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Published: September 26th 2011
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Lighthouse
Great food, visiting, and great place.Day of Departure
Flight is scheduled for 1:05, but since it is international, a 2 hour arrival window is 'suggested'. We got to the airport about 10:45, made it through security with normal delays (My insulin pump in hand through the body scanner). All other stuff in the baskets. Get dressed again, shoes on, and go down to wait for the plane to board. Passport checks, we are good to go.
Mike and Gail are leaving Indianapolis and are scheduled to arrive an hour or so before us, so they can get groceries and stuff before we land. Opps, a landing light on the wing is out, so they are grounded in Indy until a new light is found (this is a daylight flight right? and don't you have light bulbs on hand for times like this) Hey, duck tape works fine.
So, they miss their connection in Atlanta, and now have to go through Miami, and will be arriving at 7:00PM. We arrived about 3:45PM. They called Luis to come pick us up at the airport and take us to the house. Great move, because the roof top restaurant was closing, and the mosquitoes were hungry.
He
opened the house, and we settled in to wait for our hosts to arrive. They stopped at the store for groceries, because it was Saturday, and on Sunday NOTHING is open for business, except a few tourist traps, but store parking lots were bare, so they had to get supplies before 9:00PM.
They did, and we visited until late, and turned in. A good night was had by all.
Day One on the Island
We got up, had coffee, breakfast, and discovered that the internet was indeed back up and working. It had been down since we pulled in last night. After connecting to the WWW we checked out our Skype connection and checked on family that was online. Made a video connection and was happy with line quality after initial connection feedback.
We toured the island, from East to West, North to South. The Island is very beautiful, and kept up well. It was not like Jamaica where we saw a lot of run down shanties and poverty everywhere. Even the back roads, passing by the local neighborhoods were well maintained and looked nice.
We saw lots of nice views of the Gulf, from East,
West, North and South view points. There were some sandy beaches and some coral beaches, where you can't walk without shoes. People have cut a path through the coral to the Gulf for access to the water.
For lunch, we opted to try one of Mike and Gail's favorite spots, that is open on Sunday. It is a Gulf side grill, and has excellent seafood and burgers, salads, and snacks. We ordered the grilled Mahi-Mahi burger, and Salmon burger. Comes with fries or salad. We opted for the salad, but Mike and Gail also ordered us some calamari and fries to warm up. We watched the waves break on the sand, watched people stroll on the beach, and relaxed and let the rain stop. We were outside under umbrellas, so it didn't get us wet, and since we hadn't seen what rain looked like in a while, stayed out under the umbrella and watched the drizzle.
We got up, and then decided to see some more of the Island, perhaps some tourist spots. Cruise ships don't dock on Sunday, so maybe they aren't open. Well, the Turtle Farm was open, as was the Swim with the Dolphins. We
Blow Hole
A hole in the coral rocks causes waves to blow up and make a spout. stopped at both, and were entertained by turtles, big ones, and dolphins. We didn't sign up for a picture of us feeding them, or playing with them, but watched them romp around a while.
Then we went to went to watch the Turtles, across the street. We had a bonus photo opt at this location. An Iguana started walking around, and I wanted to get a picture of it. It didn't cooperate, so I walked up to it and it did walk away. (See video)
We cruised the rest of the island and returned home. The internet was down again. We saw the phone company working on the road up from the house when we left, and suspected it might be unstable for a while. It is. But we are lucky to have it while we are awake. :-)
Mike, Gail and Vernell made supper for us, fresh Lemon Sole, broccoli and olive bread toast. Delicious.
Activities for the rest of the day included reading, and visiting.
Day Two on the Island
We began the day with breakfast, reading the paper, working the crosswords from LA Times and USA Today. We made a
Hell on the Island
There is a spot called "Hell" and it is coral from beneath the land, thrust up by a quake many years earlier. The rocks are very jagged and I can imagine why people called it hell. list for groceries, then went shopping at the Hurleys Supermarket. Closest thing the HEB on the Island.
Returned home, and then ate sandwiches for lunch on fresh bread. Then planned for the afternoon activities. We are going to play in the 'pool', the big one behind the house. A little snorkeling, some swimming, and kayaking. I know what you are thinking, maybe not all of us would participate. We have pictures showing the effort made by all.
We snorkeled, for about 45 minutes, then returned to the land to try the kayak. Mike and I went kayaking for a little over an hour. We snorkeled some more ont he coral reef, saw beautiful fish, several types of coral, then after an hour or more, I told Mike that we need to go back, because my insulin pump is on the bed and probably beeping like crazy to be reconnected. So returned to get washed off, and dressed for supper.
I got inside, and looked all over for my pump. I know I left it on the bed with my watch and stuff, but it wasn't there. Oh, I see it, it is on my waist on my
trunks. It swam in the gulf for over an hour, and was not working correctly, can you believe that. So, what am I going to do.
