1/21/2013 Grand Cayman & Boat Dramas Begin

GRAND CAYMAN ISLAND

Our second stop was Grand Cayman Island. In 1503 the Cayman Islands were first coined islands Las Tortugas by Columbus, who first discovered the islands following a swarm of turtles. The island was uninhabited until the 1660s, when a few British Army deserters made the Tortugas their home. Shortly after, the British laid claim to the island and have maintained the colony under the crown to this day. The main industry of the island was salvaging wrecked ships that collided with the coral reef surrounding the beaches.

In Grand Cayman, Tracy, Jesus and I walked aimlessly for about half an hour and then decided to take a city bus to the 7 mile Island. The transit system on Grand Cayman is markedly different than the bus systems I experienced in the US. The busses consist of small vans that come and go on no particular schedule, while making countless unplanned stops. Additionally the bus hosts a front-seat worker next to the driver, whose main objective is to recruit any obvious tourist or befuddled pedestrian alongside the locals that catch a daily ride to work.

Grand Cayman was mostly uneventful. However, the dramas on the boat were starting to bud.  There are three couples that are filling our travels with entertainment and intrigue.  The first couple to highlight is Bonnie and Phil.  We were paired with these two as dinner guest on the third night of our trip. Bonnie is a handsome, petite, southern bell in her late seventies, who currently lives in South Carolina.  Phil is a former Motor City executive in his early eighties, short and husky with a stunning crop of wavy white hair.  Bonnie has one marriage, one divorce and two grown boys under her belt. While Phil boasts two daughters, two ex-wives (one of which was extremely wealthy) and countless “lady friends” through the years.

Bonnie and Phil seem quite hip and have a surprisingly modern relationship. They originally met in 2002 on a blind date that was arranged by the daughter of Phil’s former lady friend, who had recently passed away.  According to Phil, he had several blind dates the same weekend he met Bonnie. This is not at all hard to believe considering women live longer than men, which makes a healthy vivacious seventy some male very desirable.  Their first meeting went swimmingly, as Bonnie put it in her sophisticated southern draw, “Phil didn’t ask for an early bird or senior discount and didn’t use a coupon, so I knew he was alright.” After a few months of back and forth telephone conversations, Phil invited Bonnie on a cruise. When Bonnie took too long to accept his invitation, Phil called Bonnie’s 99 year-old mother, Cici, to ask if, “Bonnie could come on the trip.”  Cici replied with enthusiasm that. “If Bonnie doesn’t come along, then I surely will.”  Phil chuckled recalling Cici and said, “I couldn’t have kept up with Cici. She used to go so fast, zooming down the halls nearly jogging with her walker.” Well Bonnie figured she better not let her 99 year old mom out do her and decided to come along. Phil and Bonnie have been traveling together, seeing the world ever since. Between the two of them, they’ve been to 7 continents and countless countries.

Nowadays, Phil makes an eleven hour car ride from Detroit to see Bonnie in Charlotte. I was amazed that he travels straight through and so far. I cannot imagine a much younger man making an eleven hour drive to see me once, let alone on a regular basis. They remain unmarried, because as Bonnie puts it, “it would never work out. These old men are high maintenance and expect you to wait on them.” Phil summed things up by saying, “She loves to see the headlights coming and the taillights leaving.” I can only hope someone can tolerate me and I them in my latter years.