Anniversary Interruptus

Husband and I got married three days after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. I was aware of what was going down. But, I also was in my “enchanted bubble” by then. So, the full weight of the tragedy did not hit me until much later. Now on our 5^th wedding anniversary we encountered yet another Hurricane – Earl. I was much more aware of this one. And, I now can only hope hurricanes are not a marital theme.

(I pause now to promise that I will avoid all “shelter from the storm” clichés about marriage from this point forward.)

Back to the story…

Rather than going to Paris (because I’ll never get Husband to set foot in France again) or some other exotic locale, we chose to go to the Outer Banks in North Carolina (OBX) for two full weeks to celebrate our first big anniversary milestone.

We have been going to OBX since we started dating. We skipped one year and vowed never to do that again. By October that sad year, we both were lamenting that the summer just didn’t feel the same without making the slow crawl up Rt. 12 to get to our realty company’s office, without Steamer’s Shellfish to Go steampot dinners cooked on a junker stove in a junker house, without lazy mornings where our biggest decision was about what time – and exactly how close to the waves — we’d like to place our butts in beach chairs on the beach.

So, we went.

The week started out just fine. We stopped at the Weeping Radish pub and brewery (highly recommended) to get our beer supply. Picked up our keys from Resort Realty. Made the trip (with everyone else who landed that day) to the Harris Teeter. And, I found out later that Husband even had arranged to have 18 multi-colored roses to be sent to our beach house. All was going swimmingly.

Then, we turned on the TV.

Big mistake.

That’s where we learned a Hurricane approacheth.

And, let’s just say, I have never spent so much quality time with the Weather Channel than before. It started two full days before Earl was to hit, and which coincidentally was exactly two days before our anniversary.  The exact moment Earl was to (and I quote the Weather Channel) be a major event people clearly were not taking seriously enough, was the exact moment Husband and I said “I do” five years prior. 

We went back and forth. To evacuate or not evacuate. Finally, Currituck County make the call. Leave, they said.

Shoot. I had just unpacked.

By the time Earl did  show up on Thursday  we had migrated inland to Elizabeth City, NC for the night. When the clock chimed midnight, announcing our 5^th wedding anniversary, we were in a rather comfortable king-sized bed at the Hampton Inn. The next day we headed back to OBX right away after hearing Earl (the bane of our celebratory existence) had swept by without so much as a “howdy do.” We got back in time to crack our first Weeping Radish beer for lunch.

Of course, everything was closed. But, we had electricity and zero damage. And, we had enough food (and drink) to pull together a nice dinner of shrimp, potatoes and more beer

We learned quite a few things from this little Earl experience, such as:

1. They say it isn’t where you spend your anniversary, but how. Bull. It’s where. But, for the record, I agree that who you spend it with, is critical.

2. The Weather Channel is full of sensationalistic anchors and on-camera personalities who panic early and often. And, if they believe you aren’t getting with the Panic Program fast enough, they kick it up a notch.

3. Monitoring social media sites, e-mail, web sites and the Weather Channel for two days straight, all at the same time, is not good for anyone’s blood pressure.

4. Husband and I have two completely different definitions for the word “mandatory.” When the officials say “mandatory evacuation,” I hear: Leave. Husband hears: We leave when the corresponding weather data corroborates with the need to leave. It never did. We left anyway.

5. The people in Elizabeth City, NC are some of the most friendly, gracious people I’ve met to date. Highly recommended if you ever find yourself a refugee from OBX due to a hurricane. Time from Corolla? 1 hour, exactly.

6. The Hampton Inn’s advertising “free breakfast” brings families out in droves like nobody’s business.

7. I really should believe Husband about all things related to weather.

8. If you really want to know if a Hurricane is going to be a big deal, talk to an aircraft pilot. They know how to read wind speeds and have cool secret places to go online that tell the Real Story. This is why Husband predicted Hurricane Earl would be No Big Deal in the end.

Four days after Earl chased us from our beach chairs, the roses arrived. Parched from sitting on a truck for however-many days, they still lived. Then, the next day, two more dozen roses arrived. I guess 1-800-Flowers felt guilty. (Of course, Husband bugged the heck out of them to Find The Roses, too.)

I wonder what cataclysmic event will threaten our next milestone anniversary? We will have to go someplace where hurricanes cannot form. Maybe Greenland. Wait. Don’t they get avalanches? And, can roses live in sub-zero temps?