Archive for June, 2008

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June 20th, 2008

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Reflections

June 19th, 2008

Having had plenty of time to think and reflect this week I realize how trivial some of things I had worried about were for the wedding. The wedding turned out beautiful and absolutely amazing. And to be honest, it never would have looked half as good had my Mom not done all that she had. I know I had complained before about the candy table (which in the end was huge hit and gorgeous), the cake (well now I have plenty to feed mine and Chase’s co-workers), and the idea that it was my Mom’s wedding (it was obviously not). In all, I realize now that my Mom just wanted the best and most beautiful wedding for me. And it turned out that way. So here’s to you Mom — thank you!

Hopefully we’ll have pictures of it up soon after we get back.

Fish and Flowers

June 19th, 2008

So far I think I’ve loved today the best. First we went out to Stingray City with the dive shop at our resort. We were the first boat out there so we had all of the stingrays to ourselves. Well at least for the first 10-15 minutes or so. Then we were invaded by lots of boats full of cruise ship people (there were 4 in port today!). But the time we did get with them ourselves was fun. I freaked out at first just like last year. But after a while I calmed down enough to pet, hold, and kiss them. Eventually Chase convinced me I’d live if I fed one so we did. And wow, they have some strong suckers on them. But it was fun. And they’re so soft, it’s really unlike you might expect just by looking at them. After that we scooted over to the Barrier Reef and snorkelled there for a bit. We saw a moray eel and plenty of fish. Evidently the eel attempted to chase me, but I didn’t know until Chase informed me once I was out of the water. As Chase puts it, “it was 6 inches from your flipper, how did you not know?!?”

After returning back to the villa for lunch we took our Jeep out to the Botanical Gardens. It was definitely hot! But we did see some really cool looking flowers and a couple captive and two wild iguanas. I believe they all were the rare blue iguana that can only be found here in the Cayamans.

Next stop was a little turn-off known as the Blowholes. It’s an area where the water has receded from an older reef so when the waves crash on it the water gets sprayed up through holes making it look like the blowhole on a dolphin or whale. It was pretty amazing. I took lots of pictures of the waves crashing here because of how neat it looked.

Tomorrow’s Rum Point and to see the north side of the island on the east side (we reside on the north side of the west side). Evidently it’s supposed to be one of the best beaches to go to on the island; we’ve already been to the other of the best beaches — Seven Mile beach.

The Island. . .it can killz you.

June 19th, 2008

Alright, so I attempted to write this last night, but BloGTK crashed. I have now learned of its save feature, therefore if it crashes again I won’t lose the entire post. Anyway, as stated in the title. There are 2 prominent ways this island can kill you.

  1. Driving around the island. Here they follow the British driving laws. That means driving on the left side of the road. I have had no problem with this. Especially since the Jeep we rented is a left hand drive. One less thing to worry about learning. The thing I am still having trouble with are all the rotary’s (Traffic Circles for all our US friends). I’m still not sure exactly how they work, but I haven’t come close to hitting anyone. The other thing is the Jeep’s big numbers on the speedometer are in km/h, but the posted speed limits are in MPH. Sometimes I catch myself going a lot slower than I should be. At least I know I won’t get a speeding ticket.
  2. The food. The food on this island is the best I have ever had. I have yet to find a restaurant that has bad food. Even the resort restaurant has god-like meals. The Fillet Mignon I had last night was the best steak I have ever had (probably one of the most expensive too at $24.95 CI). I am afraid when I return home from the trip one of three things will happen.
    1. I’ll have gained 10 to 20 pounds.
    2. I will die of a coronary.
    3. I will never be satisfied by any restaurant in the US again.

A Day of Pictures

June 18th, 2008

So today we picked up our Jeep so we can explore as much or as little of the island as we want to and at our own pace. First stop was the Turtle Farm. I think I found my replacements for my manatee picture obsession. They’re quite photogenic. We were able to see turtles from 12 months to more than 8 years old. They had an exhibit used as their mating area which housed ~500 turtles (female to male ratio of 4:1). And then several tanks where they were separated by ages. They also had a touch tank where we could pick up and pet some of the younger turtles. I learned quite a bit about these magnificent sea turtles.

Then it was off to Hell. Yes, we went to Hell, and survived nonetheless. It consisted of these interesting rock features that look like they should be from hell. And the corny gift shop where we, of course, picked up a shot glass and took pictures.

After that we had lunch at this little coffee shop and tried Turkey Mango sandwiches. It was like turkey salad with mango mixed in, kind of like a chicken salad but with turkey instead. Then we hopped across the street to the Butterfly Farm. They were quite beautiful. I got to walk around during the tour with an owl butterfly on my hand. It had just come out of it’s chrysalis and wasn’t quite dry enough to fly yet so stuck with me. I tried to get some pictures of the different types we saw, but I’m not positive how they’ll turn out. Overall, it’s was a day I’m happy I had a camera so I can share with everyone! OK, pool time!