Christening the Serenity

We go to Grand Cayman enough now that I don't feel like I need to post about it overtime we go.  However, this past week was really special.

Happy anniversary to us!

We were there for a medical conference (like usual), and we were there to celebrate our anniversary (like usual), but there were a couple of new links in the Cayman chain.

And I can't keep writing without mentioning my honey.  I love him.  I'm so thankful we're living this life together.  Things get difficult, and he's always there for me.  He joked that if he's the Skipper, I'm Ginger, but I like to think I'm more of a Gilligan.  Working together to get everyone home safe. <3

We stayed at The Sunshine Suites across the street from the Westin, because the Westin is undergoing renovations and didn't have room for all the attendees.  Best thing EVER!  We discovered the best food on the island at the poolside restaurant, The Sunshine Grill.  I feel like I probably ate my weight in food each day from that place, and if I could have, I would've eaten more.  I couldn't get enough of their Cayman Salad--a gorgeous concoction of spinach, salad green, craisins, candied almonds, feta cheese and shrimp.  It came with a vinaigrette (and I refuse to eat any dressing like that, because c'mon, it ruins everything), so I asked for their honey-lime dressing.  If there's a salad heaven, it lives there.

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Second, Mac has a new boat, the Serenity.  This boat is the Cadillac of boats, and it made all the difference in my level of stress and/or anxiety about diving.  There's so much room on the boat that people can LAY DOWN during surface intervals.  And it's entirely covered, so guess what?  In four days, I didn't put a drop of sunscreen on...and I'm still white as a lily :-)

So, since it’s a new boat, it needs to be christened, right?  You know, the champagne bottle to the bow of the boat.  Well, he actually waited until we arrived to do it (I’d like to think he waited because we’re friends, but I think it might be because we do good things for him on social media).  So, yesterday, last dive is done.  When we came up, it was rainy and a bit windy (I do believe Cayman was crying for us…or that’s what I want to think.)  The original plan was to pull the boat up to the beach, but nobody wanted the glass to go into the ocean and so there were different thoughts passed around about breaking the bottle in a towel…which is completely anticlimactic.

So, we decided to just stay out on the water, pop the cork on the champagne bottle, take a sip and each of us pour some of the champagne on the deck.  John and I were of course the NON-life of the party, not taking our sips, although seeing how much everyone else was drinking, I’m thinking they didn’t mind not needing to share :-)  However, the tradition is to shake the bottle (like after football championship games) and spray it all over people.  They put me on the front of the boat and told me to shake it.  With the wind blowing and rain running down my face, I have no doubt that some of that spewing champagne landed on my lips.  If nothing else, I smelled rather strongly afterwards of alcohol, or at least a self-respecting drunk.  But man, it was so fun to be part of that kind of party.  Laughing, and being goofy, and doing something I’ve never done before.  I convinced Mac not to break the bottle at all, but to keep it for a souvenir.

What a cool life I have.  Never in my wildest dreams would I have pictured myself christening a boat with an expensive bottle of champagne!  You better believe I can hardly wait to get down there again and do it all over!

Mac..killed on Serenity...by Lisa..with a champagne bottle :-). I wouldn't put it past her sometimes!