Archive for the ‘Trips’ category

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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.

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Posted in Honeymoon, Trips

Discovering Paradise

June 15th, 2008

So we arrived safely in the Cayman Islands yesterday. After landing and being one of the first few from our flight to figure out what “Taxi Dispatcher” was instead of dragging all of our stuff to the taxi cabs and have them ignore us, we got to the resort. It is absolutely gorgeous. We found a “goodie bag” on our dining room table when we got here, containing a bottle of rum, a shot glass, some spicy seafood grill sauces (which they also use to make the dip for tasty Conch fritters), a rum cake, and some polo shirts that were custom made for us that say:  “I honeymooned in Grand Cayman and discovered paradise.”  Thanks Mom and Dad!!  Our balcony gives us a view of both the golf course and the ocean. We can see Rum Point in the distance. The room is very nice and is essentially a one-bedroom apartment. Yesterday afternoon we went to the grocery store to pick up a few things for breakfasts, snacking, and the occasional meal where we didn’t feel like going out.

Today we’ve already been “oriented,” sunbathed on the beach, swam in the pool, ate a Caribbean lunch and it’s not even 3 PM yet! We’re just going to take it easy, relax and take it all in today. Tomorrow we’re planning on going to the beach to watch this huge jet ski competition, Tuesday we’ll go do some shopping in George Town and so far the only other thing we have planned is Stingray City and snorkeling at the Barrier Reef on Thursday.

But now I’m going back to watching the golfers try to hit their balls over the giant water trap / lake outside of our balcony. Especially since Chase has just informed me that the current golfer hit a bird with his ball. Oops!

Edit by Chase:  I haven’t written in a while, but I will try to keep up since we found that we, as “owners” of the timeshare, get free internet in the room.  First thing, Katie looked absolutly stunning in her wedding dress.  The only thing I could do to keep from crying was to look at my father and nod.  Second thing, the internet connection here is not the fastest.  Therefore there will be no pictures uploaded until we return.

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Posted in Honeymoon, Trips

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Jumping Whales & Dolphins

March 26th, 2008

So on Day 4 of our vacation we started off the day by waking up a very groggy Jay who turned into a very excited little boy when he found his Easter eggs. All 32 of those pre-packaged plastic eggs that the Easter bunny had so cleverly hidden the night before. After which he got to eat an exciting breakfast of candy while the rest of us munched down on plain things like cereal.

Then we went to Sea World in Orlando. Watched the whale show, the dolphin show (with some strange acrobats dressed as birds in it too), the pet show, and the Elmo & friends show. Remember we were catering to Chase’s sister’s boyfriend’s four-year-old. But we did have a blast as shown by the several pages of pictures (I deleted the bad, blurred, and missed shots).

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Day 5 we went to Coca Beach, it was a little too cold and windy to actually make use of the beach. But we did walk around, get some lunch at this little res truant on the water-front called Sunset Cafe, then shopped. We brought back a few articles of clothing and some free stickers.

Day 6 was a bit more boring because it was just a long drive back to Virginia.

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Posted in Trips

It’s Just A Family Tradition

March 23rd, 2008

Day 3 was pretty relaxing.  We went out to the grand parents and had lunch with them and Uncle Tom, who was in town from Michigan.  Cracker’s is where we went, which seems to be like a tradition now, because almost every time we go visit them we eat there.  It was a great to see them all again.

I still think Floridians are the worst drivers.  They will travel 5 under in a 70 MPH zone, but then go flying through a 55 MPH at 65 or 70.  They also seem to drive the cars with those new optional turn signals that can also fit into any size hole between cars on the highway.

As usual, here is the link to the photo album from day 3.  Not much in there because we didn’t take many pictures, but today is SeaWorld day, so there will be plenty today.

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Posted in Trips

Georgians have nothing better to do

March 22nd, 2008

In the approximate 100 miles that I-95 runs through Georgia, about 80% of it is plagued with construction. So between that and the drivers who don’t know about the phenomenon known as cruise control we were a little annoyed by the time we reached Florida.

But it was all good once we go here. We ate at a local restaurant “Dixie Crossroads” which has a variety of fresh seafood items. We’ve eaten there several times before but it’s always a great time. Then went back to chill in the pool for the afternoon. We spent the evening after dinner become big kids again while helping Jay dye Easter eggs and decorate his Easter basket for the Easter bunny.

Back with more later.

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Posted in Rant, Trips