Surviving Sandy Part 1

Boy what a week...

It started off on Saturday when my mom came to visit us.  It was so great seeing her and I was so excited to have an exploring companion to share the city with! There were SO many things I wanted to show her, and I couldn't wait to get started!  In the back of my mind I was a little concerned about this so-called threat that hurricane Sandy was posing...

But it didn't stop us from having some fun. 

This is my mom, btw :)

We went on a food tour through Greenwich (Gren-ich).  It was AMAZING!  We stopped at many famous and/or authentic restaurants throughout the village.  From Murray's Cheese Shop and Palma's Italian Bistro to O&Co and Rocco's Bakery we tasted so much.  Mmmm.  Delicious! Highly recommend this if you ever go to New York.

Pizza, excuse me, Pie from Joe's.

Anyway, by the end of the tour we started to see the preparation for Sandy make its way through the Village.  Restaurants that were usually bursting at the seams with people had closed up shop for the day.  Windows were being boarded up and sand bags were being strategically placed in front of doorways.  There was an announcement made that they Subways were shutting down at 7pm, and while we were enjoying our prosciutto wrapped dates about 70% of the people on our tour found out that their flights home had been canceled indefinitely!  

Geez, Sandy, way to put a damper on our appetizer course...

After the tour ended we decided to go to the south end of Manhattan just so we could see it before the storm hit.  This was the area that was predicted to be hit hard by the storm and threatened to be swallowed up by the surge. When we arrived it was the first time I started to think that the hurricane was actually going to make landfall.  Bowling Green Park was abandoned, and the only people out on the boardwalk were news reporters. Just 7 hours prior my mom and I were there enjoying coffee, and it was packed with people.  Now it was totally empty! 

I was so glad that the three of us went there since I really wanted to show them a spot that I stumbled upon one day while walking around.  It is the 100 foot stretch of...I can't really describe it, but it is unlike any area that I had seen before.

 


























It is so beautiful! Little did I know that this would be the last time I would get to see this place before the hurricane ripped it apart. 

We went back to the subway and headed home on one of the last trains of the day.  We decided to "stock up" on supplies just in case and arrived at the grocery store at the same time as everyone else in Manhattan!  The lines were so long that they took up entire isles.  We split up.  Adam went and got a spot in line while my mom and I scavenged practically empty shelves for non-perishables, water, and whatever else we could find. Almost everything was gone.

So 8 gallons of water, fruit and cream oatmeal, 2 cans of tuna, tortillas, some other stuff, and a 6 pack of beer later we made it home.  Adam immediately filled up our pots, tea kettle, wine decanter, and all of our other containers with water - just in case.  At this point we had no idea what the next 48 hours were going to look like.

to be continued...