Gail called the pharmacy, to see about insulin pens, like I used to use, and they had three. I called the pump manufacturer, and they could ship me a replacement tomorrow, overnight, to the address of record. Uh, no, I need it at 1428 Bodden Town Rd, Grand Cayman. Oh, we don't ship out of the USA, sorry.
So, hello Todd & Yvette. They are going to ship it to you. Sorry. I will get it when I return, because it needs to be signed for when delivered. Until then, I have purchased needles, vial of insulin, and am injecting just like I used to. So, don't have to worry about getting the pump wet this week anymore.
So, thanks to Gail's connections, I'm hooked up again.
We went out to supper, at an Italian restaurant, with a dynamite view of the water and a beautiful sunset view. Pictures included.
On the way, we stopped off to get a picture of a world famous tree. The Facebook Cayman Island
Hell on Cayman
Very rougged looking terrain. Shoe Tree.
Day Three on the Island
We started with a good breakfast, and then decided today was hunting day. Hunting for things to bring back for loved ones.
We went downtown to the market, where all the boat people go when they get onshore to shop. :-)
We found lots of neat places, and went to a glass blowing shop that Mike and Gail had seen, but never stopped when they were opened. Today we stopped in, and saw very many beautiful glass art. Glass plates, bowls, glasses, and other various dust catchers. While in there, it started raining, then raining hard, and continued to rain for an hour, so there was only one more customer in the shop, she left in the rain, and we waited until it slowed down, then left to find lunch.
There is a Guy Harvey shop and restaurant, downtown, just a short ride from the glass shop. They have a roof with a view of the harbor. There was a Carnival ship, The Destiny, in port, and lots of people shopping also. We had a great lunch, walked around a bit more, and returned home.
One thing that we have seen since we have been here, and Mike says it is common, and that is the roaming chickens. Range chickens, roaming around, looking for food. I just keep thinking that with the people making jerk chicken so freely, that these guys would be living on borrowed time.
After we got back home, some napped, Vernell got some sun on the deck, and I worked on computer. Then got up and we went and played in the pool. The Caribbean Sea is so clear, it is like swimming in a pool filled with salt water.
A very enjoyable day, relaxing day, and a server that is offline and can't be reached, so can't work on it.
Day Four on the Island
Had breakfast, and after the dishes, I started trying to find out why our server is off of the network. When people arrived at the office, I found out that they couldn't get to the internet, and people outside, couldn't not see our network, no email, no internet period.
I worked with Grady on it until lunch, when we had to leave. I gave him some information that should
be in the router/modem but that did not match what it was suppose to be. I left it in good hands with him getting it fixed.
We went to North Sound, and had a great time swimming with the Stingrays, feeding them, and then snorkeling looking at some fantastic corals, fish, green moray eel, lobster, and a lot of very colorful fish.
Back on the boat, back to land, and back home. Found out that the internet connection at work is down because Comcast changed the IP addresses, gateway, and did not tell us. It worked for several days, but went down when they assigned our address to another customer, so could not put it back. So we have to configure DNS, firewall, router, all with new IP address, and subnet masks.
Supper was at the Lighthouse. A marvelous place. We sat out over the water, heard the waves breaking beneath us, and had a great supper, then back home. Server still offline, so perhaps Firewall will get configured tomorrow.
Less text, more pictures today.
Day Five on the Island
After getting up and eating breakfast, reading the paper, working the crosswords
from USA Today and LATimes, we went downtown to the Market again to finish our shopping duties. No boats in dock, so crowd was very small.
Then, back in the car, and heading back home, but decided to have lunch at "Over The Edge", which is a place that locals go. Very laid back, no one is in a rush, deck outside over looking the North Caribbean Sea. We ate while watching fish feed, Stingray searching for food, little (3 ft) tarpon scampering around in the water. The water is so clear, it is amazing.
Back home, for nap time, and some more server and internet problem solving with Comcast back in the states. Everyone took naps except the geek. He worked with Comcast to see why there was no connection in Houston.
Reading is a big event today, then out to swim in the pool out back. Mike and Gail saw 6 Lobsters, some Conch which sounded great for supper. The only problem, was season is closed. So, I guess we eat fish, potatoes, broccoli for supper with ice cream for desert. (You can't leave it in the freezer too long, so someone has to eat
Lets snorkel
You put this on your face, then stick your face in the water. See. it! Sign us up!)
We may work a puzzle tonight for our entertainment.
Stay tuned for tomorrow. Last day for fun here. Sat. is early rising, close the house up, pack and head for the security line, and clear customs.
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James
non-member comment
Looks like fun!
Great pictures. Very impressed you made it on the kayak for over an hour, I usually paddle out and about for 30 minutes before my legs fall asleep and back starts to burn...you can\'t exactly \"adjust\" your position without tipping the boat over. Snorkeling is step 1. Step 2 is strapping a SCUBA tank to your back :-) Sounds like a awesome trip! (I can\'t watch the video on this device, no flash. I\'ll look when I\'m back online with the PC).