The Caymans have declared themselves Covid free.  This means that there are none of the restrictions that we’ve gotten accustomed to in the USA in the past year.  The only mask requirement is that masks have to be worn in medical settings and on public transportation.  Social distancing is a personal choice.  I’ve noticed a few sanitizing stations sitting at some building entrances, but overall there is a very pre-2020 feel to being down here.  It is like going back to a better place in time.  I can only hope that the whole world can get back to “normal” before much longer.  What is odd is feeling like I’m somehow doing it wrong here after a year of our “new normal” at home.  At home, getting out of the car with my mask in hand is pretty much second nature now -but here I have that… “Oh I forgot my mask in the car!” thought often.

Even though our beach does experience prevailing winds this time of year, it has been much windier than usual.  It is also much cooler than normal -although I realize that this complaint will fall on deaf ears with many of my friends and family who live “up North” experiencing truly cold temperatures and snowy weather.  The beach and pool continue to appear abandoned.  This is partly due to the weather and partly due to the fact that there are so few owners in residence and even fewer guests.

The waves don’t usually break over the end of the dock.

It seems like we are still spending too much time taking care of our list of things to do.

We got an Email this week from Cayman Airways in which they informed us that our flight to Miami in March is canceled -and, they added, “we’ll be in touch about rescheduling you.”  WHAT?  When I booked our return flight, I picked a Tuesday because we arrived on a Tuesday…figuring that if they were limiting the flights in March like they did in January, the arrival/departure day would likely be the same.  They didn’t get back in touch so I called them.  Turns out the limited flight days for March are Wednesdays and Saturdays only.  I’m glad I called because I was able to get us booked to Miami only one day later than planned.

We are trying to make sure we have some fun along the way.   Mike and I joke that this is our favorite fancy waterfront dining “with a view” establishment.  They do have a prime location along the waterfront.

At at certain point, driving around to several stores to find something that should be easy to find at the first one gets old.  So the only recourse is to call a retreat to the pool and make a vow to fight another day. There’s always tomorrow!

Mike stopped in the bike room to check on the bikes.

They are officially “rust buckets” now.  The chains were frozen stiff with rust and we could hear a faint… “Oil..lll… Oil..lll…” ala the Tin Man in Wizard of Oz.  He ended up putting WD40 on them. The next morning we took a quick test ride to work out the kinks.  The first few spins of the pedals were interesting to say the least (clank, jerk, clank), but the WD40 worked

On Sundays we have a tradition of riding our bikes an easy 5 miles away for breakfast at a place called Eats.  Another couple from our condo complex tagged along.  It was nice to have the company.

After breakfast, it is also tradition to go across the street to Governor’s Beach and take a few moments admiring Seven Mile Beach.  It was a lovely morning.

Our work is never done!  Here’s a picture of Mike washing the car.  He had to go back and forth to fill our bucket because there isn’t a convenient hose near the parking lot.

After what had to be literally “minutes” of hot, hard labor -we decided that Mike could best recover from his ordeal by going out to dinner.  I wanted to try out a new place that had taken over a place we’ve been to before.  The new menu is pretty simple.  I think they’re positioning themselves as a quick place for people at the public beach (across the street) to grab a drink and a sandwich/snack. Mike had a grilled chicken sandwich and I had their burger + cheese & bacon

Hah… I took the food picture as a joke!  Although sometimes it HAS to be done -like when the Pizza del Mar (seafood pizza) in Italy is served with the seafood still in its shells sitting on top of the pizza- it isn’t usually my “thing” to take a lot of food pictures in general. I thought it would be funny to take this one because of my previous crab cake & pizza picture fail.  Maybe I can start a trend for “what’s left on the plate” pics?

My burger was excellent.  I would rate it on the same level of deliciousness as the cub burger at Brown Bear in Pentwater (MI).  Mike rated his sandwich as one of the best grilled chicken sandwiches he’s ever had.  Both came with tater tots -which are a “thing” in lots of places these days.  At The Fishbowl, the tots were not only perfectly crunchy, the seasoning was amazing.  They are now the tots that all future tots will be compared against!

Mike tries to golf at least once a week down here.  He’s already missed a few rounds due to the quarantine.  He was ready to hit the links!

On golf days, I’m always angling to tag along with him so that we can go to dinner afterwards at the Sunshine Grill, which is basically across the street from the golf course (at the Sunshine Suites hotel) and which is one of our regular favorites here.

It was at Sunshine Suites where the impact of no tourism really hit home for me for the first time so far.  It is a small place and should have had every table full and people waiting.  It sits next to the pool area and usually there’s people still enjoying the pool during the dinner hours. When we walked up to the pool area, there was nobody there at all. Inside, there was only one group of 3 people at a table.  They left shortly after we got there and were replaced by another group, but those were the only diners there besides us.  It was a very weird feeling.

The best part of eating at the Sunshine Grill is that they give you a miniature ice cream cone with the check!  Holding them would have better illustrated how tiny they are -but they are a perfect sweet bite after a meal.  Chocolate was the flavor for the day.

Another errand day – we went to Hell to mail something.

There’s an “original” Hell, which is my preferred Hell, but the Post Office is located in the “new” Hell.  They are essentially side by side properties.  Today only me, Mike and the post office lady were in Hell.  A bad day for the Devil, I’d say! 🙂

Categories: Cayman 2021 - Part 5