Tuesday, March 4, 2008

West Bay

The two hardest parts of the Island to get to from Red Bay are Northside and West Bay. We make it up to Northside every couple of months to go snorkeling at Cayman Kai or go out to Rum Point but other than two short trips early last summer we haven't been to West Bay at all. West Bay is the northwest part of the Island. It is at the top of seven mile beach and looks like the head of a wrench on the map. Hell is located in West Bay as are many restaurants and dive spots.


On Friday we decided to do something new for our date night and passed on another sushi run. Instead we made reservations at Pappagallos an upscale Italian restaurant in West Bay. It was about a 25 minute drive and once again we were reminded how spoiled we have gotten as that ride seemed to take forever. We used to not bat an eye traveling 30 plus minutes to Arlington or elsewhere to go to a restaurant but now 25 minutes seems like so long. There is only one road going into West Bay. It is the Seven Mile Beach Road that turns into the West Bay road. As soon as you enter West Bay you can tell it is the high population part of the Island. The density of houses and people is dramatic. We had been told that West Bay was where a lot of people lived but until we drove through it never really could picture it any differently than the other districts on the Island.

The houses ranged from obviously high income people to some neighborhoods that could best be described as a little sketchy. The richest people on the Island live right before West Bay on Boat Club drive and many have moved out to Savannah but the younger crowd that wants to be where all the action is live in West Bay. As we drove through we both realized that it was definitely not a place we would enjoy living in, too many people, too much traffic, not to mention the commute we would have to make out to Newlands.

Pappagallos was a really nice restaurant on an inlet near the top of West Bay. We didn't eat out on the deck as it was being used for a private party. Instead we ate inside which had a roof designed to look like a huge thatch hut. Around the outside of the room were parrot cages with brightly colored Cayman parrots. The food was very good and the atmosphere was really nice. We did notice a lot of tourists dressed like tourists. The other really high end restaurant we have been to, Grand Old House, people got dressed up to go to (even the tourists). At Pappagallos they were in their shorts and sun shirts. This isn't a restaurant we will go to very often, for one its pretty expensive (even more than Grand Old House) and its distance from our home is a factor. However, it is a special restaurant and can be used for some special occasions.

On Saturday we went to the movies and saw Juno. We are trying to catch up on all the Oscar movies as we hadn't seen any of the best picture nominees. There are just three weeks left in our Winter quarter and we are definitely ready for this quarter to be over. The cats are doing well, still fighting their ringworm medicine but settling in and walking around like they own the place.