There are no words to describe the perfect scenery that I have witnessed while vacationing in the Cayman Islands. It’s been a wonderful week of great weather, great books, and DOING NOTHING. This blog entry will be short and sweet – just like my vacation.

 

 

 

After landing in Cayman, the first thing I did was head to Kirk Supermarkets. I went there last year for my grocery supplies and went there again this year. This meant that I was somewhat familiar where everything was located and  could be on the beach by 430 p.m (we landed at 2:30 p.m – by the way).

Seeing as were staying in a private residence, I knew that we would be eating breakfast and lunch at home and only going to restaurants at dinner. Plus, we brought a lot of essentials from home. This means, I bought only the essentials: bread, veggies to make a salad, eggs, a case of diet ginger ale, a cantaloupe, bananas, and some cheese. My lovely bill was over $70. Trust me, Kirk Supermarkets is by no means a high end grocery store, but everything is imported so this means prices are higher than what we are use to.

I did however find a few things that caught my eye as “interesting”. (and imported)

Ginger Gingeng Up and Cawston Press Juices in two flavors:  apple and ginger and apple and ederflower:

Ginseng Up is a 100% natural soda and I found it quite refreshing after spending 8.5 hours on the beach. (I know, it was a rough day..HA).

The Apple and Ginger juice was also a winner as I love ginger in anything.

But I think I liked the apple and ederflower even more. The combo of the apple and elderlflower was dynamite.

Sadly Cawston Press is located in the UK. I have never seen in it on the grocery shelves in Canada but will look out for on my next trip to Buffalo. You never know right? I might have passed it on those many trips I take to Wegmans!!

Kirk Supermarkets is known for importing products from UK, Asia, Latin America and South Africa. This means, that I hung out in those aisles a little longer.

Look what else I found?

Havent tried it yet…but I will.

I am also noshing on stuff I bought at  John Vince: We really tried to bring as much as possible from Toronto. I swear my bag is going to be 10 pounds lighter on my return trip.

On this plate you will find: cinnamon and black balls, (childhood memories), Australian crystalized ginger (not just ordinary ginger), Wasabi roasted broad beans and garlic flavored roasted broad beans. Plus, my favorite: peanut butter filled pretzels.

My mom and I are very happy noshing on the beach!!

As for restaurants: We went out for dinner the first nite toCimboco. We went there last year and loved it so much that we even ordered the same dish from last year.

 

We inhaled this island-style sandwich tucked into their fire roasted flat bread and filled with traditonal Caribbean curried vegetables. This is “my type of perfect meal”.

Stay tuned for more Cayman Adventures through out the week!!

p.s. finished one book already…my goal is to finish 3.

 

 

 

 

A friend wrote me an email that said “why arent you blogging about food” I wrote back “you know me well!!”.

To be honest, I was saving the best for last.

Sadly my mom and I were sick for 3 days with bad colds so we didn’t venture out for 3 evenings but we made up for lost meals!! Here’s a few highlights.

Cimboco…A Caribbean Cafe.

We loved the airy caribbean decor and once we saw the menu we knew that we hit a winner of a restaurant.

I had the plantain wrapped callaloo – local callaloo seasoned with caribbean flavors, wrapped in ripe golden fried plantains and accompanied with a spicy cayman style sauce.

My taste buds (and tummy) also enjoyed the caribbean roti. – an island style sandwich on their fire roasted flat bread filled with traditional caribbean curried vegetables.

The Sunshine Grill

Another casual caribbean style restaurant known for the best fish tacos on the island. Guess what we ordered? (did you guess?) There was a 30 minute wait for a seat but it was SO worth it.

I had the coconut snapper tacos- snapper in a mild curry/coconut sauce with green onions and cilantro.

Michaels Genuine Food and Drink

This restaurant has a location in Miami (for those who like to go to Florida in the winter) and he opened up a restaurant in Cayman not long ago. We loved this restaurant. The atmosphere was hip, and the service was perfect but it was the food that had us oo-w-ing and aawing. (is that the correct spelling)?

We had lots of little dishes to fully experience the menu.  Our fav. dish was probably the crispy hominy. OH YUM.

Roasted Breadfruit salad with heirloom tomatoes, avocado, shaved red onion in a lemon meyer vinagrette.

B

Homemade organic ricotta with jam on crostini

Sauteed local thai eggplants with raisins and almonds

Each meal was fantastic. I was thrilled that we were able to enjoy some local flavors and can’t wait to return next year to enjoy these three restaurants again.

That’s right..I’m in Cayman Islands on a mother-daughter (much needed) vacation!

We had an awesome flight on WestJet, got groceries right away, and sat on the beach till the sun went down.

Not a bad day at all. Currently I’m at Cafe Del Sol blogging and it’s a lovely place to have a coffee, listen to some great music and take advantage of some free internet!! It’s a perfect way to end my day.

Here’s some photos that I captured between 4 and 6:30 p.m.

Tomorrow I’m going to World Gym to get a week membership and continue to run at least FOUR times this week.

Naturally I have decided to run in the mornings so I can take advantage of happy hour!! (shhh…I’m a planner – don’t tell anyone).

I have never exercised on vacation before but there is no excuse..I have the time and I have a goal!!

Here’s the plan for the next 6 days:  – go to the gym, sit on the beach, attend happy hour…repeat!!

Just kidding! I plan on going to the spa at the Ritz Carlton as I hear its STUNNING. Plus I really want to see the most unique car collection in the world at the Cayman Motor Museum. (think – batmobile, Ferraris, etc). Not sure I’m brave enough to go to Stingray city.

Sad but true. (fear?).

As for my eating adventures: Michael’s Genuine Food and Drinks sounds exactly like the place I want to eat at…so we are hoping to snag a reservation on Saturday nite.

Stay tuned for more adventures from Cayman Islands!!