Not too long ago both my Dad and sister descended upon Cayman for a long weekend of fun in the sun with their own built in destination expert (that would be me). We crammed a lot into one weekend — and there was still time for lounging by the pool and the sea. While the weather wasn’t the greatest, I had such a good time showing off my home for the summer and having fellow tourists to do all the touristy things with. My dad was very on top of it and recognized many things from my blog. My sister on the other hand told me she hadn’t really been reading along “yet,” since she was planning on “waiting until the end of the summer… and reading it like a book.”
You heard it here first. My own sister doesn’t read my blog.
Well now I know I can post whatever I want about her! Olivia, the stingrays say you smelled. Dad, thanks for coming.
Just kidding, it was great to see them both.
Even with such a short visit, I really wanted to show my Dad and sister the other side of the island away from Seven Mile Beach. It’s such a different experience, it’s like visiting another island. I recommended my Dad rent a car and never one to let sunny weather pass by unenjoyed, he rolled up in a convertible! So we planned a Cayman road trip.
We started our journey with a trip to Pure Art, a great alternative to busy Georgetown for great souvenirs, followed by lunch on the water at Sunset House, where I ran into a family I had just done a private video for. They had just gotten the delivery and were thrilled with it. I rarely get the chance to talk to people after the trip so it was so great to have some feedback. After lunch we hit the road and after some nice top down time we arrived at our first stop, Pedro St. James. I wrote a separate post about that which you can read here.
After all the culture and knowledge our brains needed frying so we headed up to our favorite getaway, Rum Point, where my Dad and Olivia took advantage of the hammocks and beach chairs and Mark and I went wild with my new camera. As it was the first time using it we weren’t getting anything great, not to mention that despite what the guidebooks say, there is nothing much to see in the water at Rum Point! Everywhere lists it as a great snorkel but there is no coral. Note to Fodors: a shallow body of water does not a good snorkel spot make. Other things are required, ie: coral, fish, etc. Moving on, as we were coming in, I swam towards the dock, hoping maybe some fish got lost and were hanging out under there when I realized the dark shape I was approaching was the largest barracuda I had ever seen in my life! I was actually too intimidated to get too close to it but floated around for a while, using Mark as a barracuda shield.
As it got late we headed to a place I’ve been dying to go for a while: Starfish Point. Its not marked on maps and there are no signs, but after sniffing around and asking some questions I got the location. Expecting endless starfish as far as the eye could see, I was a bit disappointed when we saw a measly two, but there were beautiful!
Starfish hunters!
We were really looking forward to the culmination of our perfect day, the kayaking tour to see the bioluminescence in the south sound. Sadly as we were eating dinner nearby the sky opened up and the rain didn’t stop, so the tour got cancelled. I’m vowing to do it before I leave though, mark my words! Kayaking or no kayaking, I was still so glad we took the time to come up to the North side and explore another part of the island. I’m also glad the convertible has a top.
On my dad’s final night on the island, (Olivia had already bid us goodbye) I knew I had to take him to get a great steak. I don’t write much about the restaurants here, because we don’t eat out that often and when we do I’m not sure if its something people are really clamoring to read about. But I’m making an exception this time because I took some awesome pictures of birds and I want to show them off. Just keepin’ it real here.
Papagallos is the northernmost restaurant in West Bay. We were looking for a place on the ocean and after glancing at a photo I made reservations, only to realize when looking at a map that the body of water it sits on is actually a lagoon, not the sea. But water is water and as we walked up we were impressed with the scenery… definitely did not feel like we were in Cayman anymore! It was the perfect place for a special dinner for my dad’s last night in Cayman before returning to the real world.
It was pretty empty inside, which I attribute to it being the low season and a Sunday, since the food was excellent and the service warm and friendly. The big selling point for me though was the room which was surrounded by different cages each with exotic birds in them. I love restaurants and I love zoos. So what could be a better combo?! While we waited for the food I walked around outside and played with trying to get some cool photos and I love the dark and sinister outcome.
Do you guys think its weird to take pictures of food? I’m split on this issue. I can see Mark look a little flustered when I break out the Canon to take some pictures of my bacon wrapped steak, but I don’t know, sometimes I have this burning, inexplicable desire to document my meal with photos. Why is this? It’s not like I look back at these photos and reminisce about the great cut of meat, or use it to make a creepy food diary. I guess maybe I just like to embarrass my boyfriend. Anyway, I’m putting one to good use, right here right now. For your viewing pleasure, my dinner:
Conclusion: If you are in Cayman and you’re looking for a place a bit off the regular restaurant scene here I recommend you give this place a try. If you were terrorized by Hitchcock’s The Birds as a child, I recommend you stay home.
This one is Humphry Bogart
Having my dad and sister in Cayman was a dream. For a little more on the action we packed into a short weekend, check out the separate posts I wrote on our trips to Stingray City, the Vividendi Cabaret, and Hell. Yup, Hell. It would have been heaven if they could have stayed a little longer.
Thanks for the visit, fam!
I WANTED to read it like a book because I knew the suspense between posts would be too much to handle…. its like buying a tv series on dvd so you dont have to wait an entire week between episodes.
Hmmmm, I have severe doubts my sister reads mine as well 😉
Commenting years late here… but I love the animals! And my family doesn’t bother to read my blog either 😛
Ha, well sometimes I convince them 😉 Mostly when they’re appearing on it as guest stars!