In our part of the world, Sweet 16 Celebrations have evolved into what some would consider an elaborate wedding. Marissa wanted no part of that. Her wish was to spend her birthday alone with her two brothers and Mom and Dad. My wife, Bettyanne set out to plan something unique. After a lot of planning, the three day celebration was set. We would keep every part a surprise. Day One would start at 2pm, two days before their birthday, with a ride to the airport, destination unknown. Arrive in Florida at Grandpa’s condo (no one else there) on the beach in Boca later that day. Day Two: Back in the car for a ride to Key Largo. Spend the day at Jules Undersea Lodge where we would learn to scuba dive, explore the lagoon and spend the night in the world’s only underwater hotel. Day Three: After surfacing from our overnight saturation dive, back in the car for a ride to Miami. There we would spend the day on a Dolphin adventure, swimming and learning to work with dolphins. Day Four: Back to Boca for a few days on the beach. Great plan right?

The night before we were supposed to leave, Bettyanne called me in to the bedroom to see something. She had the weather channel on and it was showing a hurricane heading to Florida’s west coast. It should hit on our Day One at 3pm., and then turn north and out of the way. If we didn’t get into Florida before it hit, the airports might close and our plans would be ruined. We had to move fast.

We arrived in Florida at 12 noon, seven hours ahead of schedule and three hours ahead of the storm. We would be driving south, the storm would turn north. We stayed on schedule, the storm did not. Katrina was out to get us. We listened to the radio and watched the ominous clouds as we sped south. The new storm track had Katrina cutting across Florida and into the Gulf. We headed to The Keys, well south of the storm track, where we would be safe.

Islamorada is halfway between Key Largo and Key West. We found a nice cottage right on the beech and would stay there for the night. Katrina had the same idea. We assured family members (all screaming on the phone at us) that we were fine and enjoyed a nice dinner as the storm approached. To say it was an experience we won’t soon forget is an understatement.

In the morning, we discovered that Miami was in ruins, so our plans of a dolphin adventure were trashed. The undersea lodge was unaffected, but the lagoon was so churned up that there was zero visibility.

Bettyanne scrambled to save the trip. She managed to get us into Discovery Cove (which was fully booked) for the following day. We would return to Jules Lodge the day after that.

We drove 8 hours, through the backlash of Katrina, toward Orlando and spent a beautiful day at Discovery Cove. Eight hours back to Key Largo that night and we were ready for our diving adventure. The water was murky, 3-4 feet visibility at best, but it was fun learning to dive and we got to see some fish visit our window.

Back to Boca the next day, followed by a call to the airlines to delay our flight home. We needed a few extra days to relax!