Paradise Found in Grand Cayman

What better time to flee to the tropics than at the onset of the dreary Michigan winter? I left on Dec 29 for my annual pilgrammage to Grand Cayman, to visit some good friends who have lived there for 15 years. As always, the minute you step off the plane, you realize that you've left winter far behind. Like most places in the Caribbean the temperature is shockingly constant, a fact that never seems to register when I'm packing and thinking maybe I should throw in a pair of jeans - that I never wear because it's way too hot. In any case, it was a lovely 29-30 degrees (or 85-90F) the entire trip and not too humid yet, although apparently they were having one of the hottest winters on record this year.

Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands and definitely the busiest. It's an international banking center, so there are a ton of ex-pats living there and it's a very expensive place to visit and to live. However, having friends who live there certainly makes this aspect more manageable and I get to experience more of a realistic picture of what it's like to actually live on the island and not just visit it.

As far as GC goes, it's not the most interesting of the Caribbean islands - it's very flat, not that big and there isn't a lot of unique culture or history to explore like there is on many other islands. It is very commercalized and in recent years, the traffic from the cruise ships has made it even more so. On any given day there are numerous ships in the Georgetown harbour, sometimes as many as nine! Those are the days the locals totally avoid going anywhere near the capital city. I don't care whether it's a tropical island or not, what is the deal with the cruise shippers strolling around town in their bikinis and sarongs??

The island sustained severe damage from Hurricane Ivan, which ripped through it a year ago and wreaked havoc on many of the homes and lush vegetation. The coastline, which previously had been lined with massive tropical trees and bushes is completely stripped bare in many places and there is tons of construction and rebuilding going on.

We spent New Year's chilling out in the backyard with a few drinks and at midnight we were treated to a fabulous display of fireworks courtesy of a neighbour across the canal. There were nearly a half hour of fantastic fireworks and it was amazing to watch them in the dark sky, since there isn't much artificial light. On New Year's Day (also my 39th birthday), I played a round of golf at the Britannia course at the Hyatt. This would normally have been a unique first (to golf on my birthday), however it might have been a little more enjoyable had we not all been hungover and boiling hot... However, it was still a treat to get out on my birthday so I enjoyed it, regardless of the consequences! We celebrated the new year with dinner out at a great English pub that recently opened, the Triple Crown - nothing like sturdy British pub food to cure an ailing head!