| Each Friday night, starting at 5:30, is
the Southern Cross Club happy hour. This is an institution on Little Cayman, and one
I try not to miss very often. Sometimes it's a big crowd...sometimes it's not.
These shots were taken on my last chance for this year, and it wasn't exactly a
huge crowd. But then, what would you expect on Good Friday? (Yes, Friday the
13th.) By way of background, Southern Cross Club is a dive resort on
Little Cayman, and to my way of thinking it is probably the best resort on the island.
It began many years ago as a private club, the members being some fairly well-off
(and very well-known) Americans who just wanted a private retreat in the Caribbean.
As the members aged, though, they found they could come enjoy their little
retreat less and less often. Finally Peter Hildebrand bought out the other members
and took possession of Southern Cross Club. Since that time, he has renovated the
place completely, and today the whole resort is absolutely pristine. Peter runs a
great show, and I honestly think it's the best dive resort I have ever seen. (This
is all a matter of personal taste, of course. Many would cast their vote in favor of
Pirate's Point, and I would not argue with that vote. It's just that my own
personal prejudices would favor the Southern Cross Club format over the Pirate's Point
format.) |
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The woman in the red dress, just to the left of the
fellow in the wheelchair, is standing at the munchie table. Peter always puts out an
appetizing array of good food for happy hour. Quite often, this is my Friday night
dinner. Tonight we had hush puppies, conch fritters, fried mushrooms, and some great
cheeze dip. Sounds like all the essential food groups to me. |
| Here are three of my favorite people on Little
Cayman--Robin Feit, and Diana & Tom Hernandez. Robin is a (i.e., the only)
builder on Little Cayman, and he's an absolute artist in wood and concrete. All of
his homes are "creations", each more spectacular than the last. He is
booked solidly for the next three years, but I couldn't afford him even if he were
available. However, he has been an absolute gold mine of advice for me in building
my home. I could never have done what I have done without Robin's coaching and
counseling. Tom and Diana live in Miami part time, and on the north shore of Little
Cayman the rest of the time. They fled Cuba just as Castro took over, so any
discussion with them of US/Cuban relations turns heated very quickly! |
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