Irma Update to the Travel Guide

An update for our award-winning Quixotic Key West & the Lower Keys Travel Guide is now available for download. It includes changes to attractions, hotels and businesses as a result of Irma. If you are planning on visiting the Keys, this is a great time to do it as lodging rates are at an all-time low, plus all visitors help immensely in the economic recovery here. Download the update at: http://www.quixotictravelguides.com/update—irma.html

If you have not yet purchased our guide, we think now would be an especially good time to do so. Any sales will help us put our home back together. Available on amazon. https://www.amazon.com/West-Lower-Keys-Travel-Guide/dp/0998858900/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1505761777&sr=8-9&keywords=key+west+travel+guide

Photo: the Jamaican dogwood and shefflera trees are greening up again after Hurricane Irma — as are the rest of the Keys.

Hurricane Irma, Tales from the Lower Keys

Photo: Radar of Hurricane Irma making landfall over the Florida Keys. The red pin is our house on Cudjoe Key. Phone screenshot was taken from our evacuation site in Sebring.

The trip odometer read 6,965 miles when we pulled into our driveway on Cudjoe Key. It was Sunday. We had just returned from an epic road trip that included traveling to Wyoming to witness the solar eclipse. Three days later, we pulled out of our driveway as evacuees. We never imagined that our tiny Key would soon be infamous as the epicenter of one of the most powerful storms on record.

The eye made landfall over our house, and 12 hours later hurricane Irma centered her eye over our evacuation site in Sebring, Florida. The aftermath is an experience to behold: the largest evacuation in our country’s history, millions without power, a swath of destruction, and a coming together of kindness and resilience.

We were fortunate to be able to return just a few days after the hurricane had passed, reporting for local media. Over the coming days, we will post some of these experiences, and the tales of those we meet along the way, as well as recovery resources for those living in the Keys. If you’re interested, please follow the blog and feel free to contact us: karuna@quixotictravelguides.com and steve@quixotictravelguides.com.