August 12-16, 2010
Day 1- Thursday
We left our house around 9 am to drive into Houston for our flight to Grand Cayman.
Flight was scheduled for 1:05. It was on time...:)
Had lunch at the airport before we boarded.
Flight wasn't full. We had an open seat between us..Nice to have extra room. The TV's were not working on the flight. Glad I brought a movie...:) Flight was pretty uneventful until we landed. Pretty hard land..It knocked the panel (with air..light...oxygen) down two seats in front of us. Good thing no one was sitting there.
We rented a car from Avis. Convertible PT Cruiser. Drove straight to the house were we were staying. We stayed on the East End. We loved the location and seclusion. The house? Well it was not exactly what I expected. Could have been a little cleaner over all. Needed to be exterminated. (I do want to note.. I guess a few creeper crawlers are expected on a beach location where the windows are open most of the time??) No hot water either. The AC did work good though.... However, the location and closeness to beach made up for a lot.
After taking inventory of the house and location. We went back to Savannah for groceries (Foster's). We decided to get a pizza to take back to the house.
Early night. Pretty tired after all day traveling.
Day 2 -Friday
Woke up early to the sunrise... So pretty....had breakfast and coffee before heading out for the day.
We were planning on hiking the Majestic Trail. So all prepared for the hike. Just a few 100 yards into it..MUD.. ankle deep.. so we decided to turn back. We did meet a couple on starting the trail as we were leaving, they said the back side of the trail was less muddy and they hiked it from the end. They also said they saw 6 snakes on the trail.
From here we went to the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park. We really enjoyed the gardens here. Very pretty. A good place to see Iguana's. We also saw 2 snakes here.
Next... we went to Starfish beach to snorkel. Very secluded. We saw 5 starfish. We know there were a lot more there because a man was collecting them for his children. He had 13 of them. Very sad that they were killing the starfish.
Stopped at Rum Point to check it out. So pretty. Love the water.
We went back into Savannah to eat at Wendy's. Then back to the house for the evening. On the East End there isn't much night life (or so we think )
Day 3- Saturday
Up early again for a beautiful sunrise. Breakfast and coffee at the house. I had a reservation at Discovery Cove to swim with the dolphins. When we arrived I realized I was the only one there for my scheduled time. So I got to swim in the big pool with the dolphins. It was so much fun. They were so sweet!
When we were checking in the girl at the front desk gave Gary (my husband) a free wrist band into the Turtle Farm (my entrance was included in the price of the swim. So next we moved onto the Turtle farm.
Went into Georgetown for some shopping and ate at Hard Rock Cafe.
We stopped at a local fruit stand to try the apple bananas. They were okay. Gary liked them more than I did.
We did stop at the Bird Sanctuary near Savannah. TO me this was a waste of time. Didn't see any birds although we head them...LOL.
Drove back to the house for an afternoon nap (So nice).
For sunset we were planning on driving to Starfish Beach again but saw that the gates were closed and a sign on the gate that read “no public access”. So moved onto Rum Point. The water here is SO PRETTY. Also less of a crowd towards sunset. We saw a pretty big spotted stingray from the pier. We took several sunset pictures until dark. Then headed back to the house for the evening.
Day 4 – Sunday
Today we actually slept in a little. After breakfast we decided to just stay at the house and snorkel off the beach there. We loved the snorkeling here.
Snorkeled until lunch. We had lunch at the house. It rained most of the afternoon so we stayed in.
Close to sunset the rain stopped.
We drove around in a few residential areas. Saw Mango and Banana trees.. There are VERY beautiful houses on Grand Cayman and a lot of them are for sale. I was very surprised at all the real estate.
We went to Starfish beach to take a few more pictures. (it was open this time)
Then we went to Over the Edge for dinner at sunset. A great local place. They have delicious Key Lime Pie here. A lady up the road form them makes them fresh. Sat outside overlooking the water.
Drove back to house to pack for flight home.
Day 5- Monday
Going home today. We were up early and packed ready to go. One last walk on our “private” beach.. a few more photos. Stopped at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast.
Went to Seven Mile Beach for photo's. Walked around for awhile. Did some last minute shopping. Then headed to the airport for Home Sweet Home...
Overall we LOVED Grand Cayman. We had been once before while on a cruise (we went to Sting Ray City). I had NO complaints about the island.
This time we were able to drive around the island. Act like locals which is what we love to do. When I go back I will either stay on the East End again or the North Shore.
I wasn't expecting it to be so HOT. Coming from Texas we figured the weather would be a little cooler. We were mistaken. One day the car thermostat read 107. Gary asked a gas attendant if it was normally this hot in Grand Cayman. He said it was the hottest it had ever remembered it being. So I'm guessing the heat was an exception.
As for as the prices of food and gas. It was more expensive than the US. However if you have been to Hawaii, I think the prices are pretty much the same for food (in the grocery store) The restaurants and gas were probably a little higher comparing to Hawaii.
It was a WONDERFUL trip!! A great break that we really needed!
