Surviving Sandy Part 2

Being from Arizona and deprived of all the awesome forces of nature except for dust storms - which are totally lame and super dirty - the thought of a hurricane approaching could quite possibly have been the most exciting thing ever.  So, of course the three of us just HAD to ventured outside.  Our apartment is about a block away from the Hudson River, and we wanted to see what it looked like pre-hurricane.  The pier had been closed/mandatorily evacuated, but we snuck on it anyway. We took pictures and used the binoculars to look across the Hudson at New Jersey.  It was started to get cold and windy!  After about 10 minutes we were kicked off by a patrolling squad car.  We were so daring...so brave...

The water hadn't risen at this point but it was starting to get agitated.

I remember looking across the river at Hoboken (the lights in the background) and noticed how we shared the same water front. I would never believe that within the next 24 hours part of that city would be under water.

We headed home for the night.  I have to admit that I woke up several times to look out the window to see the storm's progress.

The next morning the wind was blowing pretty steadily, but I ventured out to see if my breakfast place was opened and much to my delight it was!  I was surprised because the surrounding restaurants were dark.  I guess the employees couldn't get in to work.  It is amazing how public transit is the lifeline to the city and without it everything seems...well...dead.

I met my mom and we headed back home.  Adam's work was canceled for the day so the three of us hunkered down and prepared for the worst.  The news became the background noise that filled our apartment. After about 5 hours, we starting to feel the walls of our tiny place getting smaller and smaller so we decided to do what everyone should do during a hurricane and baked an apple pie!

And what would an apple pie be without vanilla ice cream?  Well not pie at all, quite frankly.  Unfortunately, we didn't grab any on our mad dash through the grocery store, but that did not stop Adam.  When a man wants vanilla ice cream...a man will get vanilla ice cream.  He got all bundled up and headed out into the storm to see what he could find.  

I snapped a picture of him coming home. He actually found a store that was open and had ice cream!  Well done. 

Well now we wanted wine to go with our pie...so guess who went out to get some...I think she just wanted to go out into the storm to be honest. :) I on the other hand stayed inside and took stalker photos of my crazy family going out during a hurricane. 

...and that, ladies and gentlemen, was the extent of our hurricane drama.  Strong wind gusts, lots of rain, and fun running outside.

We were so protected in our area.  We never lost power and didn't have an ounce of flooding.  So many people suffered indescribable loss, damage to their homes, and had to live without electricity for days even weeks. We feel so incredibly blessed.

  

The next day we ventured out to see the destruction of the hurricane.  This is part of Central Park. 

The Intrepid Aircraft carrier is the home to the Enterprise Space Shuttle.  I would not have known that if it weren't for the hurricane destroying it protective canopy that completely blocked it from outsiders getting a free peek at it. 

Charging stations were set up in areas that still had power. People were able to come and charge their electronic devices.  

You can see on the window there is a water line. That is how high the water got from the surge!!  This is an area near the Brooklyn Bridge.  If you look inside the window you can see that all their inventory was destroyed.  A week after the hurricane the store had still not opened back up.  Like I said we were so fortunate! 

On the bright side, my mom and I got to see Evita.  We were able to get student rush tickets in the second row.  I thought it would be too close, but the seats were perfect!  The understudy performed the role of Eva, and she was amazing. Ricky Martin just so happened to be playing the lead role, and he was great too!   

Overall, it was a very eventful couple of days.