Pre Evacuation

I am sure many of you have been watching Dorian for quite some time. I remember when it was just a X on the NHC map and look how grown up it is now. Well Hurricane or not we had plans.

We had a wedding to attend in Columbia, SC on Sunday night. All week I watched the storm, wondering if we needed to evacuate the South Florida family members and whether we would be safe.

By Friday night it looked like Miami was going to survive and that we had some time to wait for the storm. As a precaution we packed an extra bag with several days of clothe in case we could not return as planned.

On Saturday we headed North into building storms. Initially it looked wile we would need to head far West to avoid the rain but a sizable hole opened and after a small detour around Brunswick, we headed up to Columbia.

Weather in SC was warm in the afternoons but nice in the morning.  Saturday we spent time wandering downtown and visiting USC.   There was also a street fair which was a weekly event with lots of food and fun.

I like the school bus converted to a BBQ.  Why didn't I ride this bus?

Saturday night we had a Rehearsal dinner and spent time hanging out with people.  We were very well fed, great food at every turn.  I personally parked in front of the candy bowls.

The wedding was beautiful and successful in that they are now married.  We then headed off for a party.  More food and friends.  Lots of fun, and we even dressed up.

Optimistically on Sunday afternoon I had filed our return for Monday. Forecast was for morning fog in The Carolinas and afternoon storms at home. The best shot looked to be for a mid day trip.  The news started to sound grim and after the wedding it looked pretty bad.

It was announced that I-26 would become 1 way away from Charleston starting noon Monday.  A decision had to be made, go home or hunker down.  We were pretty sure it would not be a big event in Jacksonville but then I had that nagging voice, did we really want to sit through another hurricane when a safe spot was an hour away...

We had to make a decision and and decide, we did.  Jacksonville would wait, Monday would be a new adventure.