GRAND CAYMAN, GUY HARVEY, AND BATTERIES!

Regal Princess/Georgetown, Grand Cayman
Thursday, October 24, 2024
Sun, 86F

Welcome to the Cayman Islands!

Regal Princess looking regal in Grand Cayman

 Another beautiful day greeted us as we arrived in Grand Cayman. This is a tender port, so we hopped onto a boat to take us into Georgetown.  We needed a battery for TK’s luggage scale so we opted to walk about 1 ¼ miles to the nearest large grocery store, Kirk’s.  As we slogged along in the heat, along the shore, I wondered how soon one of us was going to cave and hail a taxi. 

The battery was a necessity because, well, because our luggage weight limit is 50# each and we are a little apprehensive about the outcome of our visiting so many ports and indulging ourselves with stuff, like jewelry.  Just kidding. Do you have any idea what a wool sweater weighs? And socks that say “feckin’ eedjit?”

After many steps in the heat and doubting that there really was a store with a battery, finally a large grocery/pharmacy store (comparable to our Wegman’s) appeared like a mirage.  With full on air conditioning!  TK said he didn’t care one way or the other how long it took to find a battery, he was staying right there.  I found a clerk who took me straight to batteries and Voila! there was the pot of gold so to speak. (I hesitated to say Holy Grail, I did not want to blaspheme).

Kirk Market and Pharmacy!
Not a Mirage

Kirk's

Charming old building on the main road to 

Georgetown

It has withstood many storms!

As we started trudging back to the main part of the town, TK perked me up with an offer to stop at Burger King for a soda. How many BKs overlook the Caribbean, I wonder?!  We probably spent an hour there and met two very social residents who wanted to know more about the ship and told us about their visits to the U.S. with their families.  That was a very nice respite from the heat and our hike.

Burger King!

Fully “re-charged,” battery in hand, hydrated, we hiked back to the shops. This is the tenth time that we have been to Grand Cayman. The most spectacular visit was when we swam with the stingrays / Stingray City, something Grand Cayman is famous for.  A boat took us to an area where the water was not over my head and very warm.  After we got out of the boat, the tour guide gave us each food for the sting rays and said to hold our hands like we were feeding a horse.   I was pretending to be a big girl and held my hand out with food when my brain realized, “These aren’t horses!”  But as soon as I spotted a photographer who was going to take my picture, I stepped right up! For the old Erie Fire Department Rescue Diver, this was “old hat.” He who has done scuba in Alaska, the Atlantic, and the Caribbean, and Lake Erie, of course.

Anyway, we sauntered along, walking in and out of souvenir shops. Our main goal was the Guy Harvey shop.    Born in Germany to a British officer and his wife, and raised in Jamaica, Harvey earned his Ph.D. in Fisheries Management and Fish Biology. A very talented artist who now lives in Grand Cayman, he depicted Ernest Hemingway's fishing story "The Old Man and the Sea" in a series of 44 original pen-and-ink drawings and displayed them at an exhibition in Jamaica. By 1988, Harvey was considered one of the world's top saltwater game fish artists, and his reputation has only grown since.   We purchased one of Guy Harvey’s acrylics a few years ago that depicts the yellow fin tuna that TK wrestled with in Mazatlán several years ago.  Harvey is dedicated to ocean conservation and marine science literacy.  https://guyharvey.com/

In front of the Guy Harvey shop

Looking down at Guy Harvey's shop

Anyway, we appreciate his art and his dedication to ocean conservation, and we always visit this shop. TK purchased a fab button-down shirt today.  For lunch we visited Guy Harvey’s Boathouse Grill, second floor overlooking the sea. Great breeze and great burger! 

Guy Harvey Boathouse Grill

Janie at Guy Harvey's Boathouse Grill

TK waiting for lunch

TK is paying the bill!

Sharkee's used to be Margaritaville

where we often had a cheeseburger

in paradise!

There was a little excitement today on the ship about an hour before dinner, while we were still in port preparing to leave—there was a power failure—no lights, no water (fortunately TK had just finished his shower), no elevators. This has never happened to us on a cruise ship, although TK said he experienced that on his Navy cruiser (I think that circumstance would be much worse on a warship, if anyone asked me).

We were informed that there would still be dinner, but not the elevators. That seemed unusual, but we walked down seven floors to the Symphony Dining Room and indeed, there was dinner, prime rib tonight. By the time dinner was over, the elevators were working.

This is the last port before Galveston, two more sea days.  I think we are ready to go home.

TK’s Takes: Another hot day. Found the batteries.