Best Laid Plans and Hurricane Matthew

You know the old saying about “best laid plans.” When I flew to East Coast earlier this month for a family wedding I built in time to visit the Nation’s Oldest City—St Augustine. But as I said sometimes vacation plans don’t turn out as we expected.

The morning my sister, Pat, and I flew out the Sacramento airport we learned that St Augustine was in the path of a huge tropical storm. US Air Force bases were being closed and planes were being moved inland. The East Coast (from Florida to North Carolina) was preparing for a potential hurricane. As the days passed the tropical storm was upgraded to a category 4 then a category 5 hurricane. (To put this in terms a California girl can understand—this hurricane compares to 7.0 magnitude earthquake.) We cancelled our reservations in St Augustine and prayed for the safety of those in the path of the hurricane.

Matanzas Inlet Beach - photo courtesy of FloridasHistoricCoast.com

The weekend of the wedding Hurricane Matthew ravaged the coasts of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas. Lives were lost, homes were flooded, and businesses were closed. We were inland Georgia and we were missed by the storm. While Hurricane Matthew was beating up St Augustine we were at a lovely outdoor wedding in Valdosta, Georgia. The Old City St Augustine was closed following the Hurricane and I flew home to California without visiting St. Augustine.

But St Augustine is still standing. Hurricane Matthew gave it his best shot, but St Augustine didn’t get to be the Nation's Oldest City without weathering bigger storms than that. I made a quick check with the St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & the Beaches Visitors and Convention Bureau I’m happy to report that Florida's Historic Coast is up and running and welcoming visitors as always. Lodging, restaurants, tours, attractions, nightlife — it's all there. Sadly I am back in California and my vacation in St Augustine will have to wait. St Augustine remains on my bucket list and I encourage all of you to visit, too.

For information on St Augustine visit their website Florida’s Historic Coast.