Cayman Islands Day 2

June 17, 2017

I needed rest so I slept in until about 9am. I didn't feel guilty as it was raining outside anyway.

I got up and had some breakfast of yogurt and a granola bar and some Mountain Dew, yum yum.

As it was still raining I finished up my writing about the previous day and then took a shower and decided to go into Georgetown. I looked at the hours and location for the national Museum and the national art gallery and they were both open until 3. The national Museum was a destination on the GPS but the art gallery wasn't making it a little bit more difficult. I found directions on the Internet but no physical address which made it impossible to use the GPS.

The art gallery was on the way to Georgetown so I was going to try there first however as the roads here are under major construction it wasn't easy to locate. It was raining hard and traffic was miserable so I gave up and went for what the GPS will take me to and headed to Georgetown.

Traffic lightened as I entered the historic area and put in a short time I found a parking place that was nearby and even in the same block as the hard rock café, to my surprise.

This HRC had many designs to choose from making it difficult to choose. Most have only one or two interesting. The manager gave me a discount as I signed up for rewards program offering discounts on future purchases. I should have had this a long time ago!

Just down the waterfront was the National Museum. It is housed in the former Old Courts Building. The museum is dedicated to the preservation, research and display of all aspects of Caymanian heritage.It is small and much is dedicated to diving and marine life. There isn't much about the early history except for a few dates and words on a timeline. There is some interesting art in the stairwell but that is in small supply. I'm glad I visited but happy it was free.

Christopher Columbus sighted the Cayman Islands on May 10, 1503 and named them Las Tortugas after the numerous sea turtles seen swimming in the surrounding waters. Columbus had found the two small islands (Little Cayman and Cayman Brac) and it was these two islands that he named "Las Tortugas".

The 1523 "Turin map" of the islands was the first to refer to them as Los Lagartos, meaning alligators or large lizards,. By 1530 they were known as the Caymanes after the Carib word caimán for the marine crocodile, either the American or the Cuban crocodile which also lived there. Recent sub-fossil findings suggest a freshwater species, were prevalent until the 20th century.

Hurricane Ivan weakened to a category four hurricane as it moved over Grand Cayman. It is the most powerful hurricane ever to hit the cayman islands. The eye of the storm passed within eight to 15 miles of Grand Cayman. It struck on Sunday 12 September, bringing with it sustained winds of 155 miles per hour, gusts of up to 217 mph, and a storm surge of sea water of eight to 10 feet, which covered most of the Island. A quarter of Grand Cayman remained submerged by flood waters two days later. Both Cayman Brac and Little Cayman suffered damage, although not to the same extent as Grand Cayman.

The rain had let up and I walked about the historic district but not much historic was left. Mostly shops selling luxury good without tax for cruise ship passengers. The remainder of the shops offered repetitive cheap tourist trinkets. This was disappointing but not surprising.

I found a wooden house on a stilt and a cannon at the spot where Fort George once stood.

There was a mannequin pirate at the water’s edge, a bit haggered but still added some color to a pretty boring waterfront.

I'd seen all there was or at least all I wanted to see of Georgetown. I headed east about 20 minutes to Spotts Beach. It's an area where the sea turtles like to eat the sea grass that grows there. When I visited, the sea was so rough that the turtles stayed away. It was worth a try.

I drove back to West Bay, rain coming down heavy again making the traffic, even on a Saturday, miserable. I looked for possible Gallery shops on the return and nothing.

A stop at the market provided a nice meal of scrambled eggs and some veggies. As I'd spent quite a bit last night, today was my thrifty day.

I edited pics and chatted a bit as the rain came down even harder but had to venture out one more time. My foot was swollen and painful. My host didn't have any ibuprofen and I needed to clean the wound with alcohol. I hated to get out in the storm but I needed some relief.

The store was very busy as everyone is preparing for the celebration of the Queen’s birthday. Here it's celebrated in June 19th. I got my ibuprofen and alcohol and got out of there as quick as I could. I hoped it would help.

My room was pretty hot and as I didn't feel well on top of that. I was kind of miserable :-(

Please let tomorrow be better…please.