I moved to South Beach exactly three days before Wilma hit. I watched the storm from a high floor at the Marriott South Beach, as waves and rain raged surfers hit the beach, and cops followed soon after to keep them out of the water. Only in Miami. Spent a good amount of time the next driving around the next day to view the destruction. Hotel Victor had become Hotel ictor, palm branches and telephone poles were down everywhere, I saw broken hurricane impact windows, and there was a huge crack in the front of my building that made it look as if my balcony was about to fall apart. We didn’t have power for ten days, although it was back on Ocean Drive within 48 hours. Living in Miami for the next four years, I learned a lot about hurricane preparedness. As important as water and flashlights are, the crappiest part of the hurricane and it’s aftermath was boredom and  bad attitudes. Entertainment is needed. Also alcohol. For your pleasure, and with a little help from our awesome Facebook friends, I have compiled below a playlist of storm-themed songs, a drink recipe, and some other sanity essentials. Enjoy, and most of all, stay safe!

Drink of choice: Dark and Stormy

Recipe:

¼ lime per drink

4 ounces dark rum ( I like them strong, like this storm is supposed to be storm, but usually the recipe calls for 2 or 3 ounces)

Ginger Beer (try to get one with real ginger)

Fill glass with ice, squeeze lime over ice and drop in glass, pour in rum, then ginger beer, garnish with more lime if you like.

Misc Must Haves:

1. Board Games and Playing Cards

2. Extra propane for the grill

3. A pan you can use on the grill to boil water, fry eggs, etc

4. Portable DVD player

5. Car chargers for phones, etc

6. Print books, for when the iPad or kindle runs out of charge.

Playlist:

Pre Hurricane Songs:

1. Anticipation – Carly Simon

2. I Wanna Be Sedated – The Ramones

3. I Hate Everyone – Get Set Go (For supply shopping)

4. (Don’t Fear) The Reaper – Blue Öyster Cult

Hurricane Songs:

5. Rock You Like A Hurricane – Scorpions

6. All Along The Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix

7. Shelter From The Storm – Bob Dylan

8. Box of Rain – Grateful Dead

9. Who’ll Stop The Rain – Creedance Clearwater Revival

10. Riding The Storm Out – REO Speedwagon

11. Rainy Days and Mondays – The Carpenters

12. It’s The End Of The World As We Know It – R.E.M.

13. Like A Hurricane – Neil Young

14. Riders On The Storm – The Doors

15. Tuesday’s Gone – Lynyrd Skynyrd

16. Make You Feel My Love – Adele

17. Run To The Hills – Iron Maiden

18. Dancing In The Dark – Bruce Springsteen

19. A Cold Wind Will Blow Through Your Door – Bill Ricchini

20. Run To The Hills – Iron Maiden

21. She’s Like The Wind – Patrick Swayze & Wendy Fraser

22. Gimmie Shelter – Rolling Stones

23. Stormy Monday – Allman Brothers Band

24. The Tide Is High – Blondie

25. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall – Bob Dylan