Author: Robert (Page 1 of 21)

Our vacation was cut short yesterday, due to the anticipated arrival of Hurricane Irene to the Jersey shore this weekend.  On Thursday afternoon, we knew that the governor had issued an evacuation order for all of Cape May county starting at 5:00 AM Friday morning; later that night while Edith and I were trying to dodge buckets of rain at Bay Village in Beach Haven, we discovered that the evacuation order was extended to all of Long Beach Island, beginning at 8:00 AM the next morning.

The weather this past week at LBI was pretty much exactly as we would have ordered it, if we could:  hot and sunny days, perfect for grabbing a beach chair, umbrella, a good book, and parking in the sand for several hours.  The water was also nice – except for some extra jellies on Tuesday, and of course the surf became more rough as Irene approached Florida.  Surf City had spent a lot of time and money this past year to widen the beach, bury the jetties and continue to preserve the dunes, but the stormy weather from the previous week had done a serious job in eroding much of the beach below the high tide line.  Following Thursday night’s storms, the pounding surf turned the high tide line into a cliff.

Overall, vacation was good – time off away from work is always welcome, and the kids enjoyed their time at our usual beach house on the beach block at 18th Street.  We again rented the upstairs of the house, while Edith’s parents rented downstairs; her brother, his wife and their daughter rented the upstairs of their usual house on the beach, around the corner from ours, and they also brought along Edith’s sister’s daughter so the cousins could have “down the shore” fun, together.  Missing this year were Edith’s other brother and sister-in-law and their three kids, but in some ways it was better!

Anyway, we packed up most of our stuff yesterday morning and loaded the car, before stealing some more time at the beach.  We took a ride up to say goodbye to Old Barney; many vacationers had left early in the morning, giving the island a strange ghost town feel as we drove through North Beach, Harvey Cedars, Loveladies and Barnegat Light.  The Barnegat Lighthouse State Park was closed; Andy’s was closed and boarded up while Kelly’s worked to board up as well.  Edith really did not want to leave – vacation on LBI is just about her favorite thing in the world, and cutting her time there short is genuinely painful for her, but with the reality of the evacuation and the inevitability of the storm (eastbound traffic onto LBI was to be closed at 6:00 PM, and southbound traffic on the Garden State Parkway was closed at exit 98 at 8:00 PM) we really had no other choice.   On the way back from the lighthouse we stopped at the Surf City 5 and 10, where we dragged our feet a bit more, the kids picked up a few more shells for their newly acquired hermit crabs as well as for those already at home, until finally we headed back to the house, completed the load out and prepped the house for Irene, waved goodbye to the ocean and headed down Long Beach Boulevard and across the causeway back to the mainland to pick up the Parkway, northbound for home.  Traffic was not an issue at all – tolls south of the Raritan river were waived for all northbound travelers – and we did not hit any congestion until we exited at Route 287 and the usual 5:00 PM rush hour.  Still, we arrived home in time to unload the car, stow away the beach chairs and fishing gear, to unpack the suitcases and duffles, sort through the laundry, have dinner and an early bedtime.

Edith woke early this morning to search for water and batteries – none were to be found anywhere, but I believe we’re OK with what we have.  I spent the morning taking in the patio furniture and whatever outdoor miscellaneous outdoor items I could: the bird feeders, the hanging plants, the trash cans, laid down the portable basketball hoop, harvested the vacation surplus of cucumbers, eggplants, zucchini, tomatoes and peppers.  I tied down whatever I could not store in the garage, and then proceeded to wait for Irene’s arrival.  We started to feel the initial winds about 2 hours ago, and the rain has been heavy.  I realize this is a slow moving storm, but had anticipated the arrival would have been much earlier, and I fear that Irene will take its time leaving our area as well.  I pray that we are prepared to last the duration.