Grand Cayman - Nightly Crab Walks

I will always deeply remember and cherish our nightly crab walks. At least 3/4th of the nights, when it would get dark around 6:45 at night, we'd take out two flashlights and comb our beach for crabs. Every night we would see some type of crab. The most common were the medium sized crabs pictured above.

Jared loved, loved, LOVED looking for crabs. He became an expert at spotting them much faster than Steve or me. We'd shine the light about three feet ahead of us and sweep it back and forth til we spotted a crab. Usually they would scurry down into a hole before we could see them up close, but many crabs also posed for us, too.

We did see, right on the porch, a huge crab, the size of a king crab. It sat for a while, just looking at us. And then there was this hermit crab that dug a huge hole right under the porch. One thing to be wary of in Grand Cayman when driving is hitting a crab. Just like we have to always swerve to avoid hitting squirrels in Illinois, in Grand Cayman you have to avoid the crab claws from puncturing your tires.

We did see a few other animals like this beetle on our nightly walks, too.

Grand Cayman - Seven Mile Beach

When most people think of Grand Cayman the first thing that comes to mind after billionaire's bank accounts is Seven Mile Beach. I knew it was supposed to be the most crowded beach, and the one that most tourists flock to since it is so close to the cruise ship drop-offs, but we wanted to at least check it out before leaving the island.

We got lucky in that first, we came in September. I cannot say enough about the benefits of coming to the Carribean during September. Sure, you might run into rainy days. And it might be scorching hot at times, too. But, you will find almost all things you do, as long as they are not super touristy, to be very private. Going to the islands in September is great for kids under five or homeschooled families.

Secondly, we happened to pick a really great beach access at our first stop. We stayed for a little while (it also happened to be right next door to the mayor's home!), but since there wasn't a restroom, we went further on to the public beach.

  

The next stop wasn't as private as the first beach acess (maybe 6-10 more people?) but we still had fun exploring this side of the island.

Of course, to the kids a playground is just as exciting as visiting a new beach.

On the way home we stopped at the docks and bought some red snapper from local fishermen. Steve grilled it at the apartment. Yum!

Grand Cayman - Pedro St. James Castle

I wasn't sure how it was going to be taking the kids to Pedro St. James. We've been taking them to museums, aquariums and art galleries since the age of one, but sometimes they get a bit antsy if too many things aren't hands-on and if they are not allowed to touch things. I also worry if we are in a group that we won't have the time to let the kids linger on things they are interested in.

So, I was pleasently surprised when, again, we were the only ones here. When we first walked into the restored 18th century home, we were greeted by an interpreter whose mother had been born in the home. It is now just a museum, no one lives here, but it was a treat to talk with someone personally connected to the home.

After looking at some original stones used to build the foundation and pictures from the home...

we were ushered into a multi-sensory 3-D theater for an unusual film of the home. The film opened with a storm taking place and real mist fell on us during this time. Later in the film, when they were describing how the freedom from slavery declaration was read from the balcony, a spot light show on a recreated balcony in the theater. Little added touches like this really helped capture the kids attention.

It's funny what kids will remember. In the film there was a brief discussion of how once a fight had taken place between two men and how one of the men had been imprisioned in the home for six months. After the film, when we went on a tour of the home, they showed the jail room with a man sitting on the bench. Jared knew it was the jail room right away, even though I don't think he's seen a jail before, and I don't think we'd ever disussed one before seeing this film.

The home was very interesting, though it was hard to pay attention to the interpreter with the kids. They wanted to run from room to room looking at things, running under ropes, and circling the balcony. The man was really nice to let them sit on one of the recreated 18th century rocking horses.

 

The outside grounds were beautiful.

The man let the kids see the donkey (one of two on the island) and feed him an apple. They also enjoyed looking at the parrots.

Grand Cayman - Rum Point

Our favorite beach was Rum Point. I was a little leery going to this beach because of the reviews I had read online. They ranged from absolutely beautiful, the best beach on Grand Cayman, to dumpy and not worth visiting. I'm so glad I went with my instinct to visit this beach.

