About a month ago my husband and I flew into Philadelphia on the wings of Irene. I'd like to say it wasn't scary but after all the hype about this monster storm, I could say that, yes, I was worried. I've never flown in fog before so when we started our decent and visibility was a whomping big zero, I told myself they would have canceled the flight if there had been any danger. Then the plane began to shake. It was a hurricane after all. I white knuckled the arm rests. Eventually we were below the clouds and the landing was smooth.
My mom, dad and sister all thought we were a bit crazed to go on this vacation but the entire purpose was to see my daughter who had moved to NY a year ago. When she and her husband met us at the airport all was right with the world.
Unplanned we had to stay two nights in Phili. We found the hurricane winds were no worse than a winter storm on the Pacific Coast. I know some of the places were hit hard by winds but as Irene traveled north she lost steam. Yeah, it all turned to rain. We didn't see the flooding because we were never close to rivers.
We spent the time in Phili drinking hurricanes at The Hard Rock Cafe, traveling to Gettysburg, and exploring the old independence square.
We lost two days in Atlantic City but when we finally arrived it was a deserted city. The boardwalk was pristine and there were very few people. I think it at that time it was mostly locals. I gambled my dollar and a friends dollar and lost them both. Darn.
The second week was spent in NY where we encountered the rain from two more hurricanes, Katia and Lee. Why do they have to be PC. Hurricanes should never be given male names. It is a Hur ricane after all. It poured the day we went to Atlantic City. My daughter kept asking if I really was an Oregonian. Hmm... it rains here but not like that. Our Yankee's game was semi rained out. They didn't start it until 11 PM. too late for this girl. Maybe next time.
Flying home the day before 9/11 was also an experience. The plane was nearly empty. I have never been on a plane where I had two seats to myself.
All and all the vacation was great fun.
Irene's a little souvenir shop on the boardwalk in Atlantic City.
