Living the life most people just dream about~

Well, we moved to yet another location on the island today. We did this in the midst of a nasty rain storm as we traversed the island. New location is Morritts on the East end of the island. So far very unhappy and very unimpressed with the place, but I don’t transition well when things don’t go my way – and checking in, they did not go my way…. but we’ve had a couple of drinks, a bite to eat (which we shared with the local bird population) back in our room now, cooled off and now thinking maybe I’m over reacting a bit…. I’m hoping a cool shower and a good nights sleep will help the outlook tomorrow.

Internet is here, is puny at best and paid for by the day – so not sure how much posting I’m gonna get done…. so bear with me.

Here’s a couple of pictures…… more tomorrow (hopefully)~~

Well it looks like my video isn’t go to load properly – don’t know if it’s me or this mickey mouse internet…. sorry~~

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The day today started off a lot rougher than I cared for and took most of the wind out of my sails – but my Queen got me back on track and by 2:00 or so we were lounging on one of the most gorgeous beaches on the island (7 mile) and wasn’t long before I was out tooling around one of my most favorite snorkeling sites [so far] on the island. I found out today, some of them fishes, as they start getting used to you, I guess want to sample you to see if you’re edible. Nibbling little bastards…. bites didn’t really hurt, but sure enough scare the crap out of you when you’re not expecting it. (It was not unrealistic to imagine Jaws taking a bite our of your ass when that happens too) I had several nibbles to what I can only assume was the hair on my back – a couple of them really liked my fingers when my arms were down by my side – and one even tried a nipple – just no damn respect I’m telling you~! I often wondered why scuba divers always wear a wet suit…. I struggled with understanding why they would want to put them aggravating damn things on. I don’t wonder so much about it any more~ (Guess I should be glad I wasn’t skinny dipping)  😉

Getting a little more used to my camera and video so hopefully pictures and videos will start improving. Still cloudy as get out above the water, but water clarity continues to amaze me, even in low light conditions.

Finished up a very relaxing afternoon of beaching it and snorkeling with a cold drink and then a trip through the local Margarita bar. Came home, caught a shower and then up to the local joint for a quick bite. Main course left some to be desired – but had a really good day, had dinner and the rest of a really nice evening with my Bride….. kinda hard to beat that~  😉

 

 

After another illustrious continental breakfast (don’t take long for them dudes to get old) – we headed out to the local Rum distillery for a tour of the place…. these boys got it figured out, start the tour off getting you mostly hammered (and they will tell you that right up front) by sampling somewhere around a dozen different rums, vodkas, triple sec and schnapps’… yeah, I wouldn’t have thought you’d find all of that at a Rum distillery either – but apparently, this one you can….. after coping a fairly decent buzz – we were led through the actual process plant – pretty neat little operation. You are then guided back out for more shots (if you wanted them) and of course the opportunity to buy any of their offerings. We had a group of young women with us that was having an exceptionally good time – that always make a tour more fun…  ; )

After we left the distillery, we headed for a snorkel spot that I read about that sounded like a lot of fun. After getting lost, turned around, confused and disorientated – we finally found the place. We pulled into a fun little bar – and my Bride opted to sit and drink while I bailed off of the pier and headed out for the site. (my Bride is not comfortable in deep water, so she opted to sit and drink and watch me). The spot I was swimming out to is called the Wreck of the Cali: The Cali was a 220′ schooner/freighter built in 1900 and in the 20′s a diesel engine was installed before it was sold to Colombians. Not originally designed for the shaking a giant diesel engine produces, the hull weakened and cracked over time. In the 40′s while carrying a load of 30,000 bags of rice, the hull finally sprung a leak leading to the rice expanding and fracturing the hull offshore from Grand Cayman. The boat was blown in half and scuttled to form the dive site that now is scattered over several hundred meters of undersea terrain.

I had almost talked myself out of doing this swim, because massive black clouds were forming and there was very little sunlight, so I was afraid visibility would suffer, but I knew my chances to getting back to this part of the island were slim, so my Bride convinced me to go for it. Boy-0-boy am I ever glad I went for that swim. Even in low light conditions, the visibility was still amazing – and aside from the Tarpons I had to swim through to get to it and seeing another big sting ray and lots of other sea life – seeing that wreckage down there was amazing~!! I could have floated over that wreck for the rest of the afternoon. I would have loved to been able to scuba dive it and get down into some of the bigger pieces of the wreckage.

The good part for you all – is I tried out my Go-Pro camera on this swim – and managed to come up with some pretty decent pictures and a couple of fun videos (if I can get this friggin’ web site to load them)

I hope you enjoy~!!

 

 

 

Even living the dream – every now and again you have to contend with life issues. So, today was one of those days. Ran out to the other end of the island to take care of some mail and such…. came back into the big city to take care of some contract stuff — got lost, turned around, confused, whatever you want to call it (you can only get so lost on an island) but finally made it back to the abode. Cooled down, had a couple of drinks and decided to do something I haven’t done since the release of the original Spider-Man – We loaded up and went out to see a movie~! Managed to find the theatre without too many problems – got me a mega bucket of pop corn and settled in with my bride to watch The Mountain between Us. I have seen the advertisement multiple times and really looked good (to me) NOTHING in the friggin’ advertisement says anything about it being a love story – because that’s essentially all it was….. and even though it’s rated PG13, there is one scene I sure wouldn’t want to sit through with any of my kids before they got out of college. Don’t get me wrong, the movie wasn’t terrible, just not at all what I was expecting. Left the theatre and only got mildly lost, turned around, confused before finding our way back…. Hey– it was dark….. and you know us old people can’t see in the damn dark~~ 😉

Here’s a couple of pictures for you……………..