When we first arrived we were the only people on the beach for at least an hour, and we didn't even get there that early. The water was crystal clear and very, very warm. I'm a huge baby about swimming in cold water, and even I got to where I wanted the water to be a little cooler. I was even able to go out in the water by myself for about ten minutes while the kids played in the sand. It was a big difference from our US Virgin Islands vacation two years ago.

Like I said, the beach was absolutely beautiful. The kids loved finding crabs on the rocks, walking along the shore line, and taking a walk with their daddy out on the pier.

We came to the beach two times during our visit. The second time we rented a kyak for an hour. A stingray swam by us about five feet away.

Steve snorkled a little bit more on this vacation than the last one. I always feel so bad that he can't do more. He loves to snorkle and has snorkled in some great places in the world, including Papua New Guinea.

He would swim down and find us treasures to bring home.

I just adored this shell Steve found and so wanted to bring it home with us. Unfortunatly, a large hermit crab did not want to give up his home. I tried to scare him out with a stick and a fork, but it was no use. I googled how to get a hermit crab to come out of his shell, but all the advice was they wouldn't come out.

Someone suggested boiling him out, and, I'm sorry to say, I actually considered this for a few minutes, that's how badly I wanted that shell. But, in the end, I knew I'd feel awful doing that. We laid the shell on our beach for two days, and I even put another large shell right next it, but that crab would not give up his home.

Grand Cayman - Pirate's Caves

One sweltering morning, we drove twenty minutes from the house to Pirates Caves. It's definitely very touristy, and we generally dislike a lot of touristy things, but, again, we were the only ones here, so we liked the feeling like it was ours alone to explore.

They are real limestone caves located on the soutern part of Bodden Town.  The caves are said to extend out into the sea and are believed by locals to have been used by pirates to hide their treasures, hense the name Pirates Caves.

It was a must do on our list because pirates are currently an obsession at our home. Jared was a pirate last year for Halloween, and he chose to be a pirate again this year, too.

The attraction had many small animals there as well, so the kids were able to see iguanas, rabbits, different types of birds, fresh water stingrays, farm animals, and peacocks. Alexa was even able to ride a rocking horse and swing on swings.

They had a few interesting artifacts there like a dugout canoe...

and touristy things like a pretend pirates grave.

When we finally decended into the cave, we didn't stay very long. The kids ran from room to room, not very impressed with the pretend treasure chests full of gold coins or the skulls. I think it was also very, very hot and they were getting antsy. Still, I had never been in a real cave before, so even if it wasn't very deep or long, it was fun to know I've now been in an offical cave.

Grand Cayman - Doing the Ordinary in the Midst of the Extraordinary

I've been reading another blog for a while written by a mother, father and nine year old daughter who have sold their home and decided to go on an open-ended trip around the world. They have been at this now for I believe four and a half years. They live five months in Spain and then travel throughout Europe and a little in Africa.

One of my favorite quotes from the mom, who writes the blog, is that the best part of family travel is doing the ordinary in the midst of the extraordinary. I guess this goes along with my last post. Some of my favorite moments will be remembering how they piled up as much stuff as they could find in the hallway to make their "house." (Of course they do this at home, too, but somehow it doesn't seem as cute when I have to put everything back along with my other chores!).

They also spent several hours throughout the two weeks simply jumping off the bed onto the air mattress. Slow travel allows you to stay in one place for an extended period of time, and it gives you some time off just to do the ordinary, something very important for family bonding.

Grand Cayman - My Swiss Family Robinson Kids

 I think the thing I loved most about this vacation was just watching the kids play freely on the beach in front of the house. They really looked like little Swiss Family Robinson kids, running up and down the beach looking for treasures, picking up big sticks and dragging them in the sand.

The picture above is a visual reminder to me of what I want their learning to always look like. Independent, yet knowing Mom and Dad are just a little ways away if needed or wanted, Exploring, always searching out new places and things to learn about, Freedom, able to submerge themselves into passions or just skim the surface of things that seem interesting, and Wonder, a deep, enduring curiosity about the world God created.

For about a half hour, Jared picked all the bark off this stick!