{Cecilia's first trick-or-treat at Jill and Steve's house}
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Vacation!
The week before Halloween Matt, Cecilia and myself packed up and flew to Grand Cayman Island with Matt's mom MaryLee, brother Monte, sister Melissa, Melissa's husband Ray and their kids, Jack and Lila. Cecilia did extremely well on the plane rides and we found that she enjoyed sitting next to strangers and watching her dvd's. This made Matt and I very happy and relieved.
We arrived at Grand Cayman and immediately went to the beach. Of course, we checked into our condo and unpacked a little. We spent a majority of our week in Grand Cayman at the beach outside of our resort. The family {not me} snorkled everyday and saw a variety of sea life: stingrays, lobsters, sea stars, fish, and sharks! We had to spend one day inside of our condo due to Hurricane Rina ripping through, but thankfully it was just the way outer skirts of the hurricane and we just got a little rain that blew sideways. MarLlee found some beautiful seashells that had washed on shore and Cecilia enjoyed eating the sand. Cecilia wasn't too keen on the ocean water the first day, but the second day was a completely different story. She would run into the ocean and run back and run in and run out. It was so fun to watch her experience the ocean the way that she did.
The times we weren't at the beach or in the water we were exploring the island. We all trekked up to Rum Point one afternoon and it was beautiful! Clear water, white sand, palm trees and hammocks. It really was the best spot on the island. Our last day found all of us at the Tortuga Turtle Farm and Georgetown. We were all able to to hold baby sea turtles as well as pick up mature sea turtles. Some of the family fed the turtles which was funny to see because they all beelined it for the food. There were a variety of sea turtles from young to old and species that are very rare. We had fun! Georgetown is the main city on Grand Cayman. It had a lot of souvenir shops, Hard Rock, Margaritaville, etc. Mainly a town for docked cruise ships. We still had fun and purchased a few souvenir's, but nothing too spectacular.
Some of the best seafood I have ever had was on Grand Cayman. Mostly local catches (and some not), but the food was superb! There was one particular restaurant that we all ate at one evening that was on the way to Rum Point called Over the Edge cafe. It was on the beach/ocean. Small menu but some of the best crab, tuna, snapper and mahi mahi we had had! Another restaurant that we all ate at a few times was Tukka's. Australian fair, but very delicious! My favorite was the conch and crocodile fritters! I also stocked up on Cadbury chocolate bars since they are hard to come by in the states.
Matt, Cecilia and I decided to visit Hell, Grand Cayman one afternoon by ourselves. Complete tourist trap. Hell consists of some really cool rock formations that I have no interest in, but now we can all three say we have been to Hell and back!
We arrived at Grand Cayman and immediately went to the beach. Of course, we checked into our condo and unpacked a little. We spent a majority of our week in Grand Cayman at the beach outside of our resort. The family {not me} snorkled everyday and saw a variety of sea life: stingrays, lobsters, sea stars, fish, and sharks! We had to spend one day inside of our condo due to Hurricane Rina ripping through, but thankfully it was just the way outer skirts of the hurricane and we just got a little rain that blew sideways. MarLlee found some beautiful seashells that had washed on shore and Cecilia enjoyed eating the sand. Cecilia wasn't too keen on the ocean water the first day, but the second day was a completely different story. She would run into the ocean and run back and run in and run out. It was so fun to watch her experience the ocean the way that she did.
{Jack & Lila}
{MaryLee relaxing}
{View from our condo}
{Best Friends For Life}
{Sums up the kids vacation!}
{Here comes Rina!}
{Monte snorkeling with the chub and tarpin outside our room}
{Beautiful}
{Stepping in the ocean for the first time}
The times we weren't at the beach or in the water we were exploring the island. We all trekked up to Rum Point one afternoon and it was beautiful! Clear water, white sand, palm trees and hammocks. It really was the best spot on the island. Our last day found all of us at the Tortuga Turtle Farm and Georgetown. We were all able to to hold baby sea turtles as well as pick up mature sea turtles. Some of the family fed the turtles which was funny to see because they all beelined it for the food. There were a variety of sea turtles from young to old and species that are very rare. We had fun! Georgetown is the main city on Grand Cayman. It had a lot of souvenir shops, Hard Rock, Margaritaville, etc. Mainly a town for docked cruise ships. We still had fun and purchased a few souvenir's, but nothing too spectacular.
{Cemetary on the ocean}
{Rum Point}
{Rum Point}
{Rum Point}
{Blowhole}
{Sea turtles}
{Monte holding a sea turtle. This one was not happy}
{Matt holding a sea turtle. This one was very calm.}
{Cecilia's curly hair the whole week we were there!}
{Georgetown}
{Georgetown pirate}
{Georgetown}
Some of the best seafood I have ever had was on Grand Cayman. Mostly local catches (and some not), but the food was superb! There was one particular restaurant that we all ate at one evening that was on the way to Rum Point called Over the Edge cafe. It was on the beach/ocean. Small menu but some of the best crab, tuna, snapper and mahi mahi we had had! Another restaurant that we all ate at a few times was Tukka's. Australian fair, but very delicious! My favorite was the conch and crocodile fritters! I also stocked up on Cadbury chocolate bars since they are hard to come by in the states.
Matt, Cecilia and I decided to visit Hell, Grand Cayman one afternoon by ourselves. Complete tourist trap. Hell consists of some really cool rock formations that I have no interest in, but now we can all three say we have been to Hell and back!
