Grand Cayman Island
Renee and I recently traveled to Grand Cayman. For various reasons, we did not go to Belize, but have decided to explore the Caribbean to shop and compare. Cayman was our first visit.
Our flight was at 0520 so that means the alarm clock gets set for 0200. Then a bad storm started the night before so we were on the road at midnight. It was 30-40 miles per hour for the 100 miles to the Twin Cities airport, blinding snow, no plows, and a flight to catch. No pressure!!
....we made the airport in time and Renee came out from hiding under the dash. In fact, we had a few minutes before the ticket agents opened at 0400. We rested in the lounge and decided to check our flight on the big board. Yup, there it was....CANCELLED! Delta had 70 departures that day from the Twin Cities and 3 were canceled. This was NOT weather, rather some problem in our destination, Atlanta, that they would not talk about. anyway we got in line to sort it out with an agent. we were number two in line behind a nice young couple from the cities with the same problem with the 0520 to Atlanta. They went off to their agent and we went to ours. "Tough luck" he said, "I can get you there..........tomorrow" We lost the first day of our vacation! Never happened to me before, this "Tough luck" thing. Anyway, we did some shopping, visited some friends and relatives, and spent an exotic, luxury, dream night at the Minneapolis Super 8, waking, you guessed it, at 0330 to make the same stupid 0520 to Atlanta the next morning.
This time it all went smoothly until we got to the the resort at 1400. I was beginning to feel better about the lost day (seeing the beach at the resort was helping) when we found, sitting at the table closest to the water on the left, the young couple from the ticket line!! "Where ya been?" he cracked, "can I buy you a drink?" (It's an all-inclusive and the drinks are free) THEIR ticket agent did not say "Tough luck", he said" let me get you to Cayman on a competitor's flight through Miami this evening" Hmmmmmmmmm
....As you can see, the trip was ruined. You can tell from our expressions here that we were having a bad time. This was on the boat out to the reef the next day to visit the sting rays and snorkel.........
.... The sting ray time was great, they are so tame and very unusual feeling......
....Renee is a veteran scuba diver. She was amused when I could not figure which end of the snorkel thingy to put in my mouth. The snorkeling was fun, too, like a whole different world down there.........
....Cayman is kinda expensive, to say the least. Turns out all you can afford to do is walk the beach and lay in the sun. We were at an all-inclusive resort (a separate blog on this will follow) so the eating and drinking is covered. I thought it was pricey at about $300 per day, but quickly learned it was a true bargain. We went across the street for a drink one night and spent $25 on one drink apiece. (note to brothers........ can you remember going into a bar for a drink and leaving after one? Me neither) So, to do the math, if you are not in an all inclusive, a couple can just barely make it on $200/day to eat and drink.
Ouch........we walked at least 5 miles a day....
...........the beach front is worth $150,000 per foot (not a typo). It is no wonder that they are touchy about letting just anyone wander around out there. I mean, this is no place for an ordinary surgeon from Wisconsin as his meager salary will not justify his use of this hallowed ground.........
......still, it was nice lounging and reading our books on the sugar sand. The drinks were probably watered so we were forced to drink more..........
....Renee found time to take this picture of her favorite thing (NOT the speedo)............. Her thumb..............
....In spite of all my grousing, had a great time and hated to leave. I am just too Swiss to spend money like that. We will continue our research on Caribbean vacations and report back. I know. It is demanding and exhausting work..................................but someone has to do it!
Uncle Hans