 

Found a new beach that I had read about that sounded really good. Snorkeled it for about 20 minutes and while the water was gorgeous – not a lot to look at  🙁 then was lucky enough to run into a couple raving about it, and found out I hadn’t went out far enough…… wow – the article was right~! It was like swimming in a massive aquarium~! Saw a small spotted Moray Eel, but couldn’t get the camera out quick enough to catch him. I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story  😉

Wrapped the day up with a surprise sunset dinner cruise for my Bride – and while I thought it was supposed to be a private event – it turned out really nice any way…… I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed seeing it.

 

 

Started our day off with a free Continental breakfast (which can’t hold a candle to good ole sausage and eggs) – but ate a bite and lit out for the Northwestern part of the island. Fun, fun, fun day.

Started out by going to Hell – literally…… I have been told to go there multiple times…. but didn’t plan on completing the journey this early in my life. Fun little place that has some of the most unique rocks you’ll ever see. One version of how the location got it’s name is that the folks who discovered the rocks,  stated…” this is  must be what Hell looks like”  Spooky, eerie looking – pictures probably won’t do them justice – but fun and interesting none-the-less~~

After bottle-assing around in Hell for a while, we headed for a turtle farm that was supposed to be near by. So very, very happy we made it. Paid the entry fee for the full tour of the place. First thing you see when you walk in is a massive ‘bay’ of turtles…and I mean TURTLES…. wow~~  I’ve seen hundreds of pictures and videos and TV shows, showing these marvelous creatures swimming around, but this is the first time I have seen them in real life and up close. OMG~!! These things are HUGE — one of the guides says their biggest one is 600 Lbs…. now THAT is a turtle…..   I’ll be real honest – I was in awe, no other way to put it, and could have stood there the rest of the day watching those big beautiful animals. Absolutely mind bending to me. Toured the rest of the compound and actually got to hold some of the smaller turtles…. really fun couple of hours and a great way to spend a beautiful tropical day.

More to my day – but this is enough rambling for one day and I can save some for tomorrow and more room here for pictures.

If you ever get to Grand Cayman ….. Go to Hell~!  (and then go see some turtles)  😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First full day on this side of the island – living steps away from the infamous 7 Mile Beach. After a slow start to the day, my Bride and I walked over to 7 Mile Beach to see what the fuss was about. Wow~~ Now we know. We walked about a mile of the beach and then came back to check out the local bar. Gorgeous, gorgeous stretch of beach. For still being the slow season – there were a lot of folks out – but you could still find large stretches that you could claim all to yourself. I have been reading up on the ‘good’ snorkeling spots for this side of the island – and will probably venture out for them tomorrow.

Several adventures already scheduled for this week if the weather holds up – details on them after they happen. As the weather starts to cool at ‘home’ we aren’t missing it a bit. Looking at the pictures, I think you’ll see why………

Ciao~!

 

 

Wow that was a fast week…… spent the morning packing up our stuff and straightening the condo up before we left– really sucks, but hey – at least we are not headed back to work 😉

Finally navigated through the big city to our next ‘port of call’…. HMmmmm – this is definitely 180 degrees from what we left… no ocean, no [private] pool, lots of people, definitely not the same view, lots of street noise…. arrived just in time for a thunderstorm – but we are moved in now and unpacked. Already ventured out to find a liquor store (tomorrow being Sunday and all) – re-stocked on hooch and smokes – so we’re good. Gonna spend the evening learning about our new surroundings and will venture out to explore tomorrow.

Via con Dios…………

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Slow day today — and not gonna waste your time with a bunch of mindless chatter.  Here’s some pictures I took today… enjoy them…. Not sure what tomorrow brings as we move to our new place over in the big city. I suspect it’s gonna be a lot more crowded than we’re ready for – but I know for a fact they have KFC and Burger King~!!  So it can’t be all bad….OOh-Rah~!!

Did catch a gorgeous sunset strolling back home from the bar…. Not sure if I’ll get anything put up tomorrow or not – but stay tuned…………………

 

 

 

 

Started our day out today with a rare no wind day as the sun rose….. it is just good for the soul to sit and gaze at that kind of beauty — whether it is over a place you’ve longed to be for years or a favorite lake or other piece of earth to watch it happen.

Instead of a walk this morning – I opted to use the low wind morning to light out on a kayak adventure (couldn’t do it yesterday due the winds) — wound up paddling up into the mangroves for a bout 2.5 miles — should have called it Iguana city… wow. Hard to spot, but once you spotted one, you could see them by the dozens in all sizes and colors….. beautiful~   Pictures aren’t going to do them justice – Couple of them were an easy 4′-5′  from tip of tail to nose. After about 2 hours I had all my shoulders, arms and stomach could stand and headed back. (turns out kayaking is a really good ab workout)

After brunch – went for a quick snorkel around our dock again –  lots and lots of little fish that I have not learned the name of yet – and even more Star Fish around the dock – but had a new visitor…  a Barracuda…. guesstimating 2′ – 2.5′ long, but from my perspective, might as well have been Jaws. Never acted aggressive towards me, but followed me all around the dock and never let me get far from his sight. Must have thought I was horning in on his dinner options or something….. Also had one little Jelly Fish just big enough to run me back into the shore…..

Followed all that up with a trip to the local bar (Kai Bar) for drinks — Met a young couple who were there for their engagement (Dennis & Diana) who are staying just down the way from us….”one or two” drinks wound up being too many to count including a shot of 7 Fathoms rum that whooped on me worse than anything has in quite some time …. Wowser… wound back at our place for drinks, marital advice and some pool time…. fun young couple – we wish them the best…..  can’t hold a candle to our DAMN NEIGHBORS though –  but fun none the less….