was eery, like the entire area was in and bracing for the worst. Two days home during the storm proved useful to me though. My iPad was charged and I took the initiative to cross off another bucket list item....I taught myself old school hip hop dance routines. I feel good knowing that if I ever need to battle, I can pull out the good stuff...like the Wu-Tang dance, because lets face it, NO ONE will ever see that one coming.

Me and Boo

 

Me and Linda