welcome to grand cayman

Last week we headed out for the week to the Florida Keys and Grand Cayman for the weekend to relax in the warm weather. We left a snowy northeast for the white sand beaches.

The morning after we landed in Florida we jetted out to Grand Cayman. After a quick one-hour flight over Cuba and the prettiest blue water we landed and immediately set up shop on the beach.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a day of beaching, we cleaned up for a nice first meal at Luca. An Italian restaurant located in the Caribbean Club, serving massive portions of fresh seafood along with well-prepared meats and homemade pastas, it was a nice choice for the first night. You can find more information on Luca here. The only drawback ambiance-wise was the close proximity of the tables, with loads of full tables, the buzz of the restaurant was more of a roar at times.

T started with the spicy yellow fin tuna tartare and avocado, fennel salad, and a soured tomato coulis. A perfect start to the island weekend.

 

I started with the largest salad I have ever been served, an arugula salad with poached beets, local tomatoes, goat cheese, spicy pecans, lemon and olive oil dressing.

T went with the special duck with roasted cabbage, mashed potatoes, bacon wrapped asparagus and a spattering of jus. All I kept hearing was "you have to try this...and this...and this and this".

On the other hand I decided to get the most seafood-y dish offered, taking advantage of the location, and went with the whole wheat linguine, crab meat, rock shrimps, calamari and scallops, in a garlic white wine sauce. Served as a massive hill I was super excited when it arrived, and let so far down when I tasted it. 

With little sauce, and small seafood bits scattered everywhere overpowering any taste the pasta may have had on its own, I was a bit sad. I may have been somewhat settled with it if I hadn't tasted all of the other amazing dishes that were served at my table that night. Of note, the lobster ravioli served with a creamy lobster bisque, arugula, and a touch of cherry tomato was outstandingly rich and delicious...and I had a bad case of food envy. 

To make up for dinner we just had to order dessert. We played it safe and went with the warm chocolate molten with marinated oranges. Fluffy and decadent, the warm chocolate molten washed away my recent memories of my underwhelming entree. 

We enjoyed a small glass of limencello-vodka slushy and petit fours before waving goodbye and heading back to our hotel along the beach by moonlight, dipping our toes in the warm Caribbean sea.

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lighthouses, doors, and houses of nantucket

Memorial day weekend happened to also be Figawi weekend--a huge sailing event followed by parties and events (more information found here). The island was filled with predominantly 20s and 30-somethings drinking heavily all around the town. On the second day we decided to escape the hustle and bustle so we rented a Jeep and hit all 3 of the lighthouses on Nantucket. First stop, Brant Point:

Next stop, Great Point. This is where the Jeep came in handy...we drove to the northeast corner of the island to the Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge. We lowered the tire pressure to 13lbs and went on a 20 minute drive through the grasses and over the beach to the seals and the lighthouse.

 

Then we hopped back in the Jeep and headed south to our final destination: Sankaty Head lighthouse.

 

After touring the lighthouses of the island, we headed back to town to ooh and ahh at the amazing houses.

One of the 3 original Starbuck son's homes

 

After a day of exploring the island we went out to dinner at Galley Beach for some fantastic food. I started with the Pernod scented escargots with melted leeks, tomato and garlic butter while T started with the special soup. For my entree I had an unbelievable buttermilk crepe filled with local lobster, huitlacoche, serrano pepper, queso fresco & foie gras while T went for the special ahi tuna. We walked back to the B&B for a restful night before a day of final walking and the whaling museum before heading home after an amazing relaxing weekend.

 
We headed home and somehow missed all of the Memorial day weekend traffic to make it home in time for some low-maintenance pizza to prep for the busy week ahead.

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