Christian’s largest stingray catch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Port Day mornings are usually busy. Everyone trying to get breakfast, pack a backpack for the day and get ashore. Ports where we must use a tender (a small boat to shuttle people ashore because the port is not deep enough to accommodate the large ship) are always more hectic. Times like this are what some people hate about cruises, the hurry up and wait lines. But most people are very patient and polite, knowing this is a natural consequence of choosing to vacation with about 3000 other passengers.

So we finally made it onto Grand Cayman and found the bus that would take us to our chosen destinations today. First, we rode over to a harbor just a few minutes away to board yet another boat. Then that boat took us out to the sandbar that is home to the popular attraction of Stingray City.

Stingray City is actually a large sandbar stretching about half a mile out from the island. Here stingrays have been being hand fed for almost 50 years and have become very tame (and very large). Tourists flock here by the droves to have the unique opportunity to touch, hold, and feed giant stingrays. The stingrays don’t seem to be put off by the number of people, their numbers actually appeared to grow as more people populated the sandbar. Many years ago, we visited Grand Cayman and dove near this same sandbar with our scuba group. I don’t have fond memories of the experience, when we were fully submerged the sting rays were free to glide across our faces and heads. But standing in the 4-5 foot water of the sandbar was a little more comfortable for me. Not to say that I wasn’t at first unnerved by a 6 foot stingray rubbing against me. Their mouths are underneath their bodies and this is how they are fed, so they are constantly sliding their silly soft bellies over any part of your body they happen to find in search of food. The stingrays are docile and will allow you to hold and stroke them. The guides also gave squid to those brave souls who wanted to feed them (which didn’t include me). By the time we were ready to leave, I was actually enjoying the experience. The rays are impossibly silky, and once I accepted that they weren’t going to hurt me, I was able to relax and have fun.

After our boat returned to the dock, we boarded another bus to take us to the Cayman Turtle Farm. We entered a beautifully landscaped complex of colorful buildings that served as educational and breeding centers. A large enclosure in the center of the complex held over 300 adult turtles and served as the breeding tank. These turtles were enormous, each weighing 300- 400 pounds. The attached sand beach allows the females to lay eggs (numbering 50-150) in nests every 10 days for the 3 month breeding season. The eggs are then transferred to one of the building and kept at constant temperatures. The higher the temperature of the eggs, the more female turtles; and the lower the temperature, the more males. But next came the best part! (In my opinion at least). The tanks where the adolescent turtles were kept. We were actually allowed to hold and pet them! I love sea turtles, and we’ve seen them often on our dives. In Barbados, they are friendly and even will swim very near you. But to hold this small sea turtle was more than I had ever imagined I’d get to do.. Their strong little flippers would push against our hands while they craned their necks to look around. We reluctantly left,but we came back before we left the park, we just couldn’t get enough. Next was the lagoon where we could snorkel with some mid-sized turtles. They weren’t as friendly as their cousins in Barbados and tried to keep clear of us. After a little snorkeling, it was on to feed the big guys (and gals) in the breeding tank. Those huge turtles were fairly fighting each other for the “turtle chow” we bought to give them. And then a last visit to the adolescent tanks of course.

It was finally time to return to the ship. We didn’t have much time to do anything else, so we walked down the street and found a hot spot to check email and it was back to the ship for an extremely late lunch.

My overall impression of Grand Cayman is of the most Americanized of the Caribbean islands we’ve seen. That may be the highest praise to some, and I would’ve loved to have spent years working here if I was in banking and finance. But to me, I love the islands that have evidence a very different culture and way of life than the one I’m used to. The island is flat but beautiful, the beaches are nice and of course the water is fabulous. Once back in the boat, we talked to a few people who spent the day scuba diving, and we didn’t find any who had much praise for it. This had also been our experience here, nice diving but nothing spectacular. But to each his own, this is surely paradise for the thousands of people who have chosen to live here.

This is one of my favorite things about cruising, getting a peek at islands we never would’ve seen otherwise, and then finding one we’d like to go back and visit for longer. We have 5 more ports, 4 of which we’ve never visited, so maybe one of those will seem to be heaven on earth to us. But the visits will no doubt be exciting either way.

The next day at sea was uneventful. Unless you consider, as I do, spending hours looking at the most beautiful ocean in the world thrilling. We did get to tour the galley in the afternoon. It continues to fascinate me to see the workings of such a large operation. Mostly, a restful and peaceful day. We didn’t take nearly enough of these when we were younger, maybe we didn’t need as many. But now I find it helps us tremendously in every way. This cruise made today a throwback day and brought back the midnight gala buffet. Well we couldn’t miss it! But rich food after midnight is not always a great idea, so we mostly took advantage of the eye candy and took pictures (mostly….)

The rain held off during our visit to Glaveston and even during our initial hours on the ship. But when Patricia caught up to us, she was angry. All night and most of the next day we saw intermittent rain, rough seas, and people staggering around like they were drunk thanks to the rocking of the ship. Honestly, it’s not the roughest water we’ve ever been in, but it did keep us inside the first day. An uneventful but restful day with plenty of time to go to the gym and read. Our next day at sea dawned with only a few white, puffy clouds and a brilliant sun over that impossibly blue Caribbean Sea. We had finally outrun even the outermost bands of Patricia.

