12/26/08 Friday: Iguanas and Blowholes on Grand Cayman Leisurely start to the day; DD and DGS had some pool and ray time while she was doing a load of laundry and I did some tidying in the kitchen (can’t get away from housework completely) and made lunch to take along for the afternoon. We headed to the East District again, and went to the Mastic Trail. It goes into what is still a scrubby natural area on the Island. The northside trailhead was a little tricky to spot - it’s right beside a house that has a front wall marked Beware [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday was the Shellabration to end all...today, a nice relaxing (like there can be anything else down here?) day spent at the 'resort;. I have to admit, most days, I am convinced that my son cannot see the hands at the ends of his own arms. But then there are those random shining moments when he comes through, and in a big way. Wednesday was one of Those Wonderful Days. We started with a plan of action; find the bookstore (our favorite author lives here and occasionally signs copies of his latest releases that are sold down here off the rack); [View Full Entry]

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December 25, 2008 Wonderful leisurely day at the resort today. We did a few presents in the morning that I had brought along. DD (dear daughter) started cooking turkey dinner, then we went down the beach and did a holiday photo. DGS (dear grandson) and I did some snorkeling -- it's fairly rocky along this part of the beach, so there are a quite a few different kinds of fish about. Had lunch and relaxed, then DGS and I went down to the pool while DD continued working on the conch shell project. They are pretty heavy, not sure how many [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday, 12/24/08 - Christmas Eve DD and DGS went to the pool for early morning rays after bkfst; I posted some photos, etc. Then we went did a little shopping, mostly for a few extra things to get through the coming two holidays. Had lunch at the condo. Then drove through town to head to east side. Six enormous cruise ships in town - an expected 17,000+ people; it was elbow-to-elbow along the sidewalks in the shopping district in town. The smallest of the ships is the Disney Magic, that DD and DGS got to cruise on with DD’s grandmother as [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday 12/23/08 -- $30.00 for a bottle of rum liqueur! (guess I need to add some more scenic photos along the way as well) Weather kind of stormy today, very windy, pretty cloudy, cooler and some sprinkles. After bkfst, DD and DGS did an early morning basking session in what rays were available - before 10 (they got up way too early!). I am realizing that my blog about this trip is not very exciting for other readers. We don’t dive or party in the evening, so may not be much useful info for other folks. But maybe for families visiting [View Full Entry]

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Dec. 21, Sunday - Moving on down 7 Mile Beach - This is the Life! We went to Eats Café for breakfast, using the Cayman activity guide coupon - had two books, so got two CI$3.99 one egg bkfsts, and one blueberry fluffycake bkfst to share with DGS and among us. No coffee or juice so came out at about CI$16-17.00 with tip. (That’s really inexpensive here, but we just had water to drink, and ordered carefully to see if we could get by doing that). Pretty good, with good service. It’s straight across the street from the Westin and traffic [View Full Entry]

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“Plan on extra fees and increased costs everywhere” We left on Friday and spent the first night in Charlotte, to skip the hassle of getting up early in the morning, dropping off and parking at the airport. The Wingate Inn at the airport has a Park ‘n Fly option, which worked really well for getting to the airport. A decent/pleasant room, the usual marginal lobby breakfast and a shuttle to the drop-off near the check-in location. Saturday: Check-in went fine, lots of people, but lots of desks open; security went fairly quickly. It’s right after the check-in now [View Full Entry]

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I am laying on a beach in Montego Bay, Jamaica. To my left, a heavyset man on his fluffy white bath towel sips gingerly from his pina colada as his pasty white man-boobs develop tell-tale red splotches. Past him on his horizon of a belly, countless other American folk bake in the sun, either sporting extremely large straw hats or torsos idiotically slathered in tanning oils, but all similarly sprawled out on bath towels that are blinding white, riddled with offensive quotations, or a neon color bright enough to assault the eyes. Conversation in English surrounds me, the American accent tinkles [View Full Entry]

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Next up is our holiday trip back to Grand Cayman. We fly out from Charlotte this year on Friday, 12/20 -- should be much less stressful than last year's experience with the Atlanta airport. I'll also be doing a trip report on the Cayman activity guide site, but I hope to be able to add more details here. Why, you may ask, do people who do no scuba diving want to keep going back to Cayman? After all, the Cayman Islands are known most for their spectacular diving. Well, we do a little bit of snorkeling -- even though we don't [View Full Entry]

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Well its been a year since we stepped foot in the swamp, and its been a roller coaster of a year. The financial crisis is well underway and the financial markets and those that depend on them have their work cut out for the next year or two or three............. Having lived in Bermuda for seven years we have been asked many times how the two islands compare, and we certainly do our fair share of comparing the two islands ourselves. With the exception of competing for the right to claim itself as the supreme offshore jurisdiction for hedge fund administration, [View Full Entry]

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