Our Miami friend, Dawn McCall, called this morning to check on us. She lives in our building but spends her summers up north. She asked an interesting question. “Would you and Eliot make the same decision to stay in Miami for another  hurricane?”

I thought I knew the answer to that (yes) until I watched the news today and saw some of the devastation. If you are going to ride out a hurricane at home, or on vacation, I sugggest you stay in a huge concrete structure. I learned that no one knows for sure where the eye of a storm will land, so there is no good choice. You have to be lucky. We got very lucky this time, but I don’t  know if that will happen again. 

One thing I do know is that we are not getting in a car to outrun a storm. I watched friends drive north only to end up in a city (Orlando, Atlanta, Savannah, Tampa) where Irma was also planning to visit. My friends chased around like robbers who just stuck up a bank. 

Miami Beach is opening tomorrow at noon. Residents are allowed to return. We are not sure if we are going back because our condo does not have cable and Internet. We have work assignments that require both, so we will make that decision tomorrow. Most likely it will be Wednesday. The good news is that a condo staff member checked our unit, and everything was perfect. Happy days. 

Every once in a while we hear a huge crash outside our 9th floor window. It sounds like broken glass falling. It’s actually terra cotta tiles falling off the roof of this high rise office and hotel complex. It’s smashing on the floor of the pool terrace just below our window. A peek through the curtain reveals a pile of shattered tiles that will sooner or later fall into the pool. 

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After several hours of listening to the tiles falling, it starts to feel commonplace. Every time it happens, Eliot and I laugh a little bit. It reminds us that we are in the middle of one of the worst hurricanes ever. 

We are tucked away in our luxurious hotel suite with all the comforts of home. We are so thankful for our niece Val and nephew Alfredo for including us in their hurricane evacuation plans. 

We don’t have any electricity, TV, or A/C right now but we are still so much better off than those who drove for hours to avoid the hurricane, and then had to drive again to other cities because the storm was chasing them.  We brought movies, music, Audible, e-readers, crank-up radios, flashlights, batteries, food,  protein bars, snacks, wine, water, soda, and weed (only kidding on the last one) with us.

I’m going to be upset if I can’t post today’s blog because I haven’t missed a day in over five years. Something had to happen sooner or later. We are going to be in this hotel for a while because there is a lot of debris on the road and the last thing we need is a flat tire.

The staff at the Colonnade has been superb. The lobby has electricity, alcohol, food and all kinds of supplies. It’s amazing how many guests prefer to remain in their rooms and take care of themselves. People brought their cats and dogs so I guess they are just happy to be safe and secure.

Now I am going to try to post this.  I just heard free ice cream in the lobby. What do I do first? 

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While we waited, here are some of my Facebook posts. 

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We evacuate to a hotel in Coral Gables tomorrow called The Colonnade. My niece Valerie, and her husband Alfredo, found the hotel. They are very resourceful and understand all of the requirements we will need. 

We have a hurricane preparedness meeting with the hotel staff tomorrow at 5pm.. I guess we are going to get a list of Do’s and Don’ts. This is going to be interesting. We are still praying that the storm blows off into the ocean. It’s possible, but not probable. I am told the roar of the storm is terrifying. If we are not directly in the eye of the storm, we will experience less of a sound.

Our neighbor, Sam Champion.