yIKEs

September 7, 2008





yIKEs



After a direct hit from a fairly weak Tropical Storm Fay, and a glancing blow from Hurricane Gustav, it seemed as if Key West has been pretty fortunate so far this Hurricane season, but our luck may have run out in the form of the dangerous Hurricane Ike.



As I write this Ike is churning just to the east of Cuba after having wrecked a path of destruction through the Turks & Caicos Islands. After a week of being pretty much dead center of the path of the powerful storm which has fluctuated between a cat 3 & 4, it looks as if we may be spared a direct hit as it seems to be following a more southern path.

Daisy boards up.

We aren’t out of the “cone of destruction” yet, but it certainly is looking far better than it did 48 hours ago. The entire Keys are under a mandatory evacuation which means that almost all the tourists and a decent percentage of locals have left town. After spending the better part of the weekend boarding up our home and work, we have put our plans to depart on hold pending the track of the storm. Having been through this more than a few times, we are prepared for whatever comes.



September is traditionally a slow time in Key West, but the town seems a virtual ghost town when a storm threatens. We haven’t been completely devoted to storms, life has gone on. Football season is underway and Key West High has already had a couple of games, defeating Miami Beach before losing to county rivals Marathon on Friday.

Marathon Dolphins beat Key West





Also we were able to help our friend Eileen Quinn celebrate her 50th birthday at her big party at the Bottlecap last week. It was a great party, and Eileen was resplendent in celebration of her big day. There was a wonderful eclectic mix of people, despite the threatening weather from last week’s passing storm.

Eileen





Kathy & Carla

This year has been particularly active, at least for us, and we still have another two months of season left. Hopefully this Ike monster will leave us unscathed. I found an interesting video on youtube from a site called crazykeywest.com (link below) that captures pretty well what Key West is like before a big storm. Check out the video.




Crazy Key West