Our 25th Anniversary trip to the Cayman Islands, December, 1994
DAY ONE: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17TH, 1994
We left home at 7:00 a.m. for the Atlanta Airport. We had no difficulty finding the airport. We followed the signs to long-term parking. After driving through several rows of vehicles, we began to wonder if we could find a parking space. I remembered my teacher assistant talking about driving around for an hour before she could find a space here at this airport. We did not have an hour to spare. Jay prayed, “Lord, please help us to find a parking space.” We immediately spotted one right at the end of the walkway to the terminal.
Now we were here with no way to get our luggage to the terminal except to carry it (this was before rolling luggage.) Within just a few steps we found some luggage carts tied into a metal box that said “25 cents reward for carts.” Not realizing (duh) what that meant, we scrambled for a quarter. When we rolled a cart to the other end of the metal frame, the sign said, “$1.50.” It was well worth it we thought.
Once we had rolled just a short way into the terminal, we only saw an escalator. Now how do we get the cart up the escalator? We then abandoned our $1.50 cart and carried our luggage up the escalator.
Every desk said “DELTA” so we kept lugging and walking. We asked where the Cayman Airways desk was. They sent us on around the terminal. We walked completely in a rectangle and ended up right back where we had gotten off the escalator. There was the Cayman Airways check-in desk. We felt like Jed Clampett in Hollywood!
After checking our luggage, we boarded the tram for Concourse E, which was the fifth stop. We sped along at quite a rate of speed. If we didn’t hold on, we could find ourselves at the rear of the tram in two seconds flat.
We arrived at gate 10 one hour and fifteen minutes early….typical of us. There we met an Englishman from near London. He was traveling to the Caymans on Holiday to visit some friends which was an annual event every Christmas. He had plans to stay a month. (Must be nice.) He told us many interesting things about the Island and had a map to show us exactly where the Seven Mile Beach was. Our condo was located on that beach.
Claustrophobia set in when we boarded the plane. I had the seat by the window and Jay was squeezed between me and a huge gentleman. The look on Jay’s face was that of panic. I thought for a while he was going to freak out. (He doesn’t even like to be sitting down the row in a pew at church, so I know this was bad for him.) However, we became accustomed to the close quarters.
This was our first time to ride on a jet. It is much more exciting than flying on a plane. You can feel the thrust as the jet lifts off the ground. It is a good thing we are buckled in or we would end up in the rear of the jet.
Soon after departure, they brought lunch. It was a cold chicken sandwich on a hard roll and a small bunch of grapes. Despite the unappetizing look, lunch was quite tasty. The grapes were juicy and sweet and the fruit punch was very satisfying.
Flying over Cuba was a nervous time, but uneventful. We finally landed in the Caymans. It took a while to get through customs, but we soon found ourselves, luggage in hand, on the front entrance of the airport. Jay asked if our condo had transportation (of course not) so we asked the dispatcher to hail us a cab. You don’t get a nice, modern yellow taxi here. We got a brown, beat up ’78 Chevy with a Caymanian lady driver.
Right away we noticed the dash of the car had a Bible and a Streams in the Desert devotion book. When asked what church she attended she said, “Church of God Universal.” We were very soon aware this was not our Church of God.
“We dahn’t believe in weemahn cutting dere hair or wearing maaakeup or jewelry. It is in the Bible weemahn should not wear pahnts..that is mehn’s apparel,” she informed us in her broken English.
I felt like saying, “you’ve told us what you don’t believe in, but what do you believe in?” I restrained myself, but Jay did not.
“Do you believe in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues?”
“Yes, I believe in the Holy Spirit, but not like some believe. If we both speak English there is no reason for us to speak in tongues.”
Jay and I looked at each other but remained silent. We didn’t want to say something to offend her.
She literally dropped us at our resort. Here we were, once again, standing on the sidewalk with our luggage in hand. There was no elevator to our third floor condo. We had to drag our luggage up three flights of stairs.
We were extremely please with our condo….it was immaculate. The rooms were very large. There were huge windows and a deck that opened to the pool area. The pool was humongous with two waterfalls on each side and there was a large Jacuzzi. The whole area was covered with blooming plants and trees. It was a beautiful paradise.
After emptying our suitcases and discarding our cold weather clothing, we went for a walk on the beach...one of many we will take this week. The water is clean, crystal clear, and beautiful. The white sandy beach has no seashells...only a few bits of coral washed up now and then.
We walked quite a ways up the beach and then we decided to cross over to West Bay Road and find something to eat. We walked back past our condo and headed on up the road. We came to a small shopping mall.
Jay was falling down hungry by this time….not a pretty sight. There are three places to eat in this mall. One was having a private Christmas party, so we walk into Richard’s Fish Café at 6:05 and heard, “we’re closed.” They closed at 6:00. Aaugh! The only other place is The Coffee Grinder. They serve coffee and sweet rolls. We had a cup of Swiss Almond Mocha (this was before Starbucks) and a Cheese Puff…..delicious. But the huge 8-inch chocolate chip cookie tasted like none we have ever had before. We will be back!
By the time we walked back to our condo, I was exhausted. We looked on a map and found Kirk’s Market which appeared to be pretty close, so Jay decided to go there to get some deli items to make sandwiches. When he got to the street, he was turned around and ended up going the opposite way. He walked twice as far, but was able to find another market. He was then able to catch a ride on the bus coming back.
WHAT A FIRST DAY…..AND THIS WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING!
