BILL AND JEANNE'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURES

FLORIDA AND GRAND CAYMAN

22-30 JANUARY, 2020

(click the thumbnails for a larger image)

On Wednesday, 22 January, 2020 JJ and I departed San Diego for a brief visit to the Florida Keys and then over to Grand Cayman Island for a 4 nights stay.  The Grand Cayman excursion was made possible via the generous offer from Ray to join him at his rented condominium. We flew into Miami, rented a car and then made the brutal, stop and go drive down to Key Largo for an overnight stay.

23 JANUARY, THURSDAY

After a satisfactory evening in the Drift Hotel we drove on down to Key West and checked into the El Patio Motel for a 3 night stay. It was a pleasant walk from the motel down to the main drag, Duval Street, and then on to visit the Ernest Hemingway house on Olivia Street.  I last visited this spot back in 1967 and it was much the same except the 6 toed cats had really multiplied to a resident population of about 60 cats! We completed our tour at about 3pm and it was nice to get back into the Hemingway mode with several book purchases and I ordered from Netflix some old movies, A Farewell to Arms and For  Whom the Bells Toll. I completed the day with a brief illness which included chills, shakes, some nausea and fears of having acquired a bad virus.  However, it passed and was likely due to travel fatigue and hunger.

24 JANUARY, 2020 FRIDAY

After a breakfast at Dennys we did the hop on/hop off trolley which costs about $100 for two of us for a full day of riding plus a special deal-we could do the next day for only $15 each. We hopped off for a walk around Mallory Square and lunch at Sloppy Joe's Bar, a walk by the Truman Whitehouse area, and a visit to the Mel Fisher Museum. The museum has a lot of cool treasure that was collected from the wreck of the Spanish galleon, Atocha. I recalled there were legal issues with the State about ownership of the treasure but apparently the US Supreme Court said "finders keeper" so Fisher family owns the stuff.

The trolley drivers are also tour  guides and we learned that each driver has a slightly different tale for us.  We learned that Key West remained under Union control during the Civil War, that there are about 1600 of the Key islands but  only 30 are inhabited. The small Key Deer evolved over the years to their current size due to  isolation on the islands as sea levels rose during glacial melting after the last major ice age. The deer are doing well now!

25 JANUARY, 2020 SATURDAY

We did the hop on/hop off again and went past Sandy's Corner Salon which was where Sloppy Joe started with his pal Hemingway; past the Green Parrot Bar where Jimmy Buffett started out and then Bill did a Truman White House tour while JJ went shopping at the sponge store. At 3pm we enjoyed a lecture, tour and sampling at Papa's Pilar Rum distillery and then completed our hop on/hop off with a new guide drive around town. This guide had some interesting historical information including: Key West was the richest US city in 1830 because of the lucrative "wrecking industry which involved taking stuff from wrecked ships.  However, by 1930 it was a very poor city and glad that FDR helped get the tourist industry underway. Another interesting bit regarded the cigar rolling industry of mid to late 1800s.  This industry was dominated by Cuban Americans and their wealth helped finance the Cuban revolution while seeking independence from Spain. In 1886 a devastating fire destroyed the cigar industry and there is pretty good evidence the fires were started by the Spanish in an effort to shut off the money supply.

I was amused with the "Conch Republic of 1982" concept! The story is that the US Customs blocked the road into and from Key West in their search for illegal immigrants. However, the Key West mayor complained and pointed out that US citizens do NOT need a passport to travel to and from their city but his cries were ignored.  So he did the logical thing and declared that Key West was, indeed, an independent "republic".  This was a publicity stunt and it worked! The news media loved the story and soon the whole country knew about it and the Customs guys decided it was time to leave and let Key West resume its normal status.

Finally, we finished up the day observing the sunset and festivities at Mallory Square.

26 JANUARY, 2020 SUNDAY

We departed Key West and drove back up to Miami for our flight to Grand Cayman. The flight was uneventful, we rented a car and were soon off to the east end of the island and getting used to driving on the left side and negotiating the round abouts.  Although we had the address for Ray's condo we could not find 1124 Rum Point Drive since street addresses were rare and not easy to  read.  Finally, we did locate the place and were soon squared away in our room and ready for martinis.

27 JANUARY, 2020 MONDAY

Our main event for today was  a drive up to Rum Point and some snorkeling and sitting on the beach. Later we did a long drive to Fosters supermarket for shopping and supplies for our stay.

28 JANUARY, 2020 TUESDAY

In the morning we did the long drive back to the west end of the island and stopped at Eden Rock for more snorkeling.  This spot had deeper water, was accessible via ladders from a dock and two cruise ships were parked nearby.

After a satisfactory snorkeling adventure we decided to head up the coast and have lunch at the Copaloca Grill next to the elegant Sea Fire hotel. Just as we were about to enjoy our drinks and lunch at the beach we were interrupted by a magnitude 7.7 earthquake centered about 80 miles away!! Soon the resort manager told everyone to leave the beach area and go to the lobby area of the Sea Fire Hotel because of tsunami warnings. Fortunately, there was no tsunami, damage was very light and we headed back to our east end condo.  Then we discovered a fate almost as bad as  a tsunami; the traffic jam was severe and it took us over an hour to get home. We did, however, finish up the day with a pleasant sunset dinner at the Lighthouse Restaurant.

29 JANUARY, 2020 WEDNESDAY

This was our last full day so Ray and I did some sightseeing while JJ stayed behind to enjoy the quiet beach.  At first Ray and I went to the historic Mission House in Boddenton but the place seemed deserted and then we read that one must make reservations for a tour.  Hence, we continued on to the Pedro St James house and did the tours there. I had visited this place last year and will not describe it again. Following departure we stopped by a place called "White House Restaurant" which is an expensive eating and swimming place which caters to the cruise ship crowds.  We noticed an interesting building next door and upon inquiry we found out it is called "Excelsior" and is a very expensive 7 bedroom luxury "cottage".  It does sleep about 20 people and can be rented for only about $60,000 USD per week during the tourist seasons!  We did not make any reservations for next year.

30 JANUARY, 2020 THURSDAY

This was departure day. It was time to say farewell to Ray who would return home in a few days and farewell to the condo area and quiet beach area. Our drive back to Georgetown and the airport was uneventful and soon we had returned our trusty little car and ready for our 1:45 pm flight. We were back home in San Diego by about 10pm and this excellent adventure was over.

THE END