Yes!! We made it!
…through the storm, through our second year of sharing our beautiful island with friends (old & new!), and attained our goals for up grades on SunCatcher!
Our year started off with an early tropical storm in May bringing along with it high winds & heavy rains. We got to experience a mandatory evacuation of guests. We had a lovely family in SunCatcher that week and an official engagement had just happened right on our front deck! He “popped the question” and she said yes! Immediately thereafter they were asked to leave…with a lil assistance from local friends for lodging options, our guests enjoyed some activities in Tallahassee until their return to SGI 2 days later! Beautiful weather greeted them and as luck would have it, they were able to extend their stay for another day!
This past year also found us making multiple trips to SGI as we continue to add touches to our home that make our visits, as well as our guests’ visits, more comfortable and enjoyable. We added new lighting inside and out, more deep seating on the front deck, a screen room under the house for ‘bug free’ outdoor time, and a new king bed in the upstairs master bedroom. We are looking forward to next year’s upgrades; first on the list will be installation of new appliances in the kitchen!
I can’t close out 2018 without a note about Hurricane Michael. What a horrible experience that won’t be forgotten. Don & I were on SGI for the month of October; to visit friends, wrap up some projects, and squeeze in some much needed beach time. Then came news of a tropical storm down south. Within 72 hours the entire island was evacuated. First the visitors on Monday by 5pm then owners were mandatorily evacuated on Tuesday. Our first knowledge of Michael was Saturday night 10/6 and Tuesday 10/9 found us in a Hampton Inn in a small town outside Montgomery. Michael roared up the Gulf like a freight train and brought death and destruction to our Forgotten Coast. There were many tears on my part as we left the island and headed north; unsure if we would have a home or even as island left on our return. The stay in charming little Wetumpka, Alabama was filled with stress while waiting; two days filled with weather channel worst case scenarios and sleepless nights. Thursday, October 11th was heartbreaking as we watched videos of destruction and the death toll started to rise. Michael was to originally make landfall over us, but shifted to the west in the last 6 hours. Our neighboring coastal communities were shattered; charming, “old Florida” Mexico Beach hit the hardest.
St George Island, our little Eastpoint community, and Apalachicola to the west sustained significant damages from high winds and flooding from the the storm surge. Thanks and praise; we had no loss of life and had minimal damage to structures. Some houses were swamped, others sustained exterior wind damage, lots of pools filled with sand and debris, and our lovely beaches were scoured of dunes and sea oats. Our area is quickly rebuilding and rebounding, though, and hopefully this coming summer season will find everyone enjoying island time and Hurricane Michael will be just a bad memory!
We are so looking forward to 2019; our sweet SunCatcher had no damage, our island venues are open for business and our beautiful beach is calling. See you soon on SGI…
SunCatcher is ready!
