First day: Chicago to Houston to Grand Cayman!

Well, here we are in Grand Cayman Island!

We had a great trip down here. After a nice day relaxing and enjoying the company at the Eldridges (Thanks Diane, Bradd, Reece, Denae, and Gavin!), we spent last night at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare, so we would be ready for our early morning departure. It was a cool hotel, with a view of the sunset over the airport! Ben enjoyed having a bathrobe in the room and the glass elevators were really fast!

This morning, we made our 6 am airport shuttle in the nick of time, and traffic, check-in, security, etc., went really smoothly. They changed the aircraft for our flight, so our pre-booked seats were apparently null and void :-(. Instead of window and next over seats 2 rows behind each other, we wound up with 3 middle seats and one aisle on our first flight. On the second flight it was even worse, Daryl and Alex had random middle or aisle seats next to total strangers, Ben and I managed (after switching with someone) to get a window and next over seats together. However, other than that, I have no complaints! When we got to Houston, TX, we walked out of gate E20 and our connecting gate was almost immediately across the hall E16 ... that never happens! Then, to top it off, just upstairs from our gate, there was a cool sports restaurant, FOX Sky Box, where we had a very nice lunch during our layover!

 

 

 

 

We did not check any luggage, so the airport was fairly quick, security, customs, walked across the street to Budget Rental Car. On our way we saw a rooster just roaming freely in the parking lot!
There we waited a little, but not bad to get our tiny Hyundai economy sized rental car.

 Boy is it ever a crazy feeling to drive on the left side of the street! The steering wheel is on the right side of the car, and some of the controls are opposite of what you're used to. Daryl is the one driving, and he kept hitting the wipers instead of the turn signals! We made it safely to Christopher Columbus Condos, and checked in just before the office closed at 5 pm! Again, awesome timing!

This is our condo, and the view from the balcony!

 After getting settled in a little bit, of course we had to check out the beach and the pool. It is lovely! We took our masks and snorkels and there are lots of cool fish and other stuff (urchins, cucumbers)  right off the beach!

Then we got so hungry we had to go to the grocery store. We stocked up on some groceries for the week, and on Ben's request cooked Kraft Macaroni and Cheese for supper! The kitchen here is fully stocked with dishes, utensils, pots, towels, salt and pepper, even dish detergent and Cascade for the dishwasher! It is awesome. More photos later! Time for bed, it's been a long day!