Thursday, September 19, 2019
Georgetown, Grand Cayman Island, Cayman Islands
Hangover carried into the morning but I felt better by noon-ish except for a bout of really severe diarrhea. (Thankfully I brought Kaopectate.) It and the encroaching rainy weather, as well as having to wait for tender boats almost kept me from going ashore but I did muster enough strength to do so and spent about 45 minutes at very nearby bar called The Sandbar. I don't know if i saw this on Google Maps when I did my research last week but I don't think so. It was right on the water, open-to-the-air beach style and played Heavy Metal music though I get the idea that may have been more the choice of the staff than management's intended thematic focus. I stuck to only two pints of the local light beer. I asked the white girl bartender, who spoke in an English accent with a quality I'd guess was the Cayman dialect for British heritage locals, about the port building which had a sign saying it was the Royal Watler. She shrugged as to the origin of the name but she said that Watler is one of the four or so local surnames on the islands. I asked "Four what?" since with her accent, and the numerous spinning fans around the bar, it was a little hard to hear her. "Surnames" she repeated and I'd realized I also didn't understand her right off since Americans don't usually use the term "surname" for "last name." I walked back to the dock, popping quickly into a shop to get my magnet and was soon on board my tender boat after a mere hour's visit.
I waited 'till around 2:30 for lunch thinking it would be less busy up in the buffet. It was actually the worse yet. And it seemed like it was massive family after massive family of loud, rude foreigners babbling their gibberish and being total douchbags, cutting in front of me, taking forever heaping their plates with as much grub as the plates could fit. It felt like feeding time at the stockyards. Only available seats were out on deck in the blazing hot sun. This shit is making rethink my avoidance thus far of the dining room. I think it should be more civilized there. But the buffet food was spot on again...Coq au Vin, spatzel pasta in spicy garlic sauce, crab mac n' cheese. Mmmm.
My knees are really aching now after several days of walking, climbing stairs (the elevators are pretty bad) and sitting up and down. I know. Activities most people do everyday but such is my uber-sedentary life that just this shit is like a grueling workout. So I took it easy this afternoon and relaxed on my balcony and in my cabin watching this all day drama on CNN about someone whistle-blowing on Trump saying he made "promises" to some foreign leader that made him (or her...we don't know who it is yet) anxious about national security. I'm no fan of Trump and I used to think most of the well known news outlets were up and up but I don't know CNN may be headed down that fake news path. For instance, when they were lining up a list of world leaders trump communicated with recently, they included Kim Jung Un, even though they admitted it was via letters and the whole scuttlebutt is about a phone conversation. "So the idea of The Donald slipping secret "promises" to Kim Jung Un should scare people about Trump...let's put his picture up." says CNN. Kinda lame.
Went to the 7:15 pm show and it was packed! Theme tonight was "Italian Touch" a celebration of Italian culture and music. Very nice, especially the lead male singer who really can belt out a tune. His "O Solo Mio" was awesome! Oh, and Mayor Pete did a good job dancing and looking fine too. Yup, there's a dancer who looks like Mayor Pete in the troupe. Although him being Italian he probably has no fucking idea who Mayor Pete is.
Was tempted to buy a Drink of the Day since it was advertised and described in a give-away before the show: The BBC. Bailey's, Banana and Coconut. Sounds good. But I let my drink count for the day stand at just two local brew light draft beers I had on shore. Instead I stopped into one of the gift shops on Deck 5, bought an "I Love MSC" magnet featuring the ship, and went back to my room to call it a night.