After breakfast we all headed over to our gate to wait out of 5 hour layover and were rather disappointed to learn that it had been extended - instead of leaving at 11:25 AM, our plane was now delayed and set to leave at 1:00 PM. With nothing to do but wait, we laid out our things in an section of the waiting area and proceeded to do just that. 
Sarah slept a tiny bit on the ground, as did Doug, but we were always rudely awakened by Anthony's (the youngest of Sarah's cousins, he is 3 years old) screams or constant questions. 
Sarah and Anthony enjoying KitKats and pretzels.
He was super excited to go on the plane so the inquiries were never ending (How do the police keep the monsters off the planes? Is the plane as tall as Sarah? etc).
Sarah slept a tiny bit on the ground, as did Doug, but we were always rudely awakened by Anthony's (the youngest of Sarah's cousins, he is 3 years old) screams or constant questions. 
Sarah and Anthony enjoying KitKats and pretzels.
Eventually, though, our wait was over and at about 1:10 PM we were allowed to board the plane. The pilot explained and apologized that the delay had been due to bad weather in Atlanta, which couldn't be made up for since the crew was required by the FAA to have at least a 10 hour crew rest in between flights. The pilot was pretty cheerful and humorous, so we all forgave him. This flight was much less full than our previous one had been, yet the flight attendant still failed to deliver peanuts or pretzels or whatever snack it is they served to the both of us, so we were stuck with just our ginger ales.
The flight was only an hour and a half long, so we got into Georgetown at about 2:15 PM Cayman time, which is only two hours later than California versus the three in Miami because they do not observe Daylight Savings Time here. The 70% humidity was immediately noticeable once we stepped onto the runway, which was bordered on both sides by ocean; also noticeable was the pair of Cayman men playing Caribbean music live outside the terminal. 
We stepped into the air-conditioned terminal and waited for some time in line to go through customs, which was fairly simple and unintimidating. We had only a few bags to pick up since neither of us had checked anything, and we quickly headed out of the airport, eager to catch our shuttle and head to the condos. Del checked in with the tour company who was running our shuttle and we got aboard along with a most-likely-intimidated quiet couple and completed the short drive to West Bay Road where Villas of the Galleon was located. We also got the treat of seeing an iguana on the side of the road, kindly pointed out by our driver as American music filled the van. 
We finally arrived at the condos and checked in, then scoped out all three to decide who would go where. We settled into condo #1, which has a small ocean view and two rooms, one with two twins and one with a California King.
We headed down to the beach, which is practically our front yard. The white sand was dotted with pine and palm trees as well as umbrellas and chairs, with the light blue, very clear water rolling calmly up the shore.
We all swam for awhile in the water, keenly noticing the jellyfish that seemed to be omnipresent. Doug ran to ask the office if they were stinging jellyfish, and the woman told him that yes, we should stay away from them, but they should be on their way out after being whisked in after a recent tropical storm. With that promise, we carefully swam awhile longer, Sarah opting to lay out rather than get stung again (she was stung in Mexico a few years ago) until we were too hungry to swim anymore.We discussed where to go and opted just to walk down the beach and find someplace since we didn't have a car to use. We walked a half mile or so down the beach, sweating under the blazing sun, until we reached a beachfront restaurant laid out in the sand. We sat down to eat at Calico Jack's, ordering smoothies and ice water from the British Columbian waitress. The extended menu offered vegetarian quesadillas, which Sarah ordered along with a mango smoothie, and Doug went with some fresh fish and chips and a pina colada smoothie. The food was excellent, and both of us were brave enough to try Linda's conch fritters, a specialty here; they were not bad! The adults hung out at the tables enjoying their CayBrews, the local beer, as the kids headed a few feet down to the beach. Doug wrestled with the boys in the water while Sarah and Amanda swam a bit and watched the craziness in the water.
We soon noticed that we were being bit by little black flies, supposedly No-See-Ems that we could see, so we decided to head back as darkness began to fall. As we were walking slowly down the beach we noticed ripples in the water and saw that there was a huge adult sea turtle swimmng up near the shore. We guessed that it was probably looking for a place to lay its eggs, so we tried our best to leave it alone after a few photos. Doug noticed that his lens cap was missing, so we searched for it on the sand in the dark. When we couldn't find it, he ran back to the restaurant beachfront to look for it but it was nowhere to be found. Sarah waited for him on the beach and when he returned we gave up and headed back to the condo, dodging crabs and possible washed-up jellyfish in the dark. Once we got back Sarah hopped in the shower as Doug headed out once again with his headlamp to look for his cap again. He returned about half an hour later empty-handed. Jamie, Jared, and the two of us headed to bed early as we hadn't had proper sleep the previous night and all drifted off quickly in the cool rooms.
No comments:
Post a Comment