DAY TWO: SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18TH, 1994
We awoke at 6:30 a.m. and immediately decided to walk to The Coffee Grinder. We began strolling the beach and then crossed back to the mall. We arrived at 7:00...it opens at 7:30 but it is worth the wait.
After our breakfast, we strolled back to the condo, changed into our swimsuits and went for a dip in the pool. The ocean water is very warm, but the pool water was cold. Jay went for a dip and I sat and watched him for while. Then I went inside to iron my clothes for the week. When Jay came inside, he was dripping from head to toe and he looked extremely upset.
“I fell in the Jacuzzi.”
I wanted to laugh but I saw he needed help...he had skinned his shin.
This is a very religious Island. They prohibit any type of nudity and frown on immodesty. They ask that a cover-up be used when leaving the beach area. Most people comply and also wear very modest swimsuits. There are very few string bikinis here.
Sunday in the Caymans everyone closes up shop and roll in the sidewalks. We had trouble finding a place to eat. We finally ate at a fast food restaurant called Chicken Chicken. It had a fireplace (yes, that’s what I said) just as you enter the door. They slow cook the chicken over a roaring fire. It is very tasty. It had been marinated in spices. There was a yogurt shop in the mall, so we had dessert there.
We found a little drug store opened today, so we checked it out. We purchased a tape of reggae Christmas music by the Barefoot Man. We had heard his music everywhere on the Island, so he was a local celebrity. (I played some of it for our kindergarten kids when we returned and their favorite song was, “Santa got a sunburn.”
It is hard to get into the Christmas spirit when the temperature is so warm. Their “Christmas trees” are palm trees wrapped in red ribbon like a candy cane. They cover bushes with Christmas lights and there are wreaths up everywhere, but it still doesn’t feel like Christmas.
Sunset on the horizon was especially beautiful tonight. We were tranquilly admiring God’s beauty when a mother of three joined us at the water’s edge. Her tranquility was definitely missing, but I always enjoy watching children.
Mom’s brood (dressed in street clothes) kept edging closer and closer to the water and bending over to play in the sand. She instructed them to roll up their sleeves. (Not a good idea.) With wet, sandy hands they attempted to comply but their sleeves just kept edging back down.
The kids began to dodge the waves, but they were more interested in the sand they were playing in, so little by little their clothes were getting wet. Eventually they were fully wet. Of course it was not their fault they were wet…..they blamed the waves for coming too close. Mom finally gave up and they all went inside.
We found a very nice native restaurant that had a special on Sundays...Shrimp Combo for two. The restaurant was called The Cracked Conch. We were not adventurous enough to try the conch, so we had the shrimp special. It was delicious. There were three kinds of shrimp...garlic shrimp, Cayman shrimp (very spicy, but delicious) and curry shrimp (I love anything with curry.) We also sampled the Johnny Cakes which are popular on the Island. They are small dough balls which are fried and served with honey.
DAY THREE: MONDAY, DECEMBER 19TH, 1994
This morning we returned to The Coffee Grinder for breakfast. We had a ham and cheese streusel, chocolate streusel and chocolate chip cookie with Hazelnut coffee. Yum!
We trudge our way into George Town and shopped in many little shops along the way. George Town is a bustling little town. The traffic is horrendous. There are so street lights, so there are traffic cops. It is difficult to get used to seeing the cars driving on the left side of the road.
We found a tiny jewelry shop upstairs over the shops on main street. The man inside does all his own diving for black coral and caymanite. He also hand makes his jewelry. Caymanite is only found in the Cayman Islands, so I wanted something I couldn’t get anywhere else. I purchased some black coral and caymanite earrings.
We spent most of the day in George Town and ate lunch at Hog Sty Bay Café. (Doesn’t sound very appetizing, but the food was delicious.) Jay had Thai Beef and Shrimp stir fry. I went for the more native Curried Chicken with rice, peas and plantain. Plantain is a fruit in the banana family and looks like yams. It has a banana/yam flavor and is quite good.
We took a long stroll on the beach and watched the sunset. We sat on the beach watching and listening to the waves beat upon the shore….ahhhh! Such a peaceful, tranquil experience. Our tranquility was over when we returned to the condo.
At the pool right outside our window, they had live music, drinking and partying. It would have been wonderful if it had been steel drums and native music. However, the best you can say about this fellow is that he is loud. (I certainly hope his voice tires quickly and it should if he keeps this up.) I didn’t think it could get any worse. Wrong, the bad news is…..he opened the mike for karaoke. The good news is...he didn’t have very many takers and it soon ended.
DAY FOUR: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20TH, 1994
We planned to go to Hell today, but the closer we came, the hotter it was, so we changed our minds. I’ll explain later. LOL
We didn’t eat at our favorite, The Coffee Grinder, today because we walked in the opposite direction. We found a Burger King here on the Island. Then we went to the Galleria Shopping Mall. Even though the stores post their hours to open at 9:00, a lot of them were still not opened when we left the mall at 9:40. Everyone is easy going and no one gets in a hurry here. What a contrast to the hustle bustle life back home.
We took the bus to the Turtle Farm. The bus was crowded, but the natives were very friendly and helped us find where we wanted to go.
The Turtle Farm was very interesting. They hatch and raise turtles here and then tag them and release most of them back into the ocean. Jay and I caught a turtle and held it up, but then soon dropped it back into the water. They have turtles from the egg stage to giant turtles that are bigger than a human.
They also had a large iguana called the Blue Dragon. He came out of his hole under a rock and nodded his head at us. We also talked to the parrot.
