Today, we toured Pedro St. James Castle, the oldest building on Grand Cayman. It was built in 1780 as a private home for William Eden, who moved to Cayman from Wiltshire, England. He built his home with thick, stone walls and wooden patios surrounding it on a beautiful 7.5 acre lot, overlooking the ocean and perched up on a small rocky cliff. It really is a beautiful setting!
Our little helper.
View from the top deck.
Miaya on the extremely old stairs.
In addition to being a private home, it was actually the birthplace of the Cayman Democracy, established in 1831 in the dining room! Cayman continued as an independent democracy until 1972, when it became a British colony. The government meetings were held in the home until 1845.
In 1989, Pedro St. James burned again! Well, at least all the wood structures burned. Good thing the actual home was made out of stone! It was rebuilt and restored to look like the original home built by William Eden. All the wood used in the remodel was mahogany, and some of the mahogany furniture inside is 200 years old.
Since I always save the best for last, here's a crazy story. It's called:
The Girl with the Bucket (oooohhh... That's a scary title...)
The Joseph and Samuel Eden families were living in the home at the time. They were William Eden's grandchildren. A terrible lightning storm struck the island, and Joseph's 17-year-old daughter, Mary Jean, and her brother ran outside to collect rainwater in some buckets. They always did that because freshwater was hard to get on the island. They were walking back up the stairs with their full buckets of water when... CRACK!!!! A bolt of lightning struck the kids, knocking out the boy and killing Mary Jean! The house also caught on fire, and the families quickly moved out... They thought it was bad luck to live in a house where one of the kids had died. CRAZY!!!
Question of the day:
Have you ever been struck by lightning or know anyone who has?
BONUS Question:
What is the craziest true story you have ever heard?
Oooh... Scary story!!!
ReplyDeleteLike it a lot and wish I was with ya! Email me soon about story writing!
-Bekah
I emailed you last night... Does that count?
DeleteI am sorry to say, or glad, that I have never been struck by lightning nor do I know anyone who has. The scariest true story I know is that there is this lady who lives in a house with FOUR boys and two dogs and she is frequently seen wandering the neighborhood with a blank look on her face, mumbling incoherently to herself. The End! : o)
ReplyDeleteA) Its good that you don't.
DeleteB) That story is scarier than my lightning story.
I do know someone who was struck by lightning. My sister had a boyfriend who's mom was struck at a high school baseball game. Sadly, she didn't make it. And the craziest story I know is that my mom and uncle were photographed at a Rolling Stones concert in 1969 and their picture was in Time Magazine! I have other "crazy" stories, but I wouldn't want to scare you... ;)
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome!!!
DeleteI bet I wouldn't be scared
Super cool pictures Alli. This blog is awesome. really descriptive, love it.
ReplyDeleteThanks :)
DeleteGlad ya like it!!!
I have never been struck by lighting but my Dad was knocked off a front porch swing he and my Mom were sitting on watching the storm. Lighting struck a tree next to the house then jumped to the gutter and down the chain of the swing hit my Dad because his feet were on the porch floor. Your daily questions has sure sparked my memory of things I remember as I was growing up or have told.
ReplyDeleteThe scariest story was a house in Jim Thorpe. Our Br Pres lives in it now, but long ago a boy who lived there would tease his cat by swinging it by it's tail. The boy later died. Today Lisa Mousseau says she has seen her cat with it's tail straight out going in circles and growling !
WOW!!!
DeleteThat's way creepy!!!
I have never been struck by lighting but I once had a neighbor who had been struck by lighting on the top of kennecott copper while working there as a security guard. My craziest true story is that I once had to spend the night on top of the tallest mountain in the united states without a sleeping bag or tent. We were at 15,000 ft and it was only like 25 degrees. My leader thought it was too dangerous to go down to our base camp so we had to go into a small stone shelter on the top of the mountain and hudle together for warmth. It was freezing. My friend Chris and I were the only ones who even were prepared at all we had brought up a blanket in our daypack just incase. It was sad because my tent and sleeping bag were only a few miles back down the hill but our leader would not let us go. He thought it was too icy. Oh well I survived.
ReplyDeleteOk that's just weird.
ReplyDelete