Breakfast in the dining room took a lot longer than it should’ve, but it gave us ample time to talk with the fascinating couple sitting next to us. In their late 80’s, Randall and Joann were an adorable couple from Amarillo, Texas who had been married only 2 weeks! They decided to get married mostly so they could travel together easily. They had done some trial trips while engaged to see if they were a good match. Joann commented that when some people were surprised they were traveling together, being unmarried, she asked them what did they think was going on with a couple in their late 80’s?! They are avid cruisers, thanks to Randal, who started his “cruise passenger career” long before he knew Joann as 1 of 4 guests onboard a working cargo ship where he was allowed to hang out in the bridge and even got a lesson on turning the ship from the captain. They seemed to have an endless supply of funny travel anecdotes to share, and we probably could’ve listened to them all day.

After breakfast we were eager to get outside. Reading and relaxing on the deck has become one my favorite pastimes while at sea. There’s something about that blue water and fresh salty air that refreshes me like nothing else. I’m not sure if I could get tired of sitting and gazing across the water.

We did, of course eventually get up. After lunch we attended a question and answer session with a few members of the crew. Anytime we have a chance to learn more about how they manage a ship this big we are there. Being a details person, it’s almost overwhelming to hear of all the things that go into it. The audience at the question and answer session were pretty typical of the this cruise in general. At least 80% of the ship’s passengers are over 70. When we spot someone close to our age, we actually point them out since it is such a rarity. I thought I wouldn’t enjoy a crowd with this mix, but I hate honestly feel younger than I have in a while- lol. And with age comes experience and usually a few good stories. I don’t believe there are many uninteresting people in the world, everyone has a story different than my own, you just have to ask the right questions.

Tomorrow we dock in Grand Cayman, financial capital of the Caribbean, but banking is not on our to do list. That blue water is calling me….

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Galveston in general reminds me of a little bit of New Orleans mixed with a larger portion of Key West, but with a generally more run down feel. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve enjoyed it, but Texas doesn’t compare to Florida as far as beach towns go.

Nonetheless, our few days in Galveston have been a great start to our trip! Hurricane Patricia is already making her presence felt here in the form of strong winds and angry seas. Our hotel is perched right on Seawall Boulevard and we have a front row seat to the constantly rolling whitecaps and the occasional daredevil with his surfboard ignoring the red flags in search of a perfect wave. And the inside of our hotel is no less interesting with its 2 interior brick walls and 1970’s decor. It is very clean but ridiculously outdated. But we can take almost anything for a couple of nights, and if we were in Belize we would probably think this room was not bad at all!

Our time here seems to have been centered around the history of the island, which is really fascinating. The railroad museum was a look into the past- not just of trains but of the passengers who rode them. Seeing private train cars (owned by the wealthy like private jets are today) were the most intriguing to me. Christian loved it all, like life sized train sets for a grown up “little” boy.

Our subsequent tour of the Moody Mansion was no less interesting. A grand 28,000 square foot mansion owned by one of the most prominent families in Texas. The house was breathtaking, but it was the stories of life 120 years ago that really captured my attention. Our tour guide brought the stories to life as if she’d been there, and the 2 plus hours we spent there flew by.

We took the obligatory free ferry ride to Bolivar Peninsula from Galveston. The ferry ride seems to be most well known for the scores of dolphins you see in the harbor, and we weren’t disappointed. A few of them even did some flips up and out of the water for us. A drive through the beach town of Crystal Beach on Bolivar Peninsula proved less impressive. For those of us spoiled by the beach towns of Florida, the beach and water both left something to be desired. But the houses all built on stilts to escape the inevitable flood waters were multicolored and plentiful.

We are looking forward to boarding our ship tomorrow. We’ve never been on a repositioning cruise. We will begin in Galveston and end up in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 11 days. The only hitch tomorrow may come from Hurricane Patricia, thankfully we are nowhere near landfall, but the bands from a storm that big will affect us for sure. So I’ll choose to look at it as another (unexpected) adventure.

I find my self on the eve of our next adventure and I am as excited as ever. Although I have NO doubt this trip will turn out to be fabulous no matter what, I tend to romanticize a trip before I take it. I can envision moonlight strolls and dancing the night away followed by sleeping in before going to brunch. Less glamorous dreams include going to the gym everyday and working up a sweat for at least an hour before I go to dinner and triumphantly turn down the chocolate melting cake that I would never dream of putting on my thighs.

Romantic or not, most of these things probably will not happen. My husband doesn’t dance, I tend to fall asleep by 9 pm, and I’ve already had a few dreams of eating (not rejecting) that chocolate melting cake. I so love the planning process of a trip, I am into details and I have a folder with every reservation, confirmation, and any bits of information  that pertain to our trip. But my mind also likes the planning of my dream activities, and if I’m not careful I can actually set myself up for disappointment when they don’t happen. The lesson I’ve learned (and really that I’m STILL learning) is to let go of those expectations and let things happen naturally.  It’s great that I have our rental car confirmation in hand and that I’ve researched the quickest way to get to our hotel, but to plan our conversations is always  counterproductive. (I even plan Christian’s side of it- although I don’t provide him with the script- can’t he read my mind?)

Spontaneity  is a life lesson that I’ve learned very slowly and the hard way over the years. I find if I can let go of my pre- conceived notions of exactly how things should go, the result is often beyond what I could’ve dreamed it would be. Our funniest travel stories came from circumstances I couldn’t have foreseen. But I know sometimes things don’t go perfectly, some days my stomach hurts from all the chocolate cake and I’m too tired to go to the gym. But magical moments of watching the sunset and talking about our dreams for the future make it all worthwhile, and they make me glad I wasn’t trying to stick to my schedule, which would have ruined the moment.

So today I’m going to take a deep breath and recheck (4 times) that I’ve got passports, all my confirmations, and all the things on my packing list. And even while I feel the jolt of excitement running through me, I’m going to try to remember to let go of my preconceived notions of how every moment is going to play out. After all, adventure comes when you let the unexpected happen.