Last year we started a new tradition that has quickly became one of our favorites - parent camp! We dropped the girls off at camp on Sunday & then we flew out on Monday. Early Monday. We had to leave the house at 4:00 but we were checked into our hotel early that afternoon:
We went to our favorite resort in Grand Cayman on Seven Mile Beach. This was our 4th time there & it never gets old! Grand Cayman is pretty locked down so it was harder to get there than other places, but our resort was only about 40% full so it was awesome to not have to fight a crowd during the middle of summer. In fact, we even got our room upgraded to the ocean view. They surprised us with a gluten free flourless chocolate cake upon our arrival:
While I was indulging in this amazing cake & unpacking, Bryan fell asleep. Surprise, surprise. I have pictures of this guy sleeping anywhere, anytime!
We headed straight to the beach & spent the afternoon enjoying our first drinks & reading:
We didn't have dinner reservations our first night so we just headed to Taikun inside our resort, which is the sushi restaurant. The only reason I took a picture is to document this moment - fresh wasabi! Usually it comes ready to go like a paste, but they actually brought the root out & grated fresh wasabi - we have never seen it before!
Our first morning was beautiful:
so Bryan & I decided to go for a run together:
then we went to brunch. We ate at our hotel every morning & they were super gluten friendly. Every day they had a different gf pastry. Our first morning I had chocolate muffins & Bryan enjoyed fresh watermelon juice:
We literally spent the entire day at the beach again. Drinking, reading, visiting, swimming, walking - you name it we did it all the way until sunset:
Our resort is pretty good about passing out snacks during the day so I took a picture of my popsicle because I knew the girls would be jealous - daily popsicles for me!
That night we had reservations at Camana Bay & we were excited because I had never been there before. It is a great location with lots of shopping, restaurants & businesses. We ate at Agua & I will go ahead & admit that I took a lot of food pictures this trip. I have come to rely on the Find Me Gluten Free app when we travel & I have become addicted to submitting reviews & pictures for others who come behind me:
We had a great little table, right by the water, which explains my wind blown hair. Ha!
To start with we had this whipped ricotta cheese spread that Bryan enjoyed with baguettes while they brought me my own side of gf bread. I know my bread probably wasn't as good as his, but believe me, it's a big deal when a restaurant actually has gf bread:
I am a sucker for pasta, especially when it is gf:
There was this amazing gelato place that I had my eye on all night & I was so excited to try it, but our hotel made sure we had a complimentary dessert, the chocolate mousse with granola crumbles & berries. Again, gf! This place had me taken care of!
Apparently, Bryan told them we were celebrating our anniversary, which we did, 2 months ago!
After dinner we walked next door to check out this new little speak easy bar with live music:
I think he enjoyed it more than I did because I got tired sitting there but this would be a fun place to go back to, especially with friends!
The next morning we enjoyed brunch again at our hotel. Another meal, another review because these gf breakfast tacos were my favorite of the week:
Brunch is always my favorite meal of the day on vacay - we always eat late after we sleep in & work out so I am usually starving & this serves as our breakfast & our lunch. And the view never gets old:
On Wednesday we decided to venture away from our resort & go out on the water! We have actually been to stingray city every visit, but honestly, it's fun & beautiful so we couldn't turn it down. We love sailing, the water is beautiful & somehow Bryan always finds a way to take a nap:
It was the perfect day to sail & the stingrays were waiting for us when we got there:
We actually saw a shark this time! It literally swam straight through the area where we were all swimming with the stingrays. From sting ray city, we sailed farther out to a reef where we snorkeled. Of course I don't have pictures of us out in the water but I took a few on our sail back to land:
When we got back to our hotel, we spent an hour or so at the pool:
We barely made it to our room for sunset:
followed by a late dinner at:
We actually ate here in 2016 while the girls stayed behind in the hotel room with a babysitter. It is a quick walk to get there & since it was open & I noticed they had a gf menu online, I wanted to check it out again:
It is on the water so you can see sunset here, even though we just barely missed it:
Bryan ordered the branzino, just like last time & I have a picture of it from last time & it looked the exactly the same this time:
They de-bone it at the table & apparently he loves it! I am not a fish eater so I did not try it. This is actually an Italian restaurant & they did have gf pasta, so usually I would get that, but since I had it the night before I decided to go with a steak & it did not disappoint:
Neither did the creme brulee trio we had afterwards for dessert!
Our meal was fantastic & the atmosphere even better. We actually visited with the manager a good 30 minutes or so when he came by to check on us & I believe we were one of the last ones there that night:
Surprisingly, this was one of those restaurants that was not on my gf app so I added them & gave them a glowing review!
Our final full day there I thought I would document a perfect day in the life of Shaye on vacay! After we slept in (I should clarify - I don't exactly sleep in, but I do enjoy being lazy! So I will read or catch up on my phone while Bryan sleeps in!) we went to the gym to work out. On this particular day, I was excited to try one of their fitness classes, but no one showed up but me so I got a personal training session instead:
We had brunch together - I indulged in the guava pancakes:
Then we went our separate ways. Bryan headed to the golf course & played 18 holes while I went to the spa. I spent some time relaxing, reading & enjoying a hot stone massage:
Since it was still early in the afternoon, I wanted to spend the rest of my time by the water. Since I walking by myself, I stopped to take pictures of some of the flowers around the resort. I absolutely love the tropical vegetation & wish we could get some of this stuff to grow in my backyard at home!
Can you tell I love to take pictures?! Ha! That's all this blog is full of - my phone photo dump!
When I finally got comfortable at the beach, the weather turned & I was nervous my perfect afternoon would be ruined:
Thankfully the storm stayed out over the water & we never got wet. It also passed pretty quickly so by the time Bryan came out to join me, I was still comfortable reading away:
I love the little chairs here because everyone has their own shade & I can adjust it as the day goes on depending on where the sun is shining. And yes, I really did read that much! When the girls are with us, we do a lot more water activities, but I took advantage of the down time & the shade while enjoying the view!
That night we tried to take a sunset selfie from our balcony in case we didn't make it in time for dinner:
We met a friend who lives on the island our first trip there, back in 2016, that we still keep in touch with. She invited us to a local restaurant called Cayman Cabana:
for a farm to table dinner experience. It was this awesome little dive right in Georgetown, literally on the water. And we did make it before sunset so more selfies!
We sat at a long table with our friend, Andrea, and several local Caymanians. We had the best night! First of all, the meal was literally fresh - everything picked that day from the island! And I had the best time meeting some of the other couples we sat with. I am sure I am that annoying tourist that asked way too many questions, but thankfully they put up with me!
It literally was the perfect way to end our trip! the next day was Friday & we had to head back to Texas to pick up the girls from camp. I know Bryan & I love traveling together, but this was one of my favorite trips in a while. We just had a lot of things go right & it was the perfect time away for the two of us. And we love Grand Cayman - it truly does hold a special place in my heart with lots of fond memories from our trips there through the years!
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