Just behind us in our tour was a nursery school teacher and assistant with about 15 little toddlers around three years old. They were so cute and well-behaved. The teacher told them to line up so they could be counted. Immediately they responded and made a perfectly straight line. (I want a classroom with kids this well-behaved.)
I was anxious to see how they would respond in the gift shop. I anticipated tears and “gimme that.” Was I in for a surprise. The teacher showed them only the postcards (there were toys in the shop.) Then she told them if they would like one, their parents could purchase it later. I stood there amazed. These tots were so small, but yet so disciplined. We are not in America that is for sure.
It was extremely hot when we finished our tour. We waited for the bus just a while, but it got too hot. We thought of taking a taxi on to Hell (a small town on the Island) but we decided to taxi to the West End Business district which we thought would be a bustling town like George Town. There were only two or three run-down stores. (We should have gone to Hell.)
Once again we were in the heat of the day watching for transportation. There was an older lady standing in the shade beside one of the stores. She was waiting for the bus, so we asked to join her. She looked at the sky and said, “coolah weatha is coming in.” Is she serious?
She helped us flag down a bus. The buses will stop for a native, but it is difficult for an American to flag one down. We just don’t have the correct hand signal I suppose.
We rode back to the Galleria Plaza to purchase some things we had seen in the windows earlier when the stores were not open. We stopped to have an ice cream in the yogurt shop. While we were eating, a grandmother came in with her sweet three-year-old grandchild. She was a cutie-pie.
“I wahnt a beeeg wahn” she announced.
I thought, “O.K. here’s a demanding child like we see in America.”
The little one saw a stuffed clown and started to pick it up.
“Oh, no, do not touch,” instructed grandmother, “that is $30.00.”
Immediately the child left the clown.
The clerk said the soft ice cream machine was not quite ready. I thought, “oh boy, here it goes for sure.”
The lady fixed a very small cone which was not very frozen….not the “beeeg wahn” she wanted. This sweet child joyously ate her cone without another word. I want to teach school in the Caymans. What a joy that would be to teach obedient children like these!
We returned to the condo and Jay went for a dip in the pool. I sat in the shade and wrote in my journal. I am getting a bit burned. (Do you think it was because I came so close to Hell? LOL)
We dressed and started exploring the Island again. It started to sprinkle, so we ducked into the Galleria Plaza. We tried to hail a bus and thought he was stopping for us, but before we could cross the street, it sped away. Now we were stranded in the rain on the other side of the street. We decided to wait under a palm tree and catch another bus. We were soon surprised by a little visitor...a lizard came down the tree to say, “hello.” The Island is full of lizards….but no flies. I can see why.
We were finally able to hail a bus and went to another plaza called the Coconut Place. We ate at Benjamin’s Roof, a restaurant which was built up three-stories to the top of the plaza. On the stairs going up, we were greeted by a huge parrot.
We knew we were in for a treat when the waiter flipped our napkins into our laps. The food was scrumptious and the Key lime pie for dessert was the best we had ever eaten.
When we strolled back to the condo, we crossed through someone’s yard and walked back slowly up the beach while watching the sunset. Somehow a bus is not necessary and the distance doesn’t seem as far when you are barefoot in the sand with the waves occasionally lapping at your toes. What a vacation!
Jay walked to The Coffee Grinder and brought back some coffee and Coconut Rum Cake. Yummy! The lady at The Coffee Grinder always asks, “to go or to stay?” If you say, “it’s for here” she doesn’t understand what you mean. You also don’t say, “goodbye” you say, “so long.” And the yield signs here say, “give way.” I love this island.
DAY FIVE: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21ST, 1994
We started the day with a stroll on the beach and walked to George Town again. We had some delicious omelets at Big Daddy’s Restaurant. We found some new shops we had not seen when in town before. We visited an old church that had once been a school. We passed a fish market right on the beach where the local fishermen had set up to sell their catches of the day.
The Cayman Museum was quite interesting. We listened to a lady Caymanian quote her tale about 10 shipwrecks. It gave us a good idea of the dialect. It seems that in the 1800s there were ten ships wrecked on the reefs. The morning after the wreck, the locals discovered people in desperate need of aid stranded on the beach. They took in the injured and nursed them in their own homes. It is said that the King, because of this act of kindness, declared there would be no taxes on the Caymans. Today there are not even sales taxes on the island.
A cruise ship was in docks and all prices had been inflated. We planned to catch the bus back, but the fare had been doubled to $3.00. We walked just a short ways from town and were able to get a bus for $1.50. Now we know not to go near town when cruise ships are in dock.
We went for a stroll along the beach. There was a storm out at sea. We could see it raining far out in the ocean, but it never rained on the beach. The waves were higher and closer together. Kids were having a ball floating in on the waves. This morning the waves had splashed a 15” needle-nosed gar fish at Jay’s feet. This afternoon, the waves washed a 4-foot kid at our feet. LOL
We sat in beach chairs along the edge of the water and played footsies with the sand while the waves lashed about our feet and under our chairs. This is what a vacation is all about. Aaaaahhhhhh!
We were dressing for dinner and I heard the sound of a vacuum cleaner. When I peeked around the door, there was Jay, in his underwear, vacuuming sand off the floor. His philosophy is “if its not clean, its not a vacation.” If he rests…..he rusts.
We went to the beautiful Treasure Island Resort for dinner. Like all the hotels on the island, there are no front or back doors that close up at night. Everything in the lobby is open. You walk from the lobby to the pools to the falls and then right out onto the beach. There is a constant ocean breeze throughout the complex.
