Spring Break 2012: Grand Cayman Island

I had the best spring break I could have possibly asked for. My roommate, Sam, and her family have a condo in Grand Cayman Island. They were nice enough to let us use it for the week and spend our break on the most beautiful island I have ever seen. It was truly heaven and paradise. Three of the four people living in my dorm room here at Loyola went - Sam, Jackie, and myself. Our fourth roommate, Josie, was on the school frisbee team trip in Georgia.

When we arrived at the apartment, Jackie and I could hardly believe where we were and ran through the house jumping and screaming like little kids. This was the view from the patio just outside the condo's back door (the sand was only about 25 feet from where I stood while taking this picture!!!):

 I even took a 360 degree view from my beach chair one afternoon of our surroundings on the island...

The camera gets a little wobbly at one point, which I believe is me getting out of my beach chair to be able to fully turn around and get the entire view of things. That beach is like something you see in a commercial, TV show, or movie and think, "Boy, I wish I could go to a place like that, but I know I will never be able to." I WAS able to, and am so grateful for this. I tried to soak in every moment, take in every sight, sound, and motion around me, and store them all in my memory forever.

Most of our days consisted of relaxing on the beach with a book or music, especially in the beginning of the week. Once the middle of the week hit, I think we realized we only had a few days left and decided to do one fun activity each day for the next few days. We went snorkeling and kayaking - two things I have never done before, and to be honest, was a little hesitant to try. I was really happy I did, though.

On Thursday morning, we got up early and went to the Cayman Turtle Farm before the beach day really started. It was so cool to see the breeding ponds and see the "mamas and the papas," as one tour guide called them, as well as the little babies all swimming around. Though we didn't swim with the turtles, we did get to pick up and hold the baby turtles, which was really fun. They were adorable!

Though we mostly made breakfast and lunch at home in the condo and saved our appetites for dinner, we did go out for a fish-taco lunch on Thursday afternoon as well. I had never had fish tacos before, but was pleasantly surprised by my liking for them. The restaurant we ate them at, The Sunshine Grill, was really "beachy" and fun too - a little colorful beach hut.

Most of our evenings consisted of a "happy hour" with wine and cheese and crackers while watching the sunset on the beach. I have never seen such beautiful sunsets in my life. I think I took more pictures of the sky in the evening than of my friends and I throughout the entire trip! Some of the photos are really postcard-worthy! The orange, pink, and yellow hues of the sunsets were remarkable. It was so relaxing to sit on the beach, feel the sand between my toes, listen to the crashing of the waves, sip a glass of wine, be comforted by the company of close friends, and watch the beauty of nature all around me. Some nights we even played some music by Jack Johnson softly in the background. His music is the perfect mix of mellow and Caribbean-esque and island-y all at the same time.

(jknewcastle, 2006)

We fell into a routine of watching the sunset, followed by getting washed and dressed, and then heading out to a late dinner reservation where we would always enjoy plenty of food and wine! On our first night, we went to an Italian restaurant called Casanova, where we met a very outgoing and nice young waiter, Antonio, who was originally from Calabria. He quickly became our friend, and when we went back to visit him on our last night, he was very playful. In the video below, he tries to describe each of us in one word and finds it difficult, but he plays along with our little game.  He had no trouble classifying us with celebrity names on the first night we were there and continued to call us by those names during our second visit. I was Christina Aguilera, Sam was Angelina Jolie, and Jackie was Celine Dion. We told him he was Ryan Reynolds, though he said he didn't know who that was, so classified himself as Antonio Banderas. Of course, everything was just in good fun, but it definitely made our two dinners and nights at Casanova so much more enjoyable. I am sure we will always look back on this trip and laugh about our times with Antonio!

This video needs some three-point lighting!!! Fortunately for the atmosphere, but unfortunately for the quality of this video, our dinner table was on the sand and the lighting was very dim. I apologize for the poor view, but I guess it allows for a better focus on the sound and Antonio playfully chatting with us.


On our last night, as we watched the setting sun, we each wrote our names in the sand on the shore. This might seem cheesy or cliched, but we wanted to do it and always have the picture and video of it as a reminder of the fun and bonding time we had on this very special, once-in-a-lifetime vacation. Though we might hope and try, chances are something like this will not happen again once we graduate and each pursue different dreams. But we will always have these constant reminders... You can even hear the comforting and relaxing sound of the waves in the background of the video.

We stayed up late on our last night, just sitting on the beach and talking. I would not have chosen to spend my last night in such a beautiful place any other way. The next morning, after we ate and packed, we sat and waited for the taxi driver to come pick us up. As you can imagine, we were very sad that the week went by so quickly and that it was already time to leave.

I would not change anything about this trip. Grand Cayman Island is beautiful, our time there was completely relaxing, and I now have an even closer bond with my roommates and friends. I could not ask for anything more.