& Then I Bought an RV!

7 Mile Beach on Grand Cayman is known widely for the beautiful sand, and blue waters. It is actually just under 6 miles long, and is lined with condos, restaurantsd, shops, etc. This is one of the few open spots accessing the beach from the nearby roadway.
On a suggestion from a regular visitor to the diving paradise of Grand Cayman Duchess & I visited Fidel Murphy's Irish Pub for lunch. What a neat place for good food...and one of the few reasonably-priced restaurants on Grand Cayman.
Oh & Bianca sez Hello! (Thanks Glenn for the tip!)
When on Grand Cayman, a short drive North of the beach is a small place called Hell!
The place even has a Post Office...
Note to those who heard me speak of driving on the left...it is not bad. In fact the folks here are quite friendly as drivers, and nothing so far has been a problem...well, except for the multiple times early on I turned on the windshield wipers instead of the turn signal (They are reversed on right hand drive cars!).

Lovely place, Grand Cayman.

Duke

Included in the string ray visit was a snorkeling stop along the edge of the reef that surrounds most of Grand Cayman. The view underwater was tremendous with colorful fish and even a small ray or two.Notice the light blue/green of the shallow water inside the reef, about 10-15 feet deep. The darker water outside the reef drops off quickly to 3-6,000 feet deep.
There were about 40 aboard, and almost all went in, exploring the reef.
Duchess hit the water among the first, and stayed to the bitter end. She had not had the opportunity to snorkel since our 10th anniversary cruise to Barbados.
The waters around Grand Cayman are simply gorgeous!

Duke

Sting Ray City....friends told us to go....we booked from our resort (Morritt's Grand) & took the catamaran trip aboard "Spirit of Cayman"....partially by sail, and partly under power.
As one can plainly see the vessel was nicely equipt!
After the stop for snorkeling (in story #3) we stopped on the Sting Ray sandbar...They were numerous! The larger ones, ranging up to 4 plus feet across, are the females. The males are usually no more than 18 inches across & much more shy than the females.
Duchess got up-close-and-personal with one of them.
Back on board I couldn't help but notice the unique patterns of some of the swimsuits.
It was a nice day with perfect weather, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Duke

Sting Ray City Day....We drove from East End, where we're staying, to Rum Point. Our Catamaran, Spirit of Cayman.
At Rum Point the fabulous views were everywhere.
Also at Rum Point, The Wreck Bar & Grill where we sampled some delicious chicken deep fried and coated.
The road to Rum Point is also home to this little hole-in-the-wall place, Over The Edge Cafe which is a favorite of the locals. Food was excellent here.
Next post I'll actually do the pics from our trip to Sting Ray City....a great outing.

Duke

Another great day in Grand Cayman...Here's our sunrise balcony view...
Infinity Pool, beside our building...the bar has underwater seats, and they serve grilled chicken, 1/2 pound burgers and 1/4 pound hot dogs for lunch...plus a long list of island drinks.
From the water in front of our building (bathtub warm) a view of Mimi's Grill & Bar on the water (had a nice party there last night) & the big building is the main reception center with David's Restaurant on-the-water.
Today we're off to Sting Ray City on a catamaran....Tomorrow George Town and then Cayman Lobster at David's...

Marvelous!

Duke

Finally, online from Grand Cayman's Morritt's Grand Resort.....East End.

Lovely place......Above are Shamua & Rose, our Flight Attendants on Cayman Airlines. They, and the ticket manager heard me tell someone we were on our 15th anniversary trip and they advanced us to "Business Class"....big wide seats, only three of us in the class. They served us champagne, snacks, and even though they don't serve food, they shared their meal with us...Very nice people Cayman Airlines should be proud of!

Flight time was 1 hr 40 min....not bad.

View from our room....

And, looking around the edge of the balcony, you can see some of the Horizon Pool, complete with bar in the middle, and underwater stools....man, what comfort.

Now, if I had just avoided the sun....got a nice red back!

Duke

No pics yet kiddies.....

Morritt's has PCs of their own and you rent time in 30 minute blocks....$1.25 per (CI Money) US is about $.30 higher in cost.

Flight was marvelous with "anniversary" upgrade to Business Class. Rose and Shamua took darned good care of us....Treats, champagne, food...all on a 1 hour 40 minute flight. I have their pics for posting when we drive back to George Town and I get a wifi signal.

The horizon pool is great.....spent hours in pool and at in-pool tiki bar yesterday. I got burned in spite of blocker, hat, etc.

Met a NY (Rochester) couple, Mary Jane and Bud, and hit it off...spent day and evening together talking, drinking, eating, drinking, and drinking.

Today (Sun) the entire place shuts down. No groceries, shops, etc. Most restaurants are open.

We are all four headed to George Town tomorrow and off to see "Hell"....some other places, possibly sting ray city with some snorkeling.

Visiting middle of three pools today with bar and grill in the water.

Prices are what you'd expect.

Lovely time!

Duke

Grand Cayman beckons....FRED is approaching hurricane status.

BUT...The final line of the weather channel story tells it all.......

"Fred is not expected to threaten any land mass."

With Grand Cayman nestled S. of Cuba, and NE of the other major islands, it should be OK, and I am feeling confident we have dodged the storm bullet as Duchess and I did in the 2004 celebration of our 10th anniversary via Princess and the Southern cruise of Barbados, Antigua, St. Thomas, etc.

Friday we fly.....excitement permeates the household.

Duke

MAR-VEL-OUS!

Love it....nothing organized.....just storms...normal.

Time to pack and time to organize.....Grand Cayman awaits.....

15 year celebration is underway.....

I love my Duchess!!!!

Duke