June 5, 1995- Tropical Storm Allison first strikes near Alligator Point and later near Saint Marks. Allison produces a 6.8 foot (2 m) storm surge in Apalachee Bay as well as scattered tornadoes, with damage amounting to $860,000. <\/p>\n
This was the results of the hurricane brewing in the Gulf before our summer vacation to St. George Island – our favorite beach to vacation on. Pam had suggested that we monitor this storm but my Taurus bull-headed nature said it would be okay and we didn’t need to bother. So we loaded the kids and drove the 7-1\/2 hours to St George island. We stopped at real estate office to pick-up the key to the house we rented for the week only to find out there was a mandatory evacuation of the island. The I-told-you-so’s came fast and furious and the kids were bummed -we were tired and cranky from over 9 hours in the car. <\/p>\n
We followed the evacuation route to Tallahassee and checked into a small hotel room, After turning on the news and hearing about the several feet of flooding expected for Tallahassee we decided to check out and travel the 7 hours back home. The kids were moaning in the back about how this was the “worst vacation ever”. But, when we got to I75 Pam and I decided to head south for Orlando instead of north for Athens. We arrived in Orlando at 2AM and found a room at the Marriott World Center. I was never so grateful for a minibar – after 18 hours of driving and navigating I75 at night, under construction and in a driving rain – I needed a beer. <\/p>\n
The next morning we woke to sunny skies and better temperaments – the temperaments got even better when the kids saw the wrap around pool with an island, waterfalls and slides – and for mom and I, a Tiki bar. We spent most of the day having a great time at Sea World and that evening we all played “dolphin” in the pool until 11PM. <\/p>\n
In the morning of our third day in we called the real estate office and found that the Island was open and safe – so we checked out and drove back to St George Island checked in our house and had a great rest of the week. The body surfing had never been so much fun with the big waves from the passing tropical storm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
June 5, 1995- Tropical Storm Allison first strikes near Alligator Point and later near Saint Marks. Allison produces a 6.8 foot (2 m) storm surge in Apalachee Bay as well as scattered tornadoes, with damage amounting to $860,000. This was … Continue reading