O K Mon!

get it?   

So after we rested for a while we set out for the pre wedding night thanksgiving dinner  to find the venue for all the activity associated with the wedding.  As I said before the Island is kind of stretched out (as a reminder)

And, as you recall the Marriott is kind of in the middle of the vertical leg, and the wedding was to be held on a property that was a bit farther east than a place Bodden Town.  I suspect you can’t see it on the map, but Bodden Town is located on the horizontal portion of the Island, kind of just past the “pink” stuff which denotes settled land sort of.  We were told it was about 10 miles, an easy drive.  Well, part of that was true, but you have to get from the “vertical” part to the “horizontal” part which means you have to traverse this area:

Which is kind of a maze, and at each intersection of brown road, there is a traffic circle.  Being a veteran of Irish traffic circles, I was not (overly) worried.  Well, turns out there is a difference between the Irish and the Cayman implementation of traffic circles (not that I’m complaining).  In Ireland before each circle is a large sign with arrows sticking out of a circle diagram with clearly marked indication of what that road would be.  That practice is not repeated in the Caymans, and road signs with the name of the road you’re on are virtually non-existent.   Plus, the GPS was reluctant to load.  We did have turn by turn directions courtesy of the Marriott Concierge lady who couldn’t have been more helpful, but they were “Take the second exit from the circle” type of thing.  Counting spokes on a wheel while trying to avoid a collision is daunting.

Well, not to draw this out, but between the “other side” driving, the helpful use of horns by the citizens, and a bit of MFO occasionally reminding me of “LEFT!” it was not a pleasant experience.  Many cell phone minutes were burned between us and our friends, with “Look for the Rubi Station”; “Do you see a Domino’s?” and eventually our friend who posted himself  beside the road as a sentry waved at us as we whizzed by.  “Hey!  That was Ed!!”  So finally we pulled into the driveway of a gorgeous house

Which had an ocean side pool and a view that kind of made you go wow!

With a quick trip to the well equipped

The travails of the road soon melted away, and we had a great Thanksgiving dinner and met all the relatives and soon to be in-laws.  Quite the evening.

The trip BACK to the hotel provided more adventures.  Turning the directions upside down we set out (now in the dark) and after a while found ourselves god knows where.  (I thought it said the third exit!).  The road we were on kind of led us into a Hospital parking lot.  Not a bad thought.  Anyway, MFO went inside and soon appeared with a helpful person who gesticulated and pointed the way, we got back on the right road (after going through a gas station as directed) and got back to the Hotel without further incident. 

The next day was the Wedding day, to take place at sunset, so we had the morning and most of the afternoon to ourselves.   We had a lovely breakfast in the Marriott, and it turned out the food was very good, eggs as ordered, plenty of smoky bacon, and the hash browns had a little cheese in them which raised them above the commonplace.  A pleasant surprise

And looky who made the butter!

After breakfast we enjoyed a restful time at the beach (under an umbrella)

The hotel provides guests with any number of water diversions, snorkeling, kayaks, sailboards, catamarans, etc., including something I’ve never seen before.  You apparently strap on some boots that had an water jet on the bottom, and the guy in the chase boat regulated the air power to elevate you up in the air

Now, anybody knows that any system with a forcing function at the “bottom” of anything is pretty much inherently unstable (why rockets have fins) and this was no different, as most of the experience was this:

However, this individual eventually got the hang of it

Why that’s fun escapes me, but whatever. 

We had lunch on the veranda, preceded with drinks

In this case, a margarita for MFO and I branched out with a “Gin Julep”, basically a mint julep made with Gin.  Was fresh muddled mint and quite refreshing, and there were no umbrellas in the drinks.

Our food was a quesadilla and a lobster taco

And again, a pleasant surprise, quick service, and the food was fresh, hot, and nicely presented.  Quite the nice experience.  (Cost?  Ptooie!)

So after lunch and a quick rest we got ready for the big ceremony.  Some relatives of our friends were staying at the same hotel, and we gave them a ride to the wedding, this time traversed expertly and flawlessly giving the mistaken impression I was a veteran (a lucky one).

Won't dwell on the wedding, but it was lovely, certainly a memory maker for the bride and groom

Quite different from the Michigan State University Student Chapel that saw the Flutters getting hitched lo these 52 years ago.  After the ceremony we had lovely food and even music supplied by some of the guests

It certainly was a memorable experience. The groom’s mother baked the wedding cake, quite the experience in a far away place.  She is a terrific baker (and cook) as is her daughter.

And we even had one more experience on the way home again demonstrating the kindness of the Cayman Island folks.  

We finally had to take our leave, and at least we’re consistent, we wound up in the same Hospital parking lot, but this time we said “Hah! We can do this!’ which we did until we fetched up against some yellow tape that was fencing off part of the road we used on the previous evening, they were having a street festival.  A young lady whom I assume was a volunteer came over and said that I would have to turn around and where were we going?  Back to the Marriott.  “Ah, that’s easy, just turn around and go back to the first circle, take the second exit, go to the next one, straight through until you come to another round about being careful to…..” At this point she paused and said “Sir, you look stressed”, well, yes I am to tell the truth.  She said; “wait right here” which I did, and soon she appeared in her auto and said “Just follow me”, and this unbelievable good Samaritan led us all the way back through those circles to our hotel which was a good 15 minutes of driving.  Once in the parking lot, she just waved and went on her way.  In this time of terrorists, bombing and shootings, it’s good to know there are real people out there.  God bless you young lady!

Once back to the hotel, we headed for the bar, and I had another dose of resort reality.   I thought I deserved a special drink since our “duties” were pretty much performed and were looking forward to a day of recovery.  So I said:  “What scotches do you have?” and was kind of surprised that the answer was Johnny Walker types, Dewar’s, and oh yes, we have Chivas.  I suppose there were some single malts, but I didn’t got there.  Okay I’ll have a Chivas.  12 or 18 year old, sir?.  What the hell, eighteen, and you might as well make it a double (knowing the penchant for um, well, er, thimble sized pours.  MFO asked about a Gimlet, and sure they could do that.   Fine Sapphire please.  Fine.  Soon enough we had our drinks (we wanted to take them back to the room and sit on our little balcony) and I was presented with omnipresent piece of paper to sign for the drinks.   52 Dollars!  What can you do?  Thanks mate… and off to the room.

Quite the day, and we didn’t really have to get

DFD

Tropical shirts sufficed…