Jillapalooza

IM IN UR OCEAN. EATIN UR CARDZ.

Grand Cayman – Sat 12/6 – Mon 12/8

On Saturday I dove with Nick and Curtis and headed straight to the beach afterward. After laying out a bit I listened to either New Moon or Eclipse on audiobook and took a long walk down the beach. A very long walk. We went to dinner at Lone Star. Kristen and I started toward Antica Gelateria for dessert, but the boys went back because they didn’t want to walk all the way there. We started our journey but decided our time would be better spent watching Twilight at the Marquee Cinema. Big mistake. Here’s an excerpt from my future Journey into Twilight post: (only on jillapalooza do you get to read posts from the future)

Kristen and I headed to the one cinema on Grand Cayman. It was Saturday night, and apparently the only thing for underage kids to do on the island is see a movie. The theater was about a quarter full when the movie started and then the people started pouring in. Talking loud and being otherwise obnoxious. There was literally a constant murmur throughout the movie, it was the most irritatingly horrible movie experience I’ve ever had. I would rather have people who talk at the screen because at least they would be paying attention. There were also a ton of videos before the movie, circa 1982, about being quiet, throwing away garbage, etc. I kid not, we probably saw at least six and they were so loud it was painful. But apparently none of the kids got the memo because they were all ten minutes late anyway. If I hadn’t already seen it three times I would have been even more irritated at the parts I missed. And if Robert Pattinson didn’t make such a dreamy Edward, I don’t think Kristen and I could have sat through the entire thing. Worst. Movie. Experience. Ever.

After the movie we took a long walk home, in awe of what we had just experienced. To add to the surreal experience, there were cop cars everywhere. It looked as though they were busting some bar as people were flowing out disappointed that the party was over.

On Sunday I slept in until 10. There would be no diving what with the flight home right around the corner. I lubed up for the last day on the beach. Nick decided to go to Eats for lunch but was denied. He ended up going somewhere else and bringing food back for us all. Ahh, lunch on the beach. After I felt thoroughly toasted by sun I went for my final long beach walk. I’m pretty sure by this time I was listening to Eclipse. The history of Jasper chapter to be precise.

For dinner we ate at Calypso Grill. It was delicious. No gelato afterward. :(

And on Monday we went home. :(

Bonnie’s Arch, dive 32

Dive: 32
Cayman Dive: 8
Date: 12/6/08
Site: Bonnie’s Arch, Grand Cayman
Avg/Max Depth: 43/69
Temp: 81
TBT/CBT: 0:47/24:43
Buddies: Nick, Curtis

I remember absolutely nothing about this dive, so I’m just going to quote Curtis:

Bonnie’s Arch was the last dive of our trip. It’s right on the northwest point making it a rare stop for most dive shops because the current can really get ripping. Jenny did the first half of the dive with us to make sure it was safe. The site is aptly named for the big arch at 70 feet right below the mooring line.

After the arch we followed a small wall heading north. It was maybe the most colorful dive of the trip. The sun was bright, and rarely seeing divers, the reef was in great shape. We didn’t see any big stuff but the reef itself was pleasant to take in. After 19 minutes we headed back to the anchor line. At first we had to buck the current a bit but the closer we got to the boat the easier it was.

This was a nice dive to end the trip but it’s too bad we’re done. Can’t wait until next time…

In Between/Big Tunnels, dive 31

Dive: 31
Cayman Dive: 7
Date: 12/6/08
Site: In Between/Big Tunnels, Grand Cayman
Avg/Max Depth: 66/106
Temp: 81°
TBT/CBT: 0:36/23:56
Buddies: Nick, Curtis

I remember this being an exciting dive for a couple reasons. First off there were three barracudas scoping out Nick as a meal while he was none the wiser. He was off swimming by himself and they slowly closed in on him. One was above him completely vertical while the other two were tailing him. I didn’t have any sort of noise maker to get Nick’s attention and as his life flashed before my eyes I scurried over to Curtis and yanked on his fin, not knowing quite what I thought he would do. He made some noise, Nick looked around and by then the barracudas had dispersed.

Near the end of our dive a sea turtle swam through the group. It looked at me then swam gracefully toward me. He was eye level with me and came within a couple feet of my face before slowly turning and continuing on his way. Of course I didn’t have my camera with at the time. Probably for the better since I would have been fiddling with it instead of fully enjoying the experience. That experience is second only to the nurse sharks in Belize.

Grand Cayman – Fri 12/5

I woke up in the morning and didn’t feel like diving. Besides, Kristen and Cindy were going to head to Georgetown for some shopping and I didn’t want to miss out on the festivities.

We decided to take the bus. Sounds fancy, and you’re probably picturing a bus, but it was more like a minivan that operated taxi style, cramming as many people in as possible. Very interesting. Cheap though, only C/$2.

Fortunately there were no cruise ships scheduled to come in, so we didn’t have to deal with any unnecessary crowds. The shopping was lackluster. The only places to shop at were crappy souvenir shops and high end jewelry stores (which apparently are filled to the brim on busy ship days). There was only one store that I really found tolerable. They had many girly type GC shirts (I was tiring of the abundance of cheap manly tees everywhere) and even some italian charms. I picked one with their flag to keep with my current bracelet theme and got a cute shirt as well. I have to say I was really surprised at the lack of interesting souvenirs on the island. Not only that, but there were never any little handmade jewelry stores or street vendors anywhere. Only prepackaged stuff that was probably made in China.

We exhausted our shopping efforts and were back at the condo by 11:30. The boys were already home from diving. To my disappointment, I found out they did a wreck dive. Damn it. I wanted to do a wreck dive. Not only that, but they were the only ones on the boat (aka no dumbheads) and it dropped them off at the beach in front of the condo after the dive. No fair.

We hung out at the beach for the rest of the day. I decided to take a long beach walk since it had been a week and I hadn’t done that yet. I brought my iPod along for company to read a book, either New Moon or Eclipse at the time.

For dinner we decided to eat at Edoardo’s. It is spelled funny, but there was no messing around with the tasty Italian food there. Or the wine rack that we sat in front of. I don’t remember if we ate dessert there or at Antica Gelateria, but wherever we went I’m sure it was delicious.

Grand Cayman – Thurs 12/4

Today I got up at 6:30 and was not the first one up. Unfortunately since I wasn’t the first one up, I wasn’t the one who made coffee, so I forgot to drink some.

Curtis, Kristen, Ted and I dove today. Nick still had a headache from yesterday, so he decided to stay back.

~~~

After diving we decided to go to Eat’s Cafe for lunch again. They were pretty busy so we sat in the bar area for the first time. It was a nice change, made me feel like we were somewhere new.

When our bellies were full from lunch, Kristen took a walk, Nick played WOW and Ted, Cindy and Curtis went to the beach while I took a much needed nap. I was out cold, in both senses of the word. I recall waking briefly to Kristen coming in and I asked her to toss a beach towel at me so I could cover up. That was all I remember until 5:30, when everyone was congregated in the living room chatting. I even slept through the housekeeping lady (Susie?).

~~~

Curtis, Kristen, Nick and I went to dinner. On the way we stopped at a diving shop so Curtis could buy a new mask. We ate dinner at the Triple Crown Irish Pub and had dessert at Antica Gelateria again. My flavors of choice this time were banana and dark chocolate. Mmmm.

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