Day 4...Grand Cayman!
Day 4 dawned...bright and sunny!
Of course, things were going to change...
We were up early, and no, I was not hungover! We headed up for the grit-less Topsiders, where I had a made-to-order omelette with tomatoes, mushrooms and cheese.
Steve had french toast, waffles, and a few other things. Today was our Rum Point Beach Adventure!
We went back to our room and packed our bag. Sunscreen, water shoes, hats, passports, book, no umbrella, but we are on vacation, right? We headed down to Diversions, where we were gathering for our excursion. On the way down, our head server from saw us in the atrium and came over to us. He asked Steve a magical question..."Did you have your grits yet?" Um, noo... "OK, have breakfast at Lumiere's tomorrow and you will have grits." Could this be pixie dust at work? We shall see...
Off to Diversions and soon we were following the green paddle of power off the ship and onto Grand Cayman. We needed to tender over to the island, but we were told that they are building another dock so that tendering will be a thing of the past.
The tender ship:
Pirates!
We got off the tender on Grand Cayman Island! The first thing that hits you is the heat. The second thing that hits you is how beautiful the port area is!
We gathered around the Disney kiosk and got our passes for transportation. We had opted not to do the Stingray excursion which was an addition to the tour, so we got one less coupon in our packet!
We headed out on a bus, which would take us to the ferry. On the way, we passed a few interesting sites:
All our ESSO's turned to Exxons in our neck of the woods!
Soon we were on the ferry and approaching Rum Point:
We were met by young men on jetskis, who were showing off their expertise, and then offering to rent them. Of course, they told us that you could drive them alot more sedately than they did!
We kept thinking, what a way to make a living, renting jetskis and demonstrating them on a beautiful Cayman Island!
Ah, the hardship!
We got off the ferry and walked the short dock to the beach. The water was crystal clear. I come from PA, we go to the Jersey Shore!
This water was so clear you could see right down to the bottom!
A few shots of Rum Point:
Alpha, one of the island's permanent residents:
We found a spot on the beach and headed for the water. We walked in...and in...and in...we were in about 1/4 mile or so and the water was still only chest high and still crystal clear. We could see our feet!
Occasionally a fish would swim by, the water was warm, it was definitely PARADISE!
I came back to shore and relaxed with my book, Steve swam a little bit more and then we settled down on our lounge chairs. We started to talk to a couple and their son who were next to us, they were from PA, too! This was their fourth Disney cruise, their third trip to Rum Point. We decided to have our lunch, and we headed over to the lunch area. We invited our new friends to sit with us, and the five of us settled in and gave our orders to the waiter. About this time the skies started to look a tad threatening...
Troopers that we were, we sat there as the rain came down. Finally, it was really coming down. We were the last ones to abandon ship, so to speak, and it seemed like there would be nowhere for us to eat our lunch. The bar area consisted of a few barstools and mostly standing area, and a little counter space. Well, not to fear, our wonderful waiter came out and told us that since we had already ordered, we could head over to the Pavilion! He pointed the way, and we literally ran (it was raining that hard!
) to the other side of the bar/beach, where a really nice dry pavilion waited!
We sat at a picnic table, and our lunch was delivered. I had conch chowder and fish and chips, Steve had a burger and fries. We were a little damp, but we survived!
Where we were covered in raindrops:
After lunch, the storm passed, so we headed back out to the beach for awhile. We needed to be back on the ferry by 1:45, so at 1:30 we headed down that way. The weather again looked threatening:
I opted to ride inside the ferry, Steve rode on top outside, and of course, shot video!
We arrived back at the dock and waited for our tender.
Margaritaville in Grand Cayman:
We got back on the ship and headed to our room for some R & R. Steve, of course, fell asleep right away
but I, of course, wasn't tired.
I headed out to our verandah with my cheese and crackers, and saw this in the clouds:
Steve said no, but I definitely see a reclining Mickey in that cloud!
A few minutes later, the black cloud that was at Rum Point began to follow us. I swear, the entire port was clear except for this one rain cloud RIGHT OVER the Disney Magic!
This is the rain hitting that beautiful blue water!
The storm passed quickly, and every storm should be followed by a rainbow:
I sat on the verandah and enjoyed the rest. I called my friend Margo (yea! Cell Service!
) to check on things back home. (She is my cat babysitter). Everything was fine, and Tigger seemed to not miss me at all.
: Oh well.
Soon we were up and around. It was Pirates night tonight!
Next.....ARRRRRRGH!