We climbed the stairs to the Top of the Falls restaurant. The waitress, a native Caymanian was very friendly. She is studying Hotel Management and told us about the different hotels on the island.
When we finished our meal, we sat in the lobby breezeway and listened to Earl La Pierre. He played the steel drums. It is weird listening to Christmas Carols on steel drums in 85 degree weather. It feels more like the 4th of July instead of Christmas.
DAY SIX: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22ND, 1994
This island is beautiful and unusual. Plants that we use for house plants at home grow into bushes and trees in the yards here. There is a 30-35 foot Schefflera plant growing just outside our condo. It reaches to our deck which is on the third floor.
The beach smells fishy today. The storm must have brought in a lot of fish close to the beach. We walked to Richard Fish’s Café for breakfast. The pancakes were light and fluffy and delicious.
Several times on our walks we had passed by a Dive shop in the Seven Mill Shopping Mall. It had an empty cage in the window and we wondered what had been in it. Today we found out. They have a parrot. They let him out of the cage into the store. He was perched on a coat hanger that was hung from the ceiling. Jay said, “is that what you call hanging loose?”
We sailed on the Atlantis today. It is a submarine that plunges under the ocean. The water on this side of the island was too choppy for our trip today, so they had to take us to the other side of the island and submerge the submarine there. This gave us a free ride around the island. There are many huge houses on this side with some very rich people living here. What a contrast in the way of life. There would be a spacious, beautiful home and then right beside it there were tiny shacks. Why should some have so much and others have so little?
The submarine ride gave us an opportunity to see the reefs without having to learn to dive. There is another world under the water. The hard sea coral and sea fans we are familiar with do not compare to seeing them live in their natural habitat. The fans look as if they are feathers waving in the breeze. Coral fingers also wave as you go by.
We were apprehensive about this trip, so we sat near the tour guide. He put us at ease right away. He talked about how deep we would go. There was a gauge above his head showing the depth.
“This submarine can hold up under the pressure at 150 feet or less. We will be going to a depth of 175 feet.”
Everyone’s eyes enlarged and we all stared at our guide. He laughed and said, “just kidding...I just wanted to see who was listening.”
As we began our descent, he said, “everyone, please fasten your seat belts.” We all began looking for our seat belt. He grinned again and said, “there are no seat belts.”
The view underwater is breathtaking. There were all types of beautiful fish , sea coral, fans, etc. It was awesome to see the variety of sea life God made just for us to enjoy.
“Do you know why the male parrot fish always has a smile on his face?” our guide asked. “He has a harem of about 70 female parrot fish.”
“Oh, now everyone look to the starboard side,” he continued. “Do you see the thing floating in the water that looks like a cloud of smoke? Can anyone identify that?”
When everyone was filled with curiosity and all eyes were fixed on the “cloud of smoke” floating in the water our guide said, “that is fish poop!”
I noticed the submarine captain. He did a “tsk tsk” and shook his head. This captain was a typical-looking Caymanian….black as the ace of spades. He had dreadlocks and a Santa hat. He was a hoot, too!
Our bus ride back to George Town was an adventure. The bus driver took a different route than before and drove extremely fast. Once we were passing a van. A man was attempting to get into the van. When he saw our bus coming, he slammed the door and ran to the sidewalk. Our bus driver stopped and said, “why you run, mon?” Then these two natives began speaking in English, but they talked so fast we couldn’t understand one word they said.
DAY SEVEN: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23RD, 1994
We went for our last stroll on the beach. The wind was extremely high and the waves were white with foam. The song, “God Bless America” kept running through my head because of the “oceans white with foam” line from the song. We strolled along the edge of the water where the waves could barely lap at our toes. Our walk was cut short when, out of the blue, a large wave burst upon the shore and hit us right up side our heads. We were soaked to the gills and had to return to our condo for dry clothes.
We walked past the Galleria Plaza to Livingstone’s Garden Restaurant for breakfast. We ate outside under an overgrowth of tropical plants. The food, coffee and atmosphere were superb. We then visited the Hyatt-Regency Hotel where the movie, The Firm, was filmed. The gardens and pools were beautiful.
The winds were getting stronger, so we just had a leisurely day by the pool, taking a dip, getting in the Jacuzzi, reading, etc. The winds were so strong, if we had skates we could move along without having to move our legs. Even without wheels we are blown along.
We walked to The Wharf for lunch…..very elegant. For dessert I had Chocolate Roulade with Orange Sauce served on an 18” plate. There were two slices of the chocolate cake roll smothered in orange sauce with a dab of chocolate mousse on the side with a chocolate lace decoration. Everything was sprinkled with powered sugar and shaved walnuts. I ate the whole thing…..yummy!
DAY EIGHT: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24TH, 1994
With teary eyes we packed up our things. We have more going than we had coming. I stuffed a lot in a large purse I had purchased on the island and then we had a large shopping bag full of souvenirs. We had arranged for a cab but almost missed it because we were not outside when she came by and of course she didn’t wait. Jay had to chase the taxi down the street. What a sight!
There was quite a lot of hassle at the airport when we got back to Atlanta. I had lost my driver’s license on the island, so I had no I.D. They looked at me strangely, but since Jay had his, they let us through. But the biggest culture shock was the weather. We went from a gentle ocean breeze in 85 degree weather to Atlanta’s biting December wind. But we were home safe and sound.
Our sweet son had cleaned the house, decorated it for Christmas and had a banner hung over the door…..WELCOME BACK MAMA AND PAPA. It is good to be home!
