Maddy's Travels

The first thing I will say about the Cayman Islands is that there are NO private beaches. Reefs surround the entire island, beaches go around the entire island. There is marked public access, you can park anywhere on any road. You can go through a fancy hotel with your own stuff onto the beach. No one asks you to pay a resort fee. Maybe you’ll choose to sit at their bar and have a coconut rum cocktail then use the ladder at the end of their pier to descend directly into a veritable aquarium of colorful fish.My BFF Mo (short for Marlene) and I were celebrating her 70th birthday year and decided snorkeling had to be part of it. We rented a VRBO in Bodden Town on the south side of the island, right on the beach, snorkeling off the shore. A walk along our beach produced dozens of perfect conch shell and big and small pieces of coral. We were told to stop at the grocery store on the way to the condo, there were not many grocery stores in Bodden Town, or for that matter, the whole of the Cayman Islands. They run on “Island Time”, grocery stores closed on Sundays. On Christmas Day itself everything would be closed, and on “Boxing Day” (the day after Christmas), lots of things would also be closed.But now I’d like to discuss the absolute trauma of driving on the opposite side of the road, steering wheel on the right side, blinker signal on the right, up for left, down for right. I would turn on the windshield wipers every time instead of blinkers. in addition, the GPS would be telling us 800 meters to the roundabout. How far is that? Add to that having to cross two lanes of traffic to turn right and continue on the left side of the road.What we loved was seeing sea life in it’s own natural environment. At Starfish Point, we dozens of starfish, just living their best lives. We had snorkels and masks, but even without, you could see them. Stots Beach is known for the possibility of seeing sea turtles, and we saw one just out there being a sea turtle.I never imaged I’d see something like that except at an aquarium. There was a place called Crystal Cave, thousand of years ago under water and now a cave with stalactites and stalagmites. There was a town name Hell, and you could send someone a postcard from Hell.How did I not mention this yet? We arrived on a Monday and left on a Monday, but did not see the sun until Thursday. I know it sounds sad and tragic, but it just wasn’t. Eighty degrees and pleasantly breezy was just fine.We saw a huge fireworks display on Xmas eve. On Christmas night a neighbor at the condos invited the guests for wine and cheese. An NFL player who played part of his career in