Remember when I freaked out about a Stingray 25 feet away from me?  They have this place in the Cayman called Stingray City and a ton of people go out there daily to feed the Stingrays, and have them swim around you.  Everyone recommended that is one thing you HAVE to do while you are in the Cayman Islands.

If you haven’t got it by now, I’m a scaredy cat of most things.  Heights.  Water. Bridges. Aquatic creatures. Social Situations. Commitment.
I was seriously having anxiety attacks when I was just thinking about going to Stingray City.  I did not want to go.  I figured that I would regret it if I didn’t, and the only reason I contemplated going was because everyone said I should.  No part of me wanted to surround myself with 60 plus Stingrays, rubbing by me, wanting food, and the unknown.  I think that’s what scared me most, was the unknown.

I know most people think of Steve Irwin’s Death  from a Stingray, but that’s because he was acting like an idiot, got stabbed in the heart and immediately pulled out the barb.  If anything stabs you in the heart and you pull it out, it’s pretty common that you will bleed out and die.  Who is to know that if he had kept the barb in there, if he would still be alive today?

Anyway, I finally decided I would go to Stingray City and Kaylee, who had been 4 previous times, went with me.  This is us at Rum Point before we left for the 2 1/2 hour excursion.
 The catamaran (one of my new favorite words) we took to Stingray City:
Me and Kaylee on the catamaran:The net we were laying on the way there.  Soooo relaxing. Please disregard my janky second toe, I’ve got ocean feet.
 We went snorkeling by the reef, which was actually uneventful, despite the fact I couldn’t see or breathe.  By the time I finally fixed my mask and snorkel, they called us into the boat to head over to Stingray City.  There were a bunch of boats over there at first, but they cleared out around the time we got over there.
Once you get into the water, the stingrays surround you, rubbing their soft bodies along you and waiting for food.  I was pretty nervous at first.
One of the guides, Joel, from Australia, explained the Stingray’s tail and where exactly the barb is.  Please notice the girl’s face in the background, that was probably what I looked like the first ten minutes in the water. Some of them are huge, the females are the bigger ones, and they have very long tails.
I decided to get closer to one, touch it, and take a picture with it. Another one of our guides, James from England, was holding one and was great about my apprehensiveness toward the whole thing.  Here is a progression of pictures as I get closer to “Bertha”, I’m super relaxed. <— Lie.

Not even close.
 “Seriously. Get closer.”  Notice the stress in my face.

In this one I appear to be more relaxed, however my neck gives away my actual feelings.By the end of the trip, I chilled out and held a Stingray on my own.  I really wanted to take one home with me to keep in the bathtub.  They are like ocean puppies, too cute.

After we got back, we went to Starfish Point and saw some little starfish.  I have a picture of all of us holding the starfish, but it looks like I’m wearing a weird dress leotard.  It is not flattering.  So instead you get cute baby E and her floppy white hat.

Later that night, we went on a Sunset Sail which was absolutely beautiful and relaxing.  Kaylee, Jeremy, and Baby E didn’t go because E wasn’t feeling that good and they wanted to stay close to “home”.

I’m not a super big fan of this picture because the way the wind is blowing my dress, it makes me look like I’m pelvic thrusting Lindsey.  We were standing on the “Sugar Scoop” of the boat.
Obligatory self taken picture. Before my poor glasses betrayed me and broke.James, who was the same guide for Stingray city, was our captain.  He let me “drive the boat”.  It’s obvious by the look on my face, I really know what I’m doing.  James doesn’t look he regrets his decision on letting me “drive” either.

He was kind enough to let us take a picture with him.  We loved his English accent!What a beautiful and amazing sunset!

When we got back we ate at the Rum Point restaurant, and I decided to eat some Lionfish.  They are poisonous if touched and they are actually taking over in Cayman, which is a bad thing considering they have no predator in the waters of Cayman.

After dinner we went to the Rum Point barrels to take a group picture (minus Becky, she’s more of a Nazi photographer than I am.)  Lindsey and I were being rebels and standing on the forbidden barrels.  I’m standing super lady like, but it was either that or falling to my death.  I can be a little dramatic at times.
 That was our last night there and although I had a blast, I was ready to be on US soil.  Lindsey and I took a separate flight from the rest of the group so we ended up going from Cayman –> Miami —> Chicago –> OKC.
It was 15 hours of traveling, being close to a ton of strangers on planes, and running around like a chicken with our heads cut off.  We finally made it back to OKC at midnight, where my sweet boy graciously picked us up.  I had never been so glad to be in Oklahoma.  I’m vacationed out… for a little while at least.