We left home at 7:00 a.m. for the Atlanta Airport. We had no difficulty finding the airport. We followed the signs to long-term parking. After driving through several rows of vehicles, we began to wonder if we could find a parking space. I remembered my teacher assistant talking about driving around for an hour before she could find a space here at this airport. We did not have an hour to spare. Jay prayed, “Lord, please help us to find a parking space.” We immediately spotted one right at the end of the walkway to the terminal.
Now we were here with no way to get our luggage to the terminal except to carry it (this was before rolling luggage.) Within just a few steps we found some luggage carts tied into a metal box that said “25 cents reward for carts.” Not realizing (duh) what that meant, we scrambled for a quarter. When we rolled a cart to the other end of the metal frame, the sign said, “$1.50.” It was well worth it we thought.
Once we had rolled just a short way into the terminal, we only saw an escalator. Now how do we get the cart up the escalator? We then abandoned our $1.50 cart and carried our luggage up the escalator.
Every desk said “DELTA” so we kept lugging and walking. We asked where the Cayman Airways desk was. They sent us on around the terminal. We walked completely in a rectangle and ended up right back where we had gotten off the escalator. There was the Cayman Airways check-in desk. We felt like Jed Clampett in Hollywood!
After checking our luggage, we boarded the tram for Concourse E, which was the fifth stop. We sped along at quite a rate of speed. If we didn’t hold on, we could find ourselves at the rear of the tram in two seconds flat.
We arrived at gate 10 one hour and fifteen minutes early….typical of us. There we met an Englishman from near London. He was traveling to the Caymans on Holiday to visit some friends which was an annual event every Christmas. He had plans to stay a month. (Must be nice.) He told us many interesting things about the Island and had a map to show us exactly where the Seven Mile Beach was. Our condo was located on that beach.
Claustrophobia set in when we boarded the plane. I had the seat by the window and Jay was squeezed between me and a huge gentleman. The look on Jay’s face was that of panic. I thought for a while he was going to freak out. (He doesn’t even like to be sitting down the row in a pew at church, so I know this was bad for him.) However, we became accustomed to the close quarters.
This was our first time to ride on a jet. It is much more exciting than flying on a plane. You can feel the thrust as the jet lifts off the ground. It is a good thing we are buckled in or we would end up in the rear of the jet.
Soon after departure, they brought lunch. It was a cold chicken sandwich on a hard roll and a small bunch of grapes. Despite the unappetizing look, lunch was quite tasty. The grapes were juicy and sweet and the fruit punch was very satisfying.
Flying over Cuba was a nervous time, but uneventful. We finally landed in the Caymans. It took a while to get through customs, but we soon found ourselves, luggage in hand, on the front entrance of the airport. Jay asked if our condo had transportation (of course not) so we asked the dispatcher to hail us a cab. You don’t get a nice, modern yellow taxi here. We got a brown, beat up ’78 Chevy with a Caymanian lady driver.
Right away we noticed the dash of the car had a Bible and a Streams in the Desert devotion book. When asked what church she attended she said, “Church of God Universal.” We were very soon aware this was not our Church of God.
“We dahn’t believe in weemahn cutting dere hair or wearing maaakeup or jewelry. It is in the Bible weemahn should not wear pahnts..that is mehn’s apparel,” she informed us in her broken English.
I felt like saying, “you’ve told us what you don’t believe in, but what do you believe in?” I restrained myself, but Jay did not.
“Do you believe in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues?”
“Yes, I believe in the Holy Spirit, but not like some believe. If we both speak English there is no reason for us to speak in tongues.”
Jay and I looked at each other but remained silent. We didn’t want to say something to offend her.
She literally dropped us at our resort. Here we were, once again, standing on the sidewalk with our luggage in hand. There was no elevator to our third floor condo. We had to drag our luggage up three flights of stairs.
We were extremely please with our condo….it was immaculate. The rooms were very large. There were huge windows and a deck that opened to the pool area. The pool was humongous with two waterfalls on each side and there was a large Jacuzzi. The whole area was covered with blooming plants and trees. It was a beautiful paradise.
After emptying our suitcases and discarding our cold weather clothing, we went for a walk on the beach...one of many we will take this week. The water is clean, crystal clear, and beautiful. The white sandy beach has no seashells...only a few bits of coral washed up now and then.
We walked quite a ways up the beach and then we decided to cross over to West Bay Road and find something to eat. We walked back past our condo and headed on up the road. We came to a small shopping mall.
Jay was falling down hungry by this time….not a pretty sight. There are three places to eat in this mall. One was having a private Christmas party, so we walk into Richard’s Fish Café at 6:05 and heard, “we’re closed.” They closed at 6:00. Aaugh! The only other place is The Coffee Grinder. They serve coffee and sweet rolls. We had a cup of Swiss Almond Mocha (this was before Starbucks) and a Cheese Puff…..delicious. But the huge 8-inch chocolate chip cookie tasted like none we have ever had before. We will be back!
By the time we walked back to our condo, I was exhausted. We looked on a map and found Kirk’s Market which appeared to be pretty close, so Jay decided to go there to get some deli items to make sandwiches. When he got to the street, he was turned around and ended up going the opposite way. He walked twice as far, but was able to find another market. He was then able to catch a ride on the bus coming back.
WHAT A FIRST DAY…..AND THIS WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING!
