Irene, I hate you

Top 10 Favorite Hurricane Irene Moments

10. Pre-hurricane party at my house, with a screening of Top Gun and Dirty Dancing

9.  Waiting in line at the grocery store in a line wrapped around the grocery store

8.  The drive to Binghamton at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning when my parents convinced me to evacuate

7. Cracker Barrel and a movie on a Saturday night

6. Wal-Mart

5.  PF Changs for lunch while working in our Stamford office

4. Seeing three great movies!  (Win Win, One Day, The Help)

3. Staying in two raunchy hotel rooms where the prices were double what they normally would be

2.  Cracker Barrel, PF Changs, Sonic and Wal-Mart (all places I miss dearly)

1. The fact that I should never have left New York, where power was never lost, the streets were never flooded, and the skyscrapers next to our building never shot shards of glass at our windows at 100 mph.

This list pretty much sums up the last 72 hours of my life.  With no intention to flee the city on Friday night, I braved my local Trader Joes for some items for the “Bring it on Irene” party to be held in my apartment that evening.  Actually it was just a movie night for the girls in my small group, who thought it a crime that I had never seen Top Gun or Dirty Dancing.  So we did just that.  Pigged out and watched our blasts from the past.  As we were all sitting there, we continued to get text messages from our friends and family expressing their concern about the danger promised to the area by the media.  I promised my mother I would reassess in the morning.

When I woke up (early I might add) on Saturday, I just decided to call some hotels in nearby cities.  What I quickly discovered was that they were all sold out, which made me panic a bit.  When I finally found a HOJO in Binghamton who had a suite remaining (which she didn’t even reveal until I told her I was a hurricane evacuee) I immediately booked it.  My roommate opted out of the trip, so I loaded up my stuff and headed to Connecticut for my car.  I honestly think I was more concerned about it than my own safety.  The trip was just a tad over three hours, I was able to check in upon arrival, and head straight to bed for a much needed nap.  That night I explored the area, went to Cracker Barrel and to the movies after.  Of course, all we had there was rain. 

Yesterday after shopping a bit (Wal-Mart has become a favorite since moving to NYC…absence makes the heart grow fonder I guess) and my second movie of the weekend, I ventured back towards the city.  Driving through the Catskill Mountains was quite an adventure, one which I preferred much more pre-flood.  I made it as far as Middletown, NY where the state troopers were blocking the road and re routing us away from the Palisades/Westchester area.  Everything was flooded and blocked.  I panicked.  All of the hotels in the area were sold out for the evening, and it was getting dark.  To top it all off, I was being asked to work the next day!  I frantically drove to Newburgh, where the only place I found with vacancy was the Knights Inn.  And boy, oh boy, was that unfortunate.  I know I should have been grateful to have a room, but I guess it was the leaky ceilings, the smoky smell or the fact that it looked like a crack den that turned me off.  At least the air worked!  I slept like a baby after shoving two chairs against the door and leaving the bathroom light on like a five year old. 

Not knowing what to expect this morning, I got up and left the hotel driving in the direction of Norwalk, CT.  Got there with no problem, but the trains to the city still weren’t running.  So I found our office located in Stamford and “worked” from there for a few hours.  And by worked, I mean continually monitored the MTA website for updates.  Thankfully, they reopened the Metro North train around 4:00, and I am currently making my way home now.  What a weekend!