Queenie
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2005
- Messages
- 3,144
Saturday
As today was a lazy day we didnt get up early, instead allowing ourselves to wake when we chose. A relaxed breakfast was had in the apartment instead of going out to eat. After eating we put the weather channel on to get the latest news on Hurricane Jeanne. She was now heading straight for Florida and was due to hit the Atlantic coast at about 2am, the coast and much of the south was being evacuated. As none of us had ever been through a Florida hurricane before Graham asked about it at the guest house when we went to get money out of the safety deposit box. We were advised that although winds were unlikely to be strong enough in our area to damage the buildings themselves, because of the risks from debris being picked up meant we should stay away from the windows. If it got really bad we should take the duvets into the bathroom as it had no windows and whether the storm out in there, we were also advised to buy in some extra food.
Curfews were planned from 9pm but that gave us an entire day to play with. Initially we headed to a mini golf course but as we got there the sky turned an ominous grey and we decided it wasnt worth paying the money as there was a strong chance it would start raining or a storm might kick up. Instead we headed to the Belz mall to do some shopping. Although there wasnt much there and the place looked run down, we still picked up lots of bargains. Scott bought some new Sketchers for work, Graham found a collectors edition box of Disney pins highly reduced and I found many bits and bobs including an ISTC metal magnet for $1 and a plastic Twister mug for 20c! The Twister mug was meant to make the sounds of a twister when you picked it up but it was broken, to be honest I think I preferred it silent! By the time we finished up in Belz it was getting late in the afternoon and the mall was closing (all the stores were closing early so staff could go home and prepare for Jeanne.) We headed back to Summer Bay and went to Dennys next door for dinner. We tried to eat a big meal each as we werent sure when wed get a decent meal again (turned out to be Monday!) By the time we were done, Publix had closed so we headed back to the resort. The little gift shop was still open selling essentials and tacky merchandise. Some packets of choc chip cookies were added to our inventory of food and we retreated to the apartment. As the night grew in the wind picked up and we watched resort staff tying down anything that could potentially be picked up and become dangerous. Our patio tables were turned upside down to try and reduce lift. We spent the evening watching TV, as I recall we flicked between Men in Black 2, a Cheerleading competition somewhere in the Mid West and the Weather Channel. By the time we went to bed, large parts of the coast had been flooded and we wondered what tomorrow would be like.
Sunday
We woke up late to find that we had no power. The wind was quite intense outside but not much stronger than during a bad storm here in the UK, it just went on much longer. We noticed that the palm trees were now at strange angles and that the lake had risen so high it almost covered the boardwalk. There were bits of wood and leaves everywhere but no sign of the damage wed seen the previous night hitting the coast, Jeanne had obviously weakened after coming inland.
As the power was out we spent the day reading books and magazines, doing puzzles and playing lots of games of cards. Lunch for me was a plain crisp sandwich, which was surprisingly tasty the sweetness of American bread really helped in the flavour department. After lunch the wind had almost completely died down so Graham and Roger went out to look around the resort. They came back and reported that Summer Bay had lost one palm tree and a car window in the next parking lot had been blown out, that was the extent of the damage except for aesthetic things like leaves and splinters of wood everywhere. When they got back I was sat near the window when I spotted something out on the lake and called everyone over to figure out what it could be. We could see an unmanned boat but it seemed to have something strange attached behind it. It was a few minutes before someone worked out what it was. It was a chunk of a wooden jetty that the boat must have been tied to! Someone down the lake was going to be mighty annoyed by that!!!
By late afternoon everything seemed pretty calm but as the power was out we had no way of getting news, plus it was getting dark. I suggested that we should go out to the cars, that way we could put the radio on to check what was happening and we could also use the lights to read for a bit longer. The radio told us that curfew would be in place until the following morning, not as there was much danger but because the emergency services would be speeding about on the roads trying to fix everything overnight and other people out and about could be a danger. After about an hour reading in the cars we decided to go back to the apartment and have an early night. Just as we got out of the car, light! The power had come back on! We all trooped into the kitchen in search of hot food. Me and Graham had bought a box of mini microwave pancakes of which there were still 20 left, that meant 4 each. Even though Scott, Linda and Roger didnt really like pancakes we all eagerly ate them with our maple syrup as it was hot food! We headed up to bed unsure of what would even be open the next day but glad wed gone through a new life experience, even if it was one we were glad to never repeat!