DAY TWO: SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18TH, 1994
We awoke at 6:30 a.m. and immediately decided to walk to The Coffee Grinder. We began strolling the beach and then crossed back to the mall. We arrived at 7:00...it opens at 7:30 but it is worth the wait.
After our breakfast, we strolled back to the condo, changed into our swimsuits and went for a dip in the pool. The ocean water is very warm, but the pool water was cold. Jay went for a dip and I sat and watched him for while. Then I went inside to iron my clothes for the week. When Jay came inside, he was dripping from head to toe and he looked extremely upset.
“I fell in the Jacuzzi.”
I wanted to laugh but I saw he needed help...he had skinned his shin.
This is a very religious Island. They prohibit any type of nudity and frown on immodesty. They ask that a cover-up be used when leaving the beach area. Most people comply and also wear very modest swimsuits. There are very few string bikinis here.
Sunday in the Caymans everyone closes up shop and roll in the sidewalks. We had trouble finding a place to eat. We finally ate at a fast food restaurant called Chicken Chicken. It had a fireplace (yes, that’s what I said) just as you enter the door. They slow cook the chicken over a roaring fire. It is very tasty. It had been marinated in spices. There was a yogurt shop in the mall, so we had dessert there.
We found a little drug store opened today, so we checked it out. We purchased a tape of reggae Christmas music by the Barefoot Man. We had heard his music everywhere on the Island, so he was a local celebrity. (I played some of it for our kindergarten kids when we returned and their favorite song was, “Santa got a sunburn.”
It is hard to get into the Christmas spirit when the temperature is so warm. Their “Christmas trees” are palm trees wrapped in red ribbon like a candy cane. They cover bushes with Christmas lights and there are wreaths up everywhere, but it still doesn’t feel like Christmas.
Sunset on the horizon was especially beautiful tonight. We were tranquilly admiring God’s beauty when a mother of three joined us at the water’s edge. Her tranquility was definitely missing, but I always enjoy watching children.
Mom’s brood (dressed in street clothes) kept edging closer and closer to the water and bending over to play in the sand. She instructed them to roll up their sleeves. (Not a good idea.) With wet, sandy hands they attempted to comply but their sleeves just kept edging back down.
The kids began to dodge the waves, but they were more interested in the sand they were playing in, so little by little their clothes were getting wet. Eventually they were fully wet. Of course it was not their fault they were wet…..they blamed the waves for coming too close. Mom finally gave up and they all went inside.
We found a very nice native restaurant that had a special on Sundays...Shrimp Combo for two. The restaurant was called The Cracked Conch. We were not adventurous enough to try the conch, so we had the shrimp special. It was delicious. There were three kinds of shrimp...garlic shrimp, Cayman shrimp (very spicy, but delicious) and curry shrimp (I love anything with curry.) We also sampled the Johnny Cakes which are popular on the Island. They are small dough balls which are fried and served with honey.
DAY THREE: MONDAY, DECEMBER 19TH, 1994
This morning we returned to The Coffee Grinder for breakfast. We had a ham and cheese streusel, chocolate streusel and chocolate chip cookie with Hazelnut coffee. Yum!
We trudge our way into George Town and shopped in many little shops along the way. George Town is a bustling little town. The traffic is horrendous. There are so street lights, so there are traffic cops. It is difficult to get used to seeing the cars driving on the left side of the road.
We found a tiny jewelry shop upstairs over the shops on main street. The man inside does all his own diving for black coral and caymanite. He also hand makes his jewelry. Caymanite is only found in the Cayman Islands, so I wanted something I couldn’t get anywhere else. I purchased some black coral and caymanite earrings.
We spent most of the day in George Town and ate lunch at Hog Sty Bay Café. (Doesn’t sound very appetizing, but the food was delicious.) Jay had Thai Beef and Shrimp stir fry. I went for the more native Curried Chicken with rice, peas and plantain. Plantain is a fruit in the banana family and looks like yams. It has a banana/yam flavor and is quite good.
We took a long stroll on the beach and watched the sunset. We sat on the beach watching and listening to the waves beat upon the shore….ahhhh! Such a peaceful, tranquil experience. Our tranquility was over when we returned to the condo.
At the pool right outside our window, they had live music, drinking and partying. It would have been wonderful if it had been steel drums and native music. However, the best you can say about this fellow is that he is loud. (I certainly hope his voice tires quickly and it should if he keeps this up.) I didn’t think it could get any worse. Wrong, the bad news is…..he opened the mike for karaoke. The good news is...he didn’t have very many takers and it soon ended.
DAY FOUR: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20TH, 1994
We planned to go to Hell today, but the closer we came, the hotter it was, so we changed our minds. I’ll explain later. LOL
We didn’t eat at our favorite, The Coffee Grinder, today because we walked in the opposite direction. We found a Burger King here on the Island. Then we went to the Galleria Shopping Mall. Even though the stores post their hours to open at 9:00, a lot of them were still not opened when we left the mall at 9:40. Everyone is easy going and no one gets in a hurry here. What a contrast to the hustle bustle life back home.
We took the bus to the Turtle Farm. The bus was crowded, but the natives were very friendly and helped us find where we wanted to go.
The Turtle Farm was very interesting. They hatch and raise turtles here and then tag them and release most of them back into the ocean. Jay and I caught a turtle and held it up, but then soon dropped it back into the water. They have turtles from the egg stage to giant turtles that are bigger than a human.
They also had a large iguana called the Blue Dragon. He came out of his hole under a rock and nodded his head at us. We also talked to the parrot.
