SIGHTSEEING IN GEORGETOWN (Courtesy of the Travel Channel)
Georgetown seems to pull off the awkward combination
of modern financial center and Caribbean tourist mecca rather well. Though
it boasts nearly 600 banks and thousands of registered companies, this mini
Switzerland operates mostly out of sight, in the air-conditioned offices of
the height-restricted four-story buildings. More apparent are the modern and
historical tourist attractions that vie for the attention of the thousands
of cruise-ship passengers that come ashore each day.
After picking up a walking-tour map at the Cayman Islands National Museum or the tourism information office at Cricket Square, take a leisurely stroll to see how the town’s 14,000 residents live. On many of the side streets you’ll find examples of Victorian and Spanish architecture.
History buffs will enjoy the Cayman Islands National Museum, housed in the picturesque Old Courts Building on S. Church Street, just south of the cruise-ship terminals. Built in 1830, the white clapboard structure was restored in 1990 and is now the center for research and preservation of Caymanian heritage. (The restoration won an American Express Preservation Award.) Exhibits focus on the islands’ history as well as its underwater treasures and other natural features. The museum also has a gift shop and a cafe. (Open Monday-Friday 9 am-5 pm and Saturday 10 am-2 pm with the last admission a half hour before close, closed Sunday; admission about US$5 for adults, US$2.50 for senior citizens and children ages 6 and older, free for children under age 6.)
A few blocks off the waterfront, government and commerce stand shoulder to shoulder. For example, diagonally across the road from the Legislative Assembly building on Fort Street are several fine jewelry stores. Directly opposite the Assembly building is a statue of Jim Bodden, a legislative leader from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s. (He died in 1988.) Behind the statue is the Courts Building, designed and built to complement the Assembly building. (Check to see if court is in session—you may be able to watch wigged barristers make their case before elaborately robed judges.) East of the Assembly is the Town Hall, which has served a number of purposes over the years, from a meeting place for the legislature to a magistrate’s court, apart from its more normal function as the home of the town council. In front of it is the Clock Tower, built as a monument to King George V of England. And diagonally across from the town hall is the public library, where the shields of various English institutions of learning adorn the ceiling.
The Cayman Island Turtle Farm, started in the late 1960s by a marine biologist, is now government operated and one of the biggest tourist attractions on the island. The farm, which is in West Bay, north of Georgetown, has large saltwater tanks full of green sea turtles in all stages of development. Some of the descendants of the islands’ original, hard-shelled inhabitants are released into the wild seas, while others are fattened up for turtle steaks. Other kinds of turtles, such as the Ridley and hawksbill, are on display in small ponds. The farm has a restaurant and a gift shop. (Open daily 8:30 am-5 pm; admission about US$6 for adults, US$3 for children.)
SIGHTSEEING ELSEWHERE
Built in 1780 as a private residence on scenic Pedro Bluff east of Georgetown, Pedro St. James Historic Site is the oldest existing structure in the Cayman Islands. In its day, it served a number of purposes: In 1832, the island’s first elected parliament met in the dining room. Later, it was a courthouse, with its ground-floor storage rooms serving as jail cells.
A large renovation project has recently been completed at the site, adding a multimedia theater, a resource center, a gift shop and a restaurant. The views are spectacular. The site is about 5 mi/8 km east of Georgetown, just south of Savannah.
Bodden Town, 9 mi/14 km east of Georgetown, was once the capital of Grand Cayman. It has managed so far to avoid much of the development that has markedly changed most of the west end of Grand Cayman. It is very picturesque, with a number of old-style houses with fretwork verandas. You can see a wall constructed by slaves, and there are several caves in the area thought to be old pirate hideouts and treasure dens.
In the East End, you can see several spectacular blowholes—great geysers of seawater—erupting between Ironshore Point and East Point, along the southeastern coast. (There are also several interesting fishing villages along this stretch.) On the eastern coast at Gun Bay is the Wreck of the Ten Sails Historic Park, which has a panoramic view of the site where 10 ships wrecked in 1788.