Grand Cayman Getaway

Last week, we were lucky enough to celebrate New Year's in the Cayman Islands! Rick's friend Eric invited us to stay at his family's condo on Grand Cayman to kick-off 2011. We've been looking forward to the vacation for quite a while and couldn't wait to escape the remnants of the Christmas blizzard.

As soon as we landed at the small Cayman Airport, we were greeted with sunshine and a warm breeze. The airport is small enough that you walk directly out onto the tarmac when you land, so that was pretty cool. Eric's family has a condo on the popular Seven Mile Beach on the west coast of Grand Cayman. The beach is beautiful and the condo was right on a nice private spot along the water. Some of the other parts of Seven Mile Beach get very crowded, so we were happy to have a more secluded spot.

We went on our first excursion on the day of New Year's Eve, after Eric's friend Kimmy had arrived. We went to visit the Cayman Turtle Farm, a marine park and breeding program for turtles. The best part of the visit was holding a baby green turtle! We were able to hold little guys that were just under three weeks old! They were so adorable and soft. They also got sleepy when their little necks were rubbed and they closed their eyes. They were just like "Little Dude" from Finding Nemo!

On New Year's Eve, the island held a beautiful fireworks show off a barge on the beach. (No photos, unfortunately-- but trust me, it was gorgeous!) There were tons of fireworks going off all along the beach. Fireworks are legal in Cayman, so it seems like every other person on the beach was setting off fireworks. The island's official fireworks show was so impressive-- it was a great way to ring in 2011.

Much of our vacation was spent on the beach; sunning, reading, swimming and snorkeling, people-watching and enjoying the official beer of the Cayman Islands- Caybrew. Growing up as a Cape Cod beach baby, I could spend all day on the beach (as long as I have some shade) so I never got tired of it. People-watching in Cayman was especially interesting. The island seems to attract people from all over the world-- we heard many different accents all week. Cayman also attracts many animal-lovers, as it is known as a dog-friendly vacation spot. The addition of dogs to the beach made people-watching even better.

My favorite part of our vacation was a boat trip to Stingray City. Stingray City is a sand bar off the coast of Grand Cayman. Long ago, fishermen would stop at the sand bar to get out and clean their tools, which attracted stingrays. The stingrays were tame and used to people because of the fishermen, so Stingray City became an island attraction. We took a trip with Captain Marvin's Tours and it was great. There were about 20 of us on the boat, so it wasn't overloaded. Some of the other tour boats pack people on, but this was perfect.


Our tour included a stop at Stingray City and two snorkeling spots. Stingray City was awesome! The stingrays come up and rub against everyone's legs and they are extremely soft. I was surprised at how soft and smooth the stingrays are; touching them was so cool. I was also surprised at how pretty their eyes are-- they have dark eyes with a brown iris. I was expecting more reptile-like eyes, but their eyes were more like that of a mammal. When we were on the sand bar, we also got to feed the stingrays squid and hold them. Stingrays have a great sense of smell, so five or six would rush over at once as soon as squid was in the water. They would bump right into my leg looking for the squid! Our Caymanian tour guides told us that kissing a stingray brings seven years of good luck, so I puckered up! When in Cayman...

The rest of the boat tour was great. We stopped at two fantastic snorkeling spots, where we saw fish of every color. At the second spot, Rick and I even saw a little sea turtle swimming underwater. The trip to Stingray City was definitely the highlight of our trip. It was so unique and awesome to get up close to such interesting creatures.

The rest of our vacation was very relaxing and low-key: a perfect combination. I would absolutely go back to Grand Cayman and recommend a visit to anyone. And if you ever do visit, don't forget to try Caybrew, eat some conch fritters and visit Stingray City!

May in Review

It's hard for me to believe that it's already June. May went by so quickly; it was a month full of moving, celebrations, traveling and unpacking. All the activities kept me away from the blog, but I hope one detailed post about May will make up for my absence...

