house guests.18

We recently had a unique house guest experience in that we hosted couch surfers who had just moved to Grand Cayman permanently. Whereas all house guests are interested in learning about the island and how our lives have changed since moving here, explaining the island to brand new residents adds extra levels of detail. Along with the typical questions about weather and outdoor activities and sports, they needed to know lots of "admin" things, like how to get a driver's license, where to buy groceries, and how to get cell phone plans.

J&S originally hail from Portugal, but spent several years working in the hospitality industry in London. They moved to Cayman in the hopes of finding hospitality jobs here. During their first few days after arriving, they busied themselves scurrying around the island, dropping off their CVs at the many restaurants and hotels that Grand Cayman boasts. After spending time doing the exhaustive job hunt, it was time to show them the way many people like to relax on the weekends with a Sunday drive to Rum Point.

We actually don't drive to Rum Point often, since it's common to travel there via boat. Since J&S were new to the island, we made sure they followed along using the map, since we passed through a ton of little communities along the way.

One place to grab food along the way is Chester's, a road-side restaurant in Bodden Town that offers various jerk dishes with the tempting offer of "Buy One Jerk Get One Free". NS thinks that's funny.

There was outdoor seating, which looked ready for a fun island picnic, but the heat at midday was unbearable, so we stuck to the indoors. Inside, the tables also looked like a picnic.

I don't really like jerk, so I ordered some kind of fried fish dish. Between the jerk chicken and pork, fried fish, and traditional rice and beans, everyone enjoyed our Sunday lunch.

  photo credit: SS

With full bellies, we had only one stop left to make: A day of relaxation at Rum Point. Good thing there are plenty of lounge chairs for us - something that other beaches in Grand Cayman typically don't provide.

JR listens to tunes while SS studies up.

I remember being new to the island, and in the first couple weeks after we arrived, I barely read anything nearly as much as I read the Cayman New Resident book. It's like having a text book for living life in the Cayman Islands.

It's easy to see why Rum Point is such a popular location. There's a spot for every type of relaxing activity at this beach. While SS devoured a book...

...J&S watched a movie...

...NS kept hydrated...

...K&B took a stroll...

...kids played in the shallow water...

...and NS... wait, didn't we already cover him? Maybe so, but I had to get a snap of one of his favorite weekend activities: Snoozing in a hammock. Rum Point is known for their huge hammocks, and it's almost worth the drive just to stretch out in one.

What a beautiful place. I hope J&S are pleased that they moved here; we definitely are glad that they did! They're a smart, warm, sweet couple, and will surely add value to the island community.

At the time of this posting, JR works at Michael's Genuine in Camana Bay, and SS works at Prime in Governor's Square. If you see them during your dining experiences, give them a shout! 

Welcome to Cayman, J&S!