It is almost tradition that I pop into locations that are either about to get hit by a hurricane or have just been hit. In 2017, we flew to Houston after Harvey to do some minor assistance in the cleanup effort. In 2018, one Greg aka Mr. Poopers and I evacuated Japan via Kansai airport about 30 minutes before a typhoon hit. And in the years that followed, Nicole and I seem to be timing our arrivals in and out of Florida with pinpoint precision on flights that are virtually empty with the exception of some FEMA employees or some overzealous Brits looking to meet the mouse.
So it comes as no surprise, that for our first day in Orlando, we were okay with staying in place, as the Conadio (the Donadio condo for those who haven’t been keeping up), was potentially cut off from electricity, vehicular traffic, bridge access, and most importantly —flushable toilets. In even more exciting news, British Airways informed us that they supposedly found our bags. I made a few phone calls to England to make sure the bags wouldn’t simply be left at our doorstep.
In the interim, we enjoyed a sophisticated lunch at Chick-fil-a before going to such high fashion establishments like Old Navy and Target in search of the state’s hottest new looks. It may come as a surprise to you that shorts were hard to come by with most stores already moving on to fall fashion like sweaters and scarves because this 90 degree weather demands another layer of discomfort. Standby travel is a bit curious like that. Yesterday (was it only yesterday?!), I was buying a jacket in England. Now such attire is worthless.
As the sun began to set, I wanted to venture out to the ol’ dock, the same one that has graced many a photo in this blog or on my instagram. The colors in the distance, post-storm, did not disappoint and it was a nice change from the often cloudless skies we experience out west. Some of the bridges between Tampa and St. Petersburg are beginning to open, so tomorrow, we shall attempt to assess the damage over there post Helene.
passports & pepto bismol 