Last month started off with packing up and moving into the new digs. Rick and I love our new place and our new neighborhood, but we definitely don't like unpacking and getting settled in. Part of the problem has been that I still have a bunch of my junk at my old apartment. Sally is staying there and her friend is moving in at the end of the summer, so there was no immediate rush to get my stuff out. When I first realized that I'd be able to move my things into the new apartment gradually, I was relieved. I thought it would be much easier to move things out little by little instead of a mad rush to move in one day.

I was wrong.

I've now learned that I have absolutely no motivation to move if I don't have an immediate deadline. Here we are, more than a month after getting the keys to the apartment and my closet in Brookline is still loaded with my stuff. If I'm ever in this situation again, I will give myself a made-up deadline to ensure that I move out of my old place in a timely fashion. Luckily, we will be having our first official overnight guests this weekend (YAY!), so that is inspiring me to drag myself back to Brookline and get everything else out of there.

The beginning of May also marked Rick's graduation from UConn's Business School. It was a nice weekend of festivities for the students and their family and friends. There were so many great people in the program that Rick (and myself) got to know and a number of students from countries all over the world. It was a bittersweet weekend since so many of Rick's friends are now scattered across the globe, but at least technology makes it easier to stay in touch!

We also made a quick trip to Melbourne, Florida in May. Rick will be going there frequently for work and I tagged along with him for a few days. It was lovely to sit on the beach and relax, although it was very hot and humid. I stayed under an umbrella and went through a lot of sunscreen, which is no surprise to anyone that has ever been outdoors with me. The only odd thing about our visit was that it happened to coincide with the annual infestation of lightning bugs--know in the South as "love bugs." They hatch, live for only a few days, die and end up absolutely everywhere! It was gross, but short-lived. We did feel a little bit like we were trapped in a Biblical plague...

The month winded down with the lovely wedding of one of my oldest friends. I've known Ned since we were nine, but we joke that we didn't become friends for about 10 years after that! Ned and Kristin were married at the Cape's Greek Orthodox Church and then we all celebrated at Ned's parents' house. The Greek ceremony was very interesting and the wedding program included explanations of the symbolic meaning of the Mass, which was great. In the photo above, the bride and groom wear crowns to symbolize that they are now "king and queen" of their new home and family. It was a wonderful night of Greek dancing, toasts, cigars, laughter, food, drinks and great conversation. We loved it! Congratulations to Ned and Kristin!

Finally, I hope everyone spent at least a little time this Memorial Day Weekend thinking about the sacrifices made for our country. If you ever have the chance, I would highly recommend visiting Arlington National Cemetery in DC. It is a moving tribute to our lost soldiers and a profound reminder of how many lives have been lost in honor of our country. I have visited Arlington four times and I would absolutely go again...

I Survived!

I'm sure you spent all weekend worrying, but I survived my second skiing trip in 26 years. AND I actually did much better than I thought. I won't be skiing every weekend or anything, but I'll definitely try skiing again.

First off, the weekend would have been much more painful without the right gear. Through borrowing or renting, I luckily had the right gear. I would strongly suggest that before embarking on any sort of outdoor activity like skiing, you make sure you have the right gear. I was still freezing after a few hours, but I lasted longer than I would have without my stuff. I'd also recommend wearing a helmet. I rented mine for only $10 (not shown in pic) and I was glad I had it after taking a spill or two.

We went to Cranmore in North Conway, NH and it was a great mountain for a novice like me. I signed up for a lesson (something else I strongly suggest for beginners) and was lucky enough that the lesson ended up being just me and the instructor for two hours. After spending some time on the bunny slopes, we headed over to the beginner trail for a few runs. I was really happy with how I did and I actually had more skills than I thought!



When my lesson was over, I met up with the rest of my friends in the lodge to warm up and get some food. I could barely feel my fingers but I was pumped about how well I did. I was fired up for some more skiing post-lunch, and I will admit that I was bragging about my skills on the slopes.

Well, I did speak too soon because I took a few diggers after lunch. I chalked it up to being tired and taking one too many runs on my first day back out on the slopes, but I'm still really happy with my skiing performance.

Side note: I'm still really sore two days later. Ouch...

Why I'll be wearing a helmet this weekend...

