Atlanta to The Reef Resort & to Rum Point

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Geo: 19.3086, -81.2521

Friday, 1/3/14 – We drove to Atlanta
where we met LeeAnne and family and David and Sonja. We all checked
into the Days Inn near the airport where we parked our cars for the
duration of the trip and used their shuttle to get to and from the
airport. The motel was one of the poorer Days Inns that we have
stayed at over the years but not too bad for one night, and the rate
was pretty good. We went to dinner with LeeAnne and family at a
nearby restaurant in the Country Inn & Suites, then back to the
motel and bed for me.

SATURDAY, 1/4/14 – Ate a quick
breakfast at the motel, then caught the 7:30 AM motel shuttle to the
new international terminal at the Atlanta airport for our 10:00 AM
flight to Grand Cayman. The flight was only about 3 hours long, and
we arrived about 1:00 PM at the Owen Roberts International Airport in
George Town. We hoofed it across the road to the Hertz rent-a-car
office where we picked up two Hyundai Elantras. With the $20 charge
per person for four Cayman drivers' permits and liability coverage on
each car, the total was about $425 per car for the 7 days. Not too
terrible. I drove one car and David drove the other, on the left
side of the road, to the Reef Resort, our lodging for the next two
nights. En-route we stopped at Hurleys grocery store and the
beverage store next door to get breakfast and lunch supplies for a
couple of days since the stores would be closed the next day, Sunday.
On the way to the Reef, we passed the “Blow Holes”, a free
roadside attraction where rugged coral rocks, called ironshore, have
been carved by rough waves into caverns. As waves hit the rocks,
water spews into the air, creating one of the best photo sites on the
island. Worth a stop but I wouldn't recommend making a special trip
just for it.

Finally arrived at the Reef around 4:00 PM and
checked into two one bedroom condos and one deluxe suite. The Reef
turned out to be a very nice place with a very long, sandy beach, two
sets of swimming pools, a beach side bar and a full service
restaurant. The one bedroom units had a king size bed in the bedroom
and two pull down Murphy beds in the living area as well as a full
kitchen. The suite just had the one king size bed and a small
kitchenette with only a fridge and microwave. After most of us hit
the water, we took advantage of the bar for a bit before eating
dinner in the very nice restaurant there at the Reef.

SUNDAY,
1/5/14 – Fixed breakfast in the room this morning before Anne and I
went for our morning walk. We walked up the main road toward the
north side of the island for about 2 miles before turning around. At
one point we detoured along a dirt road that led to the coast at the
extreme northeast corner of the island. This area was being prepared
for sale as “prime resort property” but nothing had yet been
built, and we had the area to ourselves. This was a pretty spot, but
the beach was very trashy since no one had cleaned or maintained it
for a long while. It seemed that most of the shorelines around the
island that were not at a resort, or otherwise maintained, had a lot
of trash washed up on them. Unfortunate evidence of too many
uncaring people on and around a small island.

While Anne and
I were walking, David and Sonja had driven to the Queen Elizabeth II
Botanic Park and LeeAnne, Bob, and Maggie had enjoyed the beach and
swimming pools. After fixing lunch in our room, most of us donned
bathing attire and jumped in the warm Caribbean waters and sampled
the snorkeling off the beach there at the resort. There were some
really nice areas with lots of multicolored fish just offshore,
especially near the resort's pier. Dinner this evening was at Tukka,
an Australian themed restaurant a short distance back toward George
Town on the southeastern side of the island. The reef just offshore
from the restaurant was the site of the “Wreck of the Ten Sails”
where in February of 1794, ten merchant ships led by the HMS Convert
ran aground. One version of what happened is that when the first
ship ran aground, a signal was given to warn off the other ships but
was misunderstood as a call to follow closer, and nine more ships
sailed onto the reef. The heroic Caymanians rescued all but 8 of the
ships' crews and passengers.

MONDAY, 1/6/14 – After breakfast, we
all packed up and checked out of the Reef and drove on around the
island to the north side and the Retreat at Rum Point where we would
spend the next 5 nights of our trip. Since we had to check out of
the Reef by 11:00 and check in time at the Retreat wasn't until 4:00
PM, we decided to hike the one hiking trail on the island, called the
Mastic Trail. This is a trail that is about 2.3 miles one way,
located in the center of the island which traverses a Black Mangrove
wetland, stands of Royal Palms and Silver Thatch Palms, abandoned
agricultural land, and rare trees such as Cedar and Mahogany as well
as a Mastic tree from which the trail takes its name. The island had
received a lot of rain this winter, and the trail was very muddy at
the southern end. In fact, it rained off and on most of the day on
that Monday. Lots of ironshore rocks made hopping over the muddy
areas a bit easier, but muddy shoes were inevitable on that southern
portion of the trail. Maggie, our 9 year old granddaughter, was
delighted to see just how much mud she could get on her shoes and
legs while the adults tried, to no avail, to stay mud free. Our
original plan had been to hike the trail to its end, then retrace out
steps back to the southern trailhead. However, once we saw how muddy
the trail was, Bob and I graciously volunteered to return to the cars
and drive to the trailhead at the northern end to pick up the rest of
the hikers. Though I think Maggie at least enjoyed the hike, most
were glad not to have to retrace their steps.

After picking
up the hikers, we drove on to Rum Point. Since we were still a bit
early, we went to the public beach at Rum Point and had lunch at the
Wreck Bar & Grill. A trip to Rum Point beach is an attraction
that many cruise ships include for their passengers; consequently it
can be very crowded at times, as was the case this Monday afternoon.
The Wreck Bar & Grill is an open air spot that offers table
service at the many picnic tables scattered around the area as well
as bar service inside at the few tables inside the building. Our
group of seven commandeered a table inside and we ordered lunch at
the bar. At one point during lunch we were treated to a streaker
running through the building. Actually he was only 5 or 6 years old
but Maggie thought the sight was hilarious, as you can tell by the
picture taken of her just after it happened. Food was very good and
pretty reasonably priced for the island and since it threatened rain,
we were glad for our indoor table. Since I kept bothering the
bartender so much about whether our food had come yet, she finally
told me to sit down and they would bring it to us. I did and they
did. Hectic though it was when rain pushed the crowds inside, we
enjoyed the meal and drinks. After lunch we went next door to the
Retreat at Rum Point where we were able to check in and unload our
luggage. Anne and I shared a two bedroom condo (#23) with LeeAnne
and family while David and Sonja had their own one bedroom condo
(#13). Unpacked and hit the small but very nice sandy beach for a
bit of snorkeling before going to dinner at the Kiabo Beach Bar
located about a mile from Rum Point.
Back to the condos for the
evening.

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