We waited a couple weeks to take our honeymoon so we could get settled into our apartment together and Adam had business trip out East. So in early November we headed to GORGEOUS Grand Cayman Island for nine days! The water is the most beautiful water we've ever seen and the white sand beaches made for a perfect newly wedded escape.

We tried several local, fresh foods - coconut (Adam picked it and attempted to open it until a resort caretaker stepped in to show us how its done), Sea Turtle, Local Rum, Sticky Toffee Pudding (an island specialty) Rum Cake, Mahi-Mahi, and several lots of fish. The fish was a big deal to me because I don't eat fish and this was the first time I've ordered it. But it was so fresh and all fish is caught the day you eat it. In fact, several restaurants don't have menus because their meals vary pending what is caught that morning and afternoon.

We went all around the island to experience as much as possible. Seven mile beach attracts the most tourists with the large, extravagant hotels and being in close proximity to George Town. George Town is where the grand ships dock, so it consists of several franchised restaurants and souvenir shops. We didn't spend much time here except to witness the islands' Pirates Week - a huge, festivity filled week of concerts, booze, music, and of course Pirates! One of our favorite places was Rum Point - located on the North side of the island it has a nice breeze that somehow keeps you perfectly cool while in the hot sun. Colorful picnic tables under shady palm trees was a perfect setting for an island lunch, and to hear steel drums. :)

Our BIG attraction to Cayman and the reason for our hard work back in May and June was to SCUBA dive! We completed three dives while we were there: Diving with the Stingrays (depth of 12ft), a coral playingfield (depth of 50ft), and canyons (depth of 60ft). All the dives were amazing new adventures for us since we had only dove in a lake in MN. The stingrays were so friendly and had such goofy personalities - we were able to feed them squid and they'd playfully swarm around us. We also saw a 5 ft nurse shark (a baby, but still cool!), spiny lobsters, HUGE tarpon, grouper, bright color of all sizes and shapes, large colorful schools of fish, and SO much more. It was an extremely neat experience to have as husband and wife and needless to say, we'll be doing it again!

Over the course of our stay we met some very nice people from all over the world - but our 'neighbors' were the best! They are a family from Boston and have three boys: Jared, Ben & Max. These guys were so awesome - they reminded Adam of growing up with his two older brothers and reminded me of my three cousins. They were so animated and could not be outside enough. They would go off on daily adventures and tell us about them and show us their sand sculptures - felt like we'd known them for years! We ended up being on the same flight from Cayman to Miami which allowed us to hang out with them a bit more before heading separate ways. However we did exchange contacts so hopefully if Adam's job sends him to Boston soon, we'll be able to see them again.

JARED, MAX & BEN

This wraps up our trio of lengthy posts. We've been so blessed to have had such a wonderful beginning to our marriage and have so many kind people to share it with. We look forward to all things to come and of course, blogging about them! :)