This weekend I'll be going skiing for the second time in my life. The first time I went skiing, I spent most of the weekend on my rear end--and that was at least nine years ago. But I'm hoping this weekend will be different.

We're heading up to North Conway, NH with some friends and will be skiing at Mt. Cranmore. I'm a little nervous and was having second thoughts yesterday, but now I think I will make it out of the weekend in one piece. And I hope I'll have some fun, too.

No matter what happens, it should make for an interesting blog post. Stay tuned...

Exploring Alcatraz

One of my favorites things that we did in San Francisco was the tour of Alcatraz. The audio tour was very engaging and the history behind the island is fascinating. The buildings on the island were originally used as a military base and then a military prison during The Civil War. We almost got stuck on Alcatraz because high winds nearly canceled our ferry ride back to SF. It was a close one--A little too close for comfort!


There are numerous buildings and structures on Alcatraz that are crumbling or no longer open to the public. I found these ruins very interesting and fun to photograph. Before the tour, I had no idea that prison guards and their families actually used to live on the island. The crumbled remains of their homes are nothing more than rock piles now. The island also had a bowling alley and small market for the families' use.



Another aspect of Alcatraz that I didn't learn about until our visit was that American Indians occupied the island in 1969 in protest of treatment of Indian tribes by the US Government. (The island had closed as a prison in 1963.) The group wanted to re-develop the island for use as a cultural center and education center, among other things. While this never happened, the occupation did result in President Nixon repealing legislation that had denied federal recognition of Indian tribes. Traces of the nearly-two year occupation are still seen on the island through graffiti. Look for the word "Free" on the American Eagle crest. "Indians" is on the water tower, but the rust makes it tough to see.




I can't imagine ever being in jail-- let alone in jail on an island. Alcatraz also had a seriously scary section of solitary confinement: "The Hole." The Hole was punishment for those who needed more isolation than basic solitary confinement. When the doors in The Hole were closed, the cells were completely dark. Yikes. The Hole is the final photo and a typical jail cell set-up is the first.

San Fran Sneak Peek

I just got home from an amazing trip to San Francisco with Rick and his family. San Fran is awesome and I really enjoyed my first visit there. Northern California is just beautiful and has such impressive topography.

I went photo-crazy and took about 600 photos last week! It's going to take me a while to sort through and edit them, but I wanted to share a few of my favorites here as soon as possible.

I'm so lucky that I had the opportunity to explore such a cool place, especially during a week when we're reminded to count our blessings...

Post-Master's Life (So far)

Well, I have been officially done with grad school for one week and life hasn't changed too much yet.

Right after I finished up, we headed to beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee, NH for a wedding and a relaxing long weekend. I certainly recommend a few days up there to escape reality and the dreaded job search.
But now it's time for me to kick the job hunt into high gear. I'm a little nervous, but I'm trying to stay positive. I'm sure the experience will provide fodder for new blog posts. Stay tuned...

Walk like an Egyptian

On May 2, a few of my J-school friends hopped a plane bound for the east--the Middle East, that is.

A group of undergrad and grad journalism students from Northeastern are studying for 5 weeks across the Middle East. Currently, the group is in Egypt and then they're moving onto Qatar and Syria.

Everyone is keeping blogs throughout the experience and they are also assigned story topics that they have to finish within just a few days. The published stories are here. Everyone seems to be turning out really great stuff and it's cool to be able to see what the group is up to.

And I must admit that I am jelly after seeing some of the amazing pictures on the blogs. My shutterbug friend Clarice has some really amazing shots. Check them out here on her blog.

Long weekend in our nation's capital

Got back yesterday from a visit to DC to catch up with friends. We had a great time, even though the 90 degree heat was a bit more than we were expecting.

We were able to visit some of my favorite old haunts in DC (namely Zoo Bar) and check out my former town, Bethesda. We had a lovely time with our wonderful hosts and enjoyed lots of good food and drink.

I was happy to see all my old friends and I'm already looking forward to our next visit. (But it probably won't be until after the summer due to the crazy DC heat!)