island explorations: Rum Point

As of today (less than a week after arriving), we have our apartment and two cars sorted out. Nothing has been signed yet, and no money has changed hands, but we've made preliminary deals on everything. NS and I will blog the details later once we sign our lives away.  In the meantime, I'll introduce the readership (all ten of you) to Rum Point - noted as one of the prettiest, most peaceful parts of Grand Cayman.

The island is shaped like the letter U, with the right side of the U growing very fat and extending far out to the east (in an area called East End), which is home to small historic (primarily native) communities.  Rum Point is situated on the upper right tip of the U. From George Town, you can take the "short cut" and get to Rum Point in less than 45 minutes, but we were advised to take the long route, following the coast all the way around East End and North Side (the fat part of the U) to arrive at Rum Point.  The long route has more charm and character, and since we didn't have any pressing business to take care of today (see almost-completed deals above), we took our time.  Some of the houses we saw along the way were breathtaking.  I read that some Grand Cayman residents actually buy second homes out toward Rum Point as vacation spots to "get away from it all", whatever that means. And here I was thinking the entire island was a vacation spot. My bad.

Views while driving in East End - a tiny dock for smelling the sea and reading a book.

Anyway, Rum Point attracts a large Sunday crowd, as most businesses are closed, and people look for opportunities to finish their weekend relaxing with a picnic lunch on a beautiful beach. Driving up on a Friday meant we had the place to ourselves. [And just so you know, I didn't bring a picnic lunch, because I wasn't given enough warning (NS hates planning), and I didn't ship the picnic basket from the States.]  From Rum Point, you can look across the North Sound (and Stingray City) and see George Town in the south and West Bay in the north.

Rum Point with West Bay off in the (far) distance

Like everywhere else, the water was pretty churny in the aftermath of the recent storm, but it was beautiful and peaceful nonetheless.

A peek of George Town through the trees

Not hard to find a hammock on a Friday

While in the area, we also drove a little past Rum Point to Cayman Kai, one of the most exclusive parts of the island.  Hardly a soul was in sight, and there were plenty of large boats docked nearby.  Apparently, there is a very good restaurant in this area that we aim to try out.

Cayman Kai

What surprised me most on this little field trip was the amount of land that is still available on Grand Cayman.  The island's occupants (all 50,000) of us are squeezed into an area that (I am guessing) is approx. 30% of the land mass.  The rest of it appears to be largely open. Also, there are a LOT of homes for sale all over the place. If any of you readers are looking for sweet vacation home, I am sure I can find you an eager realtor....