What major historical events do you remember?

Kiki Meets Katrina

For three quarters of my life, my birthday celebrations meant everything. Epic parties started at I do not know…maybe age 5 when my Mom threw me a birthday party in my backyard at 36 Grant Avenue. Anyone who has visited that address knows that the backyard was beyond tiny. Ok not tiny but “boutique-ish”. A small patio surrounded by lush rows of grass and incredible wall of rosebushes. That set the scene for an ice cream sundae party to beat all ice cream sundae parties. Mommy handmade aprons and smocks for all of the girls and cloth napkins for all of the boys. We had a row of ice cream tubs with every type of topping you could think of. I do remember being in a dairy and sugar coma while staggering around with a sharp tack in my hand looking to pin the tail on the donkey. Each birthday that followed was wonderful. Because it fell in August, many of my birthdays were celebrated on family vacations as we always had a trip planned a few weeks before school started. As I got older, my friends and family would plan weekends away, Karaoke bashes, Scavenger Hunts, and days at the beach followed by a night out with dinner and our favorite band.

My 40^th birthday had arrived, and Ernie booked one of my dream vacations. Key West. The plan was to fly into Fort Lauderdale in Florida, rent a convertible, and drive to Key West stopping to sample local food stops along the way. My hair was flowing behind me in the red Chrysler Sebring convertible as we cruised Route 1. As we drove closer to Key West, I noticed that I no longer needed my sunglasses. The clouds increased. It was now 3 o’clock in the afternoon and I realized that it was pitch black ahead of us. We looked at each other and said “storm.” 

We did not stop. We just said let us push on. Rumor had it that Jimmy Buffet would be performing at Margaritaville that night and the newly turned forty girl was not going to miss it. When we arrived at our hotel down by the piers, we were greeted by a staff that explained we would have lots of alone time that weekend since most travelers had cancelled due to the storm. We are from Long Island. What is a little rain? We lived through countless Nor’easters as kids. Tropical storms by the beach were so damn common. We were ready for a little wind-soaked adventure. 

By dinnertime, the black skies outside were now purple. A category F2 tornado had just touched down in Marathon Florida (50 miles east of Key West). The airport had been wiped out. Hmm. This was not such a good sign but hey it was my birthday celebration. Yay me! The resort recommended that we dine with them due to expected power outages so at least we would be close. After a delicious dinner we decided to walk towards Duvall Street. Jimmy Buffett awaits I thought.

The lobby door of the hotel swung open on its own. The wind picked us up under our arms and pushed us a few feet. A WALL of rain hit us like a plate of glass. Within minutes the rain was up to our calves. I felt something hit my leg. I looked down and I saw two garden snakes swimming in a pool around me. I wanted to pass out. I wanted to run too but running in this volume of water was damn near impossible. Why we kept walking, I do not know. We looked around and realized we were not alone. We kept walking until we hit Sloppy Joe’s on the corner of Duvall Street. The manager motioned they were open and to come on in. How? I thought. Waves of water were now moving in the street. Suddenly a small wave appeared and literally carried us over a sandbag into Sloppy Joe’s open front door. What an entrance!

A few beers later, we decided to walk down the street to Margaritaville in search of Jimmy. No dice but we certainly had the chance to hang with absolutely genuine Parrotheads before heading back to our resort. The night had just begun. The power was on and off all night. Fire alarms were stuck in the “ring” and “on” position the entire night. We did not have any tv and were relying on our step above a flip phones to keep us informed of what was going to be one of the most momentous storms in our U.S. history. 

We crawled down the stairs to breakfast the next morning. The staff did their best to make our morning complete but in the end all we could do was drink copious amounts of coffee on the back deck and watch the waves crash over the rocks in the harbor. The water level rose to record heights and a storm surge took over the entire first floor of the hotel. Part of the ocean I didn’t even have a name for were literally floating out of every nook and cranny of the ground floor. There was nowhere to go. We were trapped in the rain. Walks downtown even in the monsoon were no longer encouraged as downed wires would possibly electrocute walkers. 

Somehow, we made it through night two. Sunlight found its way through the window and kissed my cheek good morning. We quickly showered and headed downtown. The water had receded and we found some incredible eateries to have breakfast and lunch in. The news reports were up and running. Cell service was partially restored and my family was frantically checking in. They called it Hurricane Katrina. It was expected to move below the Keys and crash into Gulf. Instead, it had nudged north and grazed Key West as a Cat 2 hurricane. After another day…well you know the story. You know that history now contains the deadly storm that destroyed New Orleans. We were stunned. We had made the best of the storm but others were not so lucky. 

Three days earlier I was smiling and breathing in the salt air as I soaked in the ride in the convertible like I was Geena Davis in “Thelma and Louise”. Now, I was a grateful girl having had the chance to just make the best of it in what could have been a much more powerful storm than it was. That was the last birthday where I celebrated in such grand style. Lately my birthdays are beyond “low-key” (no pun intended). I am happy to be here after weathering many more storms since my 40^th trip around the sun – a historic event that I somehow lived through.