The Honeymoon - Grand Cayman

The day after the wedding we attended a wonderful brunch hosted by Matthew's Mom and Step Dad for the out of town guests here in Savannah. We spent the rest of the day putting the house straight, eating leftovers from the wedding, and packing for our honeymoon in Grand Cayman. At 5:00 Monday morning the best man, Ben, drove us to the Savannah airport for our flight to Charlotte and then on to Grand Cayman. We had a wonderful and relaxing time on our honeymoon and here are some photos from our adventures.

Outside the airport all ready to go.





















Matthew catching up on some sleep in the Charlotte airport.
















The Reef Resort in Grand Cayman where we spent our week. There were coral reefs right in front of our room!
















Matthew reading a book right outside our room, we loved the view!
















Our first day on the island Matthew stubbed his toe on a curb and he had to hobble around most of the week. Luckily, it did not bother him for swimming.
















Our first major activity was to visit a Botanic Park. We enjoyed all of the unique plants and were able to see a few very endangered Blue Iguanas. These lizards were down to about 12 alive in the wild but are now up to about 500 thanks to some great conservation efforts.

This tree fell down during hurricane Ivan in 2004. The trunk on the left grew up from the fallen tree after the storm and look at how big it is 7 years later!
















A blue iguana posed with us along one of the walking paths. This is a large male.















My most frequent activity during the honeymoon was snorkeling, of course! I bought a new digital underwater camera specifically for our trip. I had a lot of fun taking pictures and enjoying all of the really neat marine life. Here I am all ready for my first snorkel.





















A banded butterflyfish.















While on the island we were also able to enjoy a performance by the Barefoot Man.
















One morning we checked out bikes from the resort and went for a ride along the beach. We went to a small art store and to one of the restaurants we planned to eat at later in the week.
















We spent one day "downtown" in Georgetown. We went to a museum, visited a fort, ate at a local marketplace, and did some shopping. Here is a photo of Matthew at Fort George. We almost missed the fort because there wasn't much there!
















A close-up of a brain coral.





















This little crab was really trying to defend his anemone!
















Several huge lobsters were hanging out under a ledge.
















While I was snorkeling and taking hundreds of photos, Matthew grilled hamburgers for dinner.





















Matthew getting ready for a snorkel.
















A mantis shrimp.















A very large, beautiful fish I have been unable to identify, probably some type of snapper or grunt.















A great barracuda!















For our last trip, we took a boat out to Stingray City. First we went to a sandbar where huge stingrays come right up to you (looking for food) and let you touch and hold them. Then we went to a beautiful reef. The water was even clearer here than at our resort and there were a lot more fish. We really enjoyed it, even though a big rainstorm came through at the end of the trip and we had to stay out in the rain because we couldn't see to go back!
















Matthew getting a closer look at one of the rays.
















Me swimming with the rays.
















Matthew holding a ray.
















Me holding a ray.















Some blue tangs swimming through the reef.
















Matthew swimming with another stingray.





















Some more fish, mostly squirrelfish and grunts.