Just behind us in our tour was a nursery school teacher and assistant with about 15 little toddlers around three years old. They were so cute and well-behaved. The teacher told them to line up so they could be counted. Immediately they responded and made a perfectly straight line. (I want a classroom with kids this well-behaved.)
I was anxious to see how they would respond in the gift shop. I anticipated tears and “gimme that.” Was I in for a surprise. The teacher showed them only the postcards (there were toys in the shop.) Then she told them if they would like one, their parents could purchase it later. I stood there amazed. These tots were so small, but yet so disciplined. We are not in America that is for sure.
It was extremely hot when we finished our tour. We waited for the bus just a while, but it got too hot. We thought of taking a taxi on to Hell (a small town on the Island) but we decided to taxi to the West End Business district which we thought would be a bustling town like George Town. There were only two or three run-down stores. (We should have gone to Hell.)
Once again we were in the heat of the day watching for transportation. There was an older lady standing in the shade beside one of the stores. She was waiting for the bus, so we asked to join her. She looked at the sky and said, “coolah weatha is coming in.” Is she serious?
She helped us flag down a bus. The buses will stop for a native, but it is difficult for an American to flag one down. We just don’t have the correct hand signal I suppose.
We rode back to the Galleria Plaza to purchase some things we had seen in the windows earlier when the stores were not open. We stopped to have an ice cream in the yogurt shop. While we were eating, a grandmother came in with her sweet three-year-old grandchild. She was a cutie-pie.
“I wahnt a beeeg wahn” she announced.
I thought, “O.K. here’s a demanding child like we see in America.”
The little one saw a stuffed clown and started to pick it up.
“Oh, no, do not touch,” instructed grandmother, “that is $30.00.”
Immediately the child left the clown.
The clerk said the soft ice cream machine was not quite ready. I thought, “oh boy, here it goes for sure.”
The lady fixed a very small cone which was not very frozen….not the “beeeg wahn” she wanted. This sweet child joyously ate her cone without another word. I want to teach school in the Caymans. What a joy that would be to teach obedient children like these!
We returned to the condo and Jay went for a dip in the pool. I sat in the shade and wrote in my journal. I am getting a bit burned. (Do you think it was because I came so close to Hell? LOL)
We dressed and started exploring the Island again. It started to sprinkle, so we ducked into the Galleria Plaza. We tried to hail a bus and thought he was stopping for us, but before we could cross the street, it sped away. Now we were stranded in the rain on the other side of the street. We decided to wait under a palm tree and catch another bus. We were soon surprised by a little visitor...a lizard came down the tree to say, “hello.” The Island is full of lizards….but no flies. I can see why.
We were finally able to hail a bus and went to another plaza called the Coconut Place. We ate at Benjamin’s Roof, a restaurant which was built up three-stories to the top of the plaza. On the stairs going up, we were greeted by a huge parrot.
We knew we were in for a treat when the waiter flipped our napkins into our laps. The food was scrumptious and the Key lime pie for dessert was the best we had ever eaten.
When we strolled back to the condo, we crossed through someone’s yard and walked back slowly up the beach while watching the sunset. Somehow a bus is not necessary and the distance doesn’t seem as far when you are barefoot in the sand with the waves occasionally lapping at your toes. What a vacation!
Jay walked to The Coffee Grinder and brought back some coffee and Coconut Rum Cake. Yummy! The lady at The Coffee Grinder always asks, “to go or to stay?” If you say, “it’s for here” she doesn’t understand what you mean. You also don’t say, “goodbye” you say, “so long.” And the yield signs here say, “give way.” I love this island.
DAY FIVE: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21ST, 1994
We started the day with a stroll on the beach and walked to George Town again. We had some delicious omelets at Big Daddy’s Restaurant. We found some new shops we had not seen when in town before. We visited an old church that had once been a school. We passed a fish market right on the beach where the local fishermen had set up to sell their catches of the day.
The Cayman Museum was quite interesting. We listened to a lady Caymanian quote her tale about 10 shipwrecks. It gave us a good idea of the dialect. It seems that in the 1800s there were ten ships wrecked on the reefs. The morning after the wreck, the locals discovered people in desperate need of aid stranded on the beach. They took in the injured and nursed them in their own homes. It is said that the King, because of this act of kindness, declared there would be no taxes on the Caymans. Today there are not even sales taxes on the island.
A cruise ship was in docks and all prices had been inflated. We planned to catch the bus back, but the fare had been doubled to $3.00. We walked just a short ways from town and were able to get a bus for $1.50. Now we know not to go near town when cruise ships are in dock.
We went for a stroll along the beach. There was a storm out at sea. We could see it raining far out in the ocean, but it never rained on the beach. The waves were higher and closer together. Kids were having a ball floating in on the waves. This morning the waves had splashed a 15” needle-nosed gar fish at Jay’s feet. This afternoon, the waves washed a 4-foot kid at our feet. LOL
We sat in beach chairs along the edge of the water and played footsies with the sand while the waves lashed about our feet and under our chairs. This is what a vacation is all about. Aaaaahhhhhh!
We were dressing for dinner and I heard the sound of a vacuum cleaner. When I peeked around the door, there was Jay, in his underwear, vacuuming sand off the floor. His philosophy is “if its not clean, its not a vacation.” If he rests…..he rusts.
We went to the beautiful Treasure Island Resort for dinner. Like all the hotels on the island, there are no front or back doors that close up at night. Everything in the lobby is open. You walk from the lobby to the pools to the falls and then right out onto the beach. There is a constant ocean breeze throughout the complex.
