Joy's Visit - Pirate's Week

On Friday night, we headed to George Town for the Pirate's Week festivities. We got there early and were surprised by how empty it seemed. We secured a spot in front of the water and watched the crowds flock in. It was tough work saving room for Jenn and Nate, but we held our ground.


I'm embarrassed at the amount of firework pictures I took, but decided not to bore you with more than two. It was a good show!


After fireworks, the five of us explored the food vendors and ended up at our favorite, Stingray Kisses Donuts. Donuts have become a Pirate's Week tradition!


We left George Town and headed to Jeremy and Sheena's for an 11.11.11 party. Brent had the idea to celebrate the date with a get together, but with Joy here I didn't want to organize anything. Luckily Sheena stepped up to co-host, and they threw a great party! We had mozzarella sticks, licorice, pretzel sticks, beef jerky (all stick foods to look like the number "1"). Brent created an awesome trivia game where all the questions related to the number one or eleven. Then we did a little countdown to 11:11 pm. It was a lot of fun, and a good chance to show Joy what great friends we have.

The next day, Joy, Brent and I went back to George Town a few hours before the parade to explore and get lunch. "It's Sugar" is quickly becoming one of my favorite stores. I don't ever plan to buy anything there, but it's so colorful and fun!


Brent was in awe of the "world's largest gummy bear." It was surprisingly heavy! They also had the world's largest gummy worm...$48 each!


We went to Beaches by the Bay for lunch. I stopped and asked if I could get a picture with these two friendly pirates.


Lunch was fun, but the crowds and heat made the parade a little less enjoyable. They do some a show where the governor gets captured by pirates, which I thought would be entertaining, but it was SO long and drawn out! We were ready to leave before the parade even started! Luckily we moved to a shaded, less crowded spot and enjoyed the first part of the parade from there. But I recommend skipping the preshow and just going to the parade for future attendees.

On Sunday we went to Spotts beach and on Monday afternoon we did a stingray city boat tour. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera for either of these events. You'll just have to check out Joy's facebook pictures for those adventures. But I did remember to bring my camera for our last dinner together. We went to Casanova, which is a restaurant right on the water in George Town. It was mine and Brent's first time there, and we really enjoyed it. Great food, atmosphere, view...and of course, company!


Check out that sunset!


I had a blast hanging out with my little sis all week. When we were in Cincinnati, Joy would come over for dinner once a week, and I really miss those evenings together. Joy was such an easy-to-please, laid back guest. I'm so happy we got to share a piece of our island adventure with her.

Before the visit I was thrilled that Joy would be here 10 days rather than just a week, but it still went by so fast! The apartment felt very empty without her on Tuesday. At least we get to see her and the rest of the family in a month at Christmas!

We love you, Joycerina! Thanks for coming to see us!

Pirates Week: Parade and Doughnuts

Saturday morning we signed the lease for our one bedroom apartment in Lime Tree Bay. It's finally official - we have a real "long term" home! We move in next Sunday, which gives us five days to get settled before our first visitors arrive. I can't wait to fully unpack and get rid of these boxes once and for all!

That afternoon we made smoothies and sandwiches and ate them poolside. Then I took a nice little nap on my stomach...a very dangerous mistake! I was feeling it the rest of the weekend! We went grocery shopping before the parade since stores are closed on Sunday and Monday was a holiday. Unfortunately this took a little longer than expected and we missed the first part of the Pirate festivities. Apparently the pirates land their ship in Georgetown, fight the governor's men, then take the governor into captivity. As tradition holds, they will have rule of Grand Cayman for a full week before the governor is freed and banishes them for another year. So we missed all that, but got there just in time for the parade. My pictures aren't awesome, but Jenn has a much better account (and pictures of the governor's capture) on her post if you want to check that out.

The pirates ship docked in Georgetown:


Colorful floats and dresses


This was kind of an interesting float. A guy dressed up as a woman teaching a group of children?


On Friday we had these amazing mini homemade doughnuts at one of the local vendor stands downtown. Jenn was disappointed they weren't there again but Brent said my family made doughnuts for Fallapalooza this year and it didn't seem too hard. So on the way to Jenn and Nate's apartment, Brent and I stopped to pick up some biscuits (they didn't have original so we got Butter, Reduced Fat Buttermilk, and Southern Style). When we got to the apartment we totally took over the kitchen - Brent even wore Jenn's apron!

Confident chef...or not so much?


Getting ready


Our first attempt was a disaster - as soon as Brent dropped it in the pot it turned BLACK. Conclusion - oil too hot!


We decided to scale down and do our second attempt with a doughnut hole...


Shaking it in sugar


Pulling it apart...still a little gooey but getting closer!


After perfecting the doughnut holes, we graduated to another full size doughnut. This one was perfect!


Nate took some of the holes and put chocolate chips inside. Chocolate Logs (aka "Chocolate Dogs") = pure genius


Nate, so proud of his creation


Finished product. Isn't it beautiful?


Feeling pretty confident now - two at a time (plus four chocolate dogs)!


J&N already have their second guest visiting! Erin worked with Nate back home and is staying with them Saturday-Wednesday. We had a great time getting to know her this weekend!


We had a lot of dough left over (three rolls of dough was too much for five people, go figure). We only opened the Butter and Reduced Fat Buttermilk, but between the two I recommend the Reduced Fat. Still not sure what Southern Style means...maybe an adventure for another day!


For more pictures, you can check out my Pirates Weekend gallery. Still two more posts coming - Sunday Fun and Boat Trip Monday!

Pirates Week: Fireworks

As I mentioned in my last post, this weekend kicked off Pirates Week 2010. I don't know much about the history of Pirates Week, but I do know people love to get into it! Friday night was the first Fireworks celebration (there's another one next Saturday). Brent and I headed downtown not knowing what to expect. It was packed!


So many kids and adults dressed up as pirates filled the streets. There was also a costume contest and a pageant going on, which we caught glimpses of as we waited for the fireworks to start.


The fireworks show was surprisingly impressive. They went all out for the finale!


Obviously someone was enjoying the show :)


After the fireworks we met up with Jenn and Nate to check out the local food vendors. Most everyone had the same thing - BBQ chicken, lobster, shrimp, conch, turtle stew. Brent and I shared a plate of conch, and Jenn and Nate got some very "interesting" looking curry goat and chicken (you can check out their blog post for pictures). We stopped at Diary Queen on the way out, then hung out at our studio for a bit. I got to talk to Sarah and Garret on Skype for the first time, which was so fun! It was a great start to our three day weekend!