Another vacation post that I’m sure everyone is chomping at the bit to read.  It’s going to be in two parts, because I have a crap load of pictures and we spent a week there.

I went to the Cayman Islands with my best friend Kaylee, her husband Jeremy, her baby E, her cousin Lindsey, and her parents, Gary and Becky, who have a timeshare there.

In Cayman everything is expensive, especially when a couple of weeks ago I was used to cheap Mexico prices.  A hamburger is $17.00, A gallon of milk is roughly around $7.50, and gas is about $6.50 a gallon.  They drive on the opposite side of the road with the steering wheel on the opposite side in the car, and thankfully I didn’t have to drive, even though I got a license just in case.  Gary drove most of the time, and he had a lot of trouble with the signal light (the windshield wipers were there instead) since it was on the opposite side of the steering wheel as well, but if it started raining, he would’ve been prepared.

A couple of views from the balcony:

Kaylee, Baby E, Me and Lindsey at the Dock Bar:Becky loves to snorkel and I had never gone snorkeling in my life.  To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of deep water and I was actually pretty nervous to snorkel.  I have this intense fear of drowning, it may be even a little bit irrational, but I cannot shake it.  Anyway, they decided to take me to Rum Point for my first snorkeling experience.  It’s super calm, clear and only about 4 feet deep.
Rum Point (Beach area) 

Becky, Lindsey, Kaylee, and I were the ones who went snorkeling. Snorkeling was pretty difficult for me in the beginning.  I couldn’t get my breathing down and I kept hyperventilating/panicking.  I was in constant fear of swallowing a bunch of water when I was breathing in.  I finally relaxed, relaxed as much as possible for me that is, and somewhat enjoyed the experience.  Kaylee also held my hand the entire time, which I’m not ashamed to admit.

On the way back to the shore, we saw a stingray coming our direction, and I was completely calm.  Just kidding.  I flipped out and pretty much jumped on Kaylee’s back while screaming.  Everyone told me, including strangers,  that I need to just calm down and panicking doesn’t help at all, that’s how you get hurt.  Believe me, if it were that easy I wouldn’t panic.  Oh, I shouldn’t panic and freak out?  Thanks for telling me. I wouldn’t have known otherwise, I’ll stop now. 

The next day, Kaylee, Becky, and I went snorkeling in the ocean, in front of the hotel.  It was not as clear, and it was also pretty deep in places.  Once again, Kaylee held my hand the entire time.  I didn’t want to stray from them, especially in the middle of the ocean.  It was definitely different swimming out there than at Rum Point.  The current carried us most of the way, but it was a pretty good exercise and we got to see some small fish.  When we got closer to the hotel and dock bar, Becky wanted to swim under the dock to the other side.  I had seen some of the fish while I was standing on the dock before and they looked pretty intimidating, but they were supposedly harmless.  As we get closer to the dock, I see these fish called Tarpon, which are harmless, but big and 5-8 feet long.

The next few minutes were a blur, as my adrenaline shut all of my senses down, and I entered the fight or flight zone.  According to Becky and Kaylee, I popped out of the water and yelled, “Nope. Nope. Sorry. No. Too Big. Sorry.” and as Kaylee was yelling for me that she wanted to head to the shore with me, I was already half way there.  Now, I am not a strong swimmer, or even an experienced one at that.  I don’t dive, swim a lot and I rarely go underwater.  The current was really strong and somehow I swam against it on my way to the shore.  Becky said 3/4 of my body was out of the water and my flippers were going 80mph.  I had to get away from that dock and those huge ass fish.  I couldn’t do it.  I was out of breath by the time I reached shore, but at least I was out of the water.  We all had a good laugh about it on the way back to the hotel, and I vowed to never go near that dock again.

Later that night, we went to Caribbean Night and then took some pictures on the dock.  This first picture Kaylee and I were accidentally posing like a prom photo, so we decided to go with it and make it even more awkward, and Baby E is apparently our love child.

For reals this time, with Jeremy

I also got to eat some Fried Lobster and fried plantains from Over The Edge, which were absolutely delicious. That is all for this post. I will post the rest of our vacation in a couple of days.  I’m trying to get caught up in my real life at the moment, I have to get out of vacation mode unfortunately.

To be continued…