Shopping Day

I'm guessing by now anyone reading my posts for this trip is totally bored.  I can't remember any vacation we've ever taken when we've done less.  We haven't left the resort before noon any day this week, and we haven't done any shopping or sightseeing all week.  Today we broke that trend, but only barely.  Since we had such a big meal last night, we decided to drive across the island and have lunch at KFC.  I stopped to buy some of the Tortuga Rum Cakes that we love and picked up a nice top in the souvenir store next door.  There is a new rum distillery on the island, so I picked up a bottle of their "Seven Fathoms" rum to bring home and try too.

We were surprised to see 2 cruise ships in the Georgetown harbor today, Royal Caribbean and another that we couldn't make out the name on. A waitress we spoke to at the beginning of the week said only Carnival ships were still coming in now that high season is over.  Still, it didn't seem crowded in town.  I'm guessing everyone from the 2nd ship was at the beach.  We watched the Royal Caribbean ship depart about 3PM.

On the way back to East End, we stopped to see the monument to the Wreck of the Ten Sail.  According to the Grand Cayman Chamber of Commerce web site "In 1794, a great maritime tragedy took place on the East End of Grand Cayman. "The Wreck of the Ten Sails" is still legendary on Grand Cayman, recalling the tragedy of the Cordelia, part of a convoy of merchant ships headed to Britain from Jamaica. Cordelia ran aground on the reef at the East End and frantically sent a signal to other ships to warn them off the dangerous coral. Sadly, the signal was misunderstood and, one by one, they all ran into the reef. Residents of East End were credited with their quick actions that left no life unsaved, an act that King George III later recognized. Various stories explain that King George III granted the islands freedom from conscription and other versions say that the king gave the islands freedom from taxation."  

There were relics from several other ships that have gone aground in this area at the entrance to the path, and this monument to the 200th anniversary of the Ten Sails wreck at the end of the path.  Far out in the water we could see a roped off area with something sticking out of the water inside the roped area.  I'm guessing this is the wreck.  I think they conduct dives around the wreck, but we're not young and brave enough for that.

When the day cooled off a bit we went for a walk and stopped for a Dunkin' Donuts Coffee Colada on the way back.  This stop was definitely on island time.  The ice machine wasn't ready and we had to wait at least 20 minutes while he cleaned it, refilled it, and waited for the machine to turn the water into ice.  Even then, we got cold coffee, not ice coladas.  But then, we were in no rush.  After all, we're on vacation.

This last photo is an example of the typical traffic situation on the East side of the island.  There are plenty of cars on the West side, but once you get about half way across the island, this is mostly what you see.  That is, except for a few chickens and dogs and the occasional person on a bicycle.  In the town of East End, you'll also see people walking up and down the road in the evening, visiting with their neighbors, but rarely a car.  It's another world.