We climbed the stairs to the Top of the Falls restaurant. The waitress, a native Caymanian was very friendly. She is studying Hotel Management and told us about the different hotels on the island.
When we finished our meal, we sat in the lobby breezeway and listened to Earl La Pierre. He played the steel drums. It is weird listening to Christmas Carols on steel drums in 85 degree weather. It feels more like the 4th of July instead of Christmas.
DAY SIX: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22ND, 1994
This island is beautiful and unusual. Plants that we use for house plants at home grow into bushes and trees in the yards here. There is a 30-35 foot Schefflera plant growing just outside our condo. It reaches to our deck which is on the third floor.
The beach smells fishy today. The storm must have brought in a lot of fish close to the beach. We walked to Richard Fish’s Café for breakfast. The pancakes were light and fluffy and delicious.
Several times on our walks we had passed by a Dive shop in the Seven Mill Shopping Mall. It had an empty cage in the window and we wondered what had been in it. Today we found out. They have a parrot. They let him out of the cage into the store. He was perched on a coat hanger that was hung from the ceiling. Jay said, “is that what you call hanging loose?”
We sailed on the Atlantis today. It is a submarine that plunges under the ocean. The water on this side of the island was too choppy for our trip today, so they had to take us to the other side of the island and submerge the submarine there. This gave us a free ride around the island. There are many huge houses on this side with some very rich people living here. What a contrast in the way of life. There would be a spacious, beautiful home and then right beside it there were tiny shacks. Why should some have so much and others have so little?
The submarine ride gave us an opportunity to see the reefs without having to learn to dive. There is another world under the water. The hard sea coral and sea fans we are familiar with do not compare to seeing them live in their natural habitat. The fans look as if they are feathers waving in the breeze. Coral fingers also wave as you go by.
We were apprehensive about this trip, so we sat near the tour guide. He put us at ease right away. He talked about how deep we would go. There was a gauge above his head showing the depth.
“This submarine can hold up under the pressure at 150 feet or less. We will be going to a depth of 175 feet.”
Everyone’s eyes enlarged and we all stared at our guide. He laughed and said, “just kidding...I just wanted to see who was listening.”
As we began our descent, he said, “everyone, please fasten your seat belts.” We all began looking for our seat belt. He grinned again and said, “there are no seat belts.”
The view underwater is breathtaking. There were all types of beautiful fish , sea coral, fans, etc. It was awesome to see the variety of sea life God made just for us to enjoy.
“Do you know why the male parrot fish always has a smile on his face?” our guide asked. “He has a harem of about 70 female parrot fish.”
“Oh, now everyone look to the starboard side,” he continued. “Do you see the thing floating in the water that looks like a cloud of smoke? Can anyone identify that?”
When everyone was filled with curiosity and all eyes were fixed on the “cloud of smoke” floating in the water our guide said, “that is fish poop!”
I noticed the submarine captain. He did a “tsk tsk” and shook his head. This captain was a typical-looking Caymanian….black as the ace of spades. He had dreadlocks and a Santa hat. He was a hoot, too!
Our bus ride back to George Town was an adventure. The bus driver took a different route than before and drove extremely fast. Once we were passing a van. A man was attempting to get into the van. When he saw our bus coming, he slammed the door and ran to the sidewalk. Our bus driver stopped and said, “why you run, mon?” Then these two natives began speaking in English, but they talked so fast we couldn’t understand one word they said.
DAY SEVEN: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23RD, 1994
We went for our last stroll on the beach. The wind was extremely high and the waves were white with foam. The song, “God Bless America” kept running through my head because of the “oceans white with foam” line from the song. We strolled along the edge of the water where the waves could barely lap at our toes. Our walk was cut short when, out of the blue, a large wave burst upon the shore and hit us right up side our heads. We were soaked to the gills and had to return to our condo for dry clothes.
We walked past the Galleria Plaza to Livingstone’s Garden Restaurant for breakfast. We ate outside under an overgrowth of tropical plants. The food, coffee and atmosphere were superb. We then visited the Hyatt-Regency Hotel where the movie, The Firm, was filmed. The gardens and pools were beautiful.
The winds were getting stronger, so we just had a leisurely day by the pool, taking a dip, getting in the Jacuzzi, reading, etc. The winds were so strong, if we had skates we could move along without having to move our legs. Even without wheels we are blown along.
We walked to The Wharf for lunch…..very elegant. For dessert I had Chocolate Roulade with Orange Sauce served on an 18” plate. There were two slices of the chocolate cake roll smothered in orange sauce with a dab of chocolate mousse on the side with a chocolate lace decoration. Everything was sprinkled with powered sugar and shaved walnuts. I ate the whole thing…..yummy!
DAY EIGHT: SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24TH, 1994
With teary eyes we packed up our things. We have more going than we had coming. I stuffed a lot in a large purse I had purchased on the island and then we had a large shopping bag full of souvenirs. We had arranged for a cab but almost missed it because we were not outside when she came by and of course she didn’t wait. Jay had to chase the taxi down the street. What a sight!
There was quite a lot of hassle at the airport when we got back to Atlanta. I had lost my driver’s license on the island, so I had no I.D. They looked at me strangely, but since Jay had his, they let us through. But the biggest culture shock was the weather. We went from a gentle ocean breeze in 85 degree weather to Atlanta’s biting December wind. But we were home safe and sound.
Our sweet son had cleaned the house, decorated it for Christmas and had a banner hung over the door…..WELCOME BACK MAMA AND PAPA. It is good to be home!