As today was a lazy day we didnt get up early, instead allowing ourselves to wake when we chose. A relaxed breakfast was had in the apartment instead of going out to eat. After eating we put the weather channel on to get the latest news on Hurricane Jeanne. She was now heading straight for Florida and was due to hit the Atlantic coast at about 2am, the coast and much of the south was being evacuated. As none of us had ever been through a Florida hurricane before Graham asked about it at the guest house when we went to get money out of the safety deposit box. We were advised that although winds were unlikely to be strong enough in our area to damage the buildings themselves, because of the risks from debris being picked up meant we should stay away from the windows. If it got really bad we should take the duvets into the bathroom as it had no windows and whether the storm out in there, we were also advised to buy in some extra food.
Curfews were planned from 9pm but that gave us an entire day to play with. Initially we headed to a mini golf course but as we got there the sky turned an ominous grey and we decided it wasnt worth paying the money as there was a strong chance it would start raining or a storm might kick up. Instead we headed to the Belz mall to do some shopping. Although there wasnt much there and the place looked run down, we still picked up lots of bargains. Scott bought some new Sketchers for work, Graham found a collectors edition box of Disney pins highly reduced and I found many bits and bobs including an ISTC metal magnet for $1 and a plastic Twister mug for 20c! The Twister mug was meant to make the sounds of a twister when you picked it up but it was broken, to be honest I think I preferred it silent! By the time we finished up in Belz it was getting late in the afternoon and the mall was closing (all the stores were closing early so staff could go home and prepare for Jeanne.) We headed back to Summer Bay and went to Dennys next door for dinner. We tried to eat a big meal each as we werent sure when wed get a decent meal again (turned out to be Monday!) By the time we were done, Publix had closed so we headed back to the resort. The little gift shop was still open selling essentials and tacky merchandise. Some packets of choc chip cookies were added to our inventory of food and we retreated to the apartment. As the night grew in the wind picked up and we watched resort staff tying down anything that could potentially be picked up and become dangerous. Our patio tables were turned upside down to try and reduce lift. We spent the evening watching TV, as I recall we flicked between Men in Black 2, a Cheerleading competition somewhere in the Mid West and the Weather Channel. By the time we went to bed, large parts of the coast had been flooded and we wondered what tomorrow would be like.
Sunday
We woke up late to find that we had no power. The wind was quite intense outside but not much stronger than during a bad storm here in the UK, it just went on much longer. We noticed that the palm trees were now at strange angles and that the lake had risen so high it almost covered the boardwalk. There were bits of wood and leaves everywhere but no sign of the damage wed seen the previous night hitting the coast, Jeanne had obviously weakened after coming inland.
As the power was out we spent the day reading books and magazines, doing puzzles and playing lots of games of cards. Lunch for me was a plain crisp sandwich, which was surprisingly tasty the sweetness of American bread really helped in the flavour department. After lunch the wind had almost completely died down so Graham and Roger went out to look around the resort. They came back and reported that Summer Bay had lost one palm tree and a car window in the next parking lot had been blown out, that was the extent of the damage except for aesthetic things like leaves and splinters of wood everywhere. When they got back I was sat near the window when I spotted something out on the lake and called everyone over to figure out what it could be. We could see an unmanned boat but it seemed to have something strange attached behind it. It was a few minutes before someone worked out what it was. It was a chunk of a wooden jetty that the boat must have been tied to! Someone down the lake was going to be mighty annoyed by that!!!
By late afternoon everything seemed pretty calm but as the power was out we had no way of getting news, plus it was getting dark. I suggested that we should go out to the cars, that way we could put the radio on to check what was happening and we could also use the lights to read for a bit longer. The radio told us that curfew would be in place until the following morning, not as there was much danger but because the emergency services would be speeding about on the roads trying to fix everything overnight and other people out and about could be a danger. After about an hour reading in the cars we decided to go back to the apartment and have an early night. Just as we got out of the car, light! The power had come back on! We all trooped into the kitchen in search of hot food. Me and Graham had bought a box of mini microwave pancakes of which there were still 20 left, that meant 4 each. Even though Scott, Linda and Roger didnt really like pancakes we all eagerly ate them with our maple syrup as it was hot food! We headed up to bed unsure of what would even be open the next day but glad wed gone through a new life experience, even if it was one we were glad to never repeat!
