Love Can Conquer All, Even Hurricane Irene

On the day Hurricane Irene was due to arrive one local resident wasn't looking to leave. In fact Eric Jacob was trying his best to get back to Long Island.

The newly-minted son-in-law of Nina and Jim Roy (of Babylon Village businesses Chocolate by Morgan's Bay and Outboard Barn, respectively), Jacob and his wife, Erin, had been honeymooning in Cancun as Irene headed for Long Island. 

"We couldn't get back with our regular tickets. The lines for the airline were into forever. When we were told we could only re-book for September 2 at the earliest, we decided to let them re-route us and get home any way we could," related Jacob.

The trip included a flight from Cancun with stops in Dallas, Chicago and Washington, D.C., and arriving at Reagan Airport around noon on Sunday. At that point the Jacobs finally hopped off, choosing to rent a car for the remainder of their connect-the-dots journey.

"We spent Sunday driving up I-95 toward Long Island," said Jacob, noting the driving went extra smoothly. "We got here in only about four hours. There was nobody on I-95. it was like a ghost town."

Jacob said part of the haste to return was because his wife is an art teacher who needs to be back to school next week. He is in school for civil engineering.

Upon finally arriving on Long Island Jacob was grateful for many things: to find his property in Islip in good shape; that he had the foresight to purchase vacation insurance for only $300; that he has terrific new in-laws who just happen to specialize in fixing boats and producing chocolate.

For a guy who got married on August 19, just before an earthquake hit and a hurricane came on the scene, he still considers himself a lucky man with a marriage that is off to a very good start.