house guest.2

Unbelievably, within a week of our first set of guests leaving us, we had the privilege of hosting our "second" (technically, our fifth) house guest! ES hails from New Jersey where she and NS worked at the same accounting firm for four years before he ditched for warmer waters.

It surely must be difficult for guests visiting us this time of year to decide what to wear when traveling, as North Easterners depart home in 35 degree weather and arrive here in 85 degree weather. This is exactly what happened to house guest #2. The night before her early morning flight, NS decided to email ES to let her know we'd be snatching her up from the airport and immediately whisking her away to George Town for the Pirates Week Parade. In the email, her told ES just to wear her shorts so she'd be ready for parade fun. I guess we've lost touch with the fact that it's not shorts weather everywhere! ES, however, is a well-seasoned traveler and was able to quickly swap outfits in the airport right before our pick-up time. Way to be flexible!

ES was a model house guest. I think our dads must have some distant relation, because our house guidelines (which were inspired by my dad) didn't phase her a bit. What did phase her was having to hold a live conch with her bare hands during boat day. She did pretty well though:

...and she did even better with a live starfish!

In addition to Pirates Week and Boat Day, the three of us ate dinner at The Cracked Conch in West Bay with B&K - a restaurant right on the water right by Macabuca, where NS and I got our scuba certifications.

The stairs leading up to the restaurant are a blue mosaic:

photo credit: ES

So pretty!

After taking some pictures of the rocky shore and crystal clear (but dark) water...

...we got down to business: The food!

An NJCPA photo shoot

Seared Diver Scallops

Butter poached mahi mahi

 We had the restaurant to ourselves, and with no pressure to give up the table (not that there ever is any in Grand Cayman - they expect you to enjoy your meal as long as you want to), we sat and talked and sat and talked some more. All of us are relatively new friends - NS and I just met B&K, and ES and I have only met in passing - so there were many details of our personal histories that were shared and discussed and laughed over. What a pleasant evening.

Walking back through the interior of the restaurant, I took these shots:

Bar area with waterfall

Hallway with mega huge ceiling fans

I also have to mention that ES fearlessly drove herself around the island with minimal instruction from me. I'm always impressed with a brave solo traveler!

I was so pleased that ES visited during her pre-busy season months. NS can vouch that she works very hard in and out of busy season, and it gave me great joy to see her relaxing by the pool reading Emily Griffin novels and soaking up some rays. She also treated herself to some proper pampering with an appointment at the Ritz Carlton Spa, Silver Rain. Well-deserved! We thoroughly enjoyed our long weekend with ES. As another one of my great friends so cleverly put it: Keep accounting!