The next chapter: our day at Castaway Cay!
IMG_2179 by
carriecook, on Flickr
The next morning we were up bright and early to run the Castaway Cay 5k. I believe we were due to go ashore for the race at 8:30, and we had eaten a light breakfast and packed everything we would need for the day into a couple of backpacks. However, we were delayed in docking, so there was a bit of a wait. There wasn't much needed in terms of registering for the race; you simply pinned on a number and were ready to go.
IMG_2183 by
carriecook, on Flickr
The CMs filled the time with some trivia games and by describing the run course in detail. "You run around the bike path. Then you run down the airstrip. Or not, you know, depending on what you want to do. On the way back you run another loop of the bike path. Or not. You can just head straight to the finish line. It's up to you." They are pretty relaxed about the whole thing!
G0411303 by
carriecook, on Flickr
Finally we were docked and were ushered as a group off the boat. It's a bit of a hike over to the starting line so we got a good look at Castaway Cay before the run began. When we first got off the ship we encountered Chip and Dale, who were impressed that the kids were running and wanted race numbers of their own to wear.
G0441317 by
carriecook, on Flickr
Here's the welcome to Castaway Cay sign. The weather was scheduled to be quite cool this day, with a high of 64F, but either it was considerably warmer than that or our cold Canadian bodies just felt like it was warmer. It was plenty warm enough to be in swim suits and in the water, despite a fairly strong breeze.
G0501359 by
carriecook, on Flickr
After we traipsed across a fair amount of the island, we came to a small sign signalling the start of the 5k route. We dropped our day packs on some nearby lounge chairs. Others might prefer to use lockers but this felt secure enough for us. We waited a few minutes to ensure more or less everyone was there, then there was a small countdown and we were off. The course started out fairly congested but quickly opened up. And it's not like anyone was gunning for a PR on this race, so it didn't matter in the least.
G0551391 by
carriecook, on Flickr
DS ran the whole way and beat us all. DH was not too far behind. DD employed a walk/run strategy and I stayed with her. She turned it on at the end though in an attempt to drop me. In this shot you can see there is a clock on the left and a CM waiting to hand out medals on the right hand side of the path.
G0641480 4x6 by
carriecook, on Flickr
We changed into our swim suits and picked up some snorkelling equipment, then headed out to swim the snorkel loop in lieu of post-race showers. Don't expect to see much wildlife; there is talk that there is a ray in the lagoon, but we weren't lucky enough to see him. We saw a couple of fish but the real attraction is the sunken treasure that Disney has dropped into the lagoon and marked with buoys.
G0681534 by
carriecook, on Flickr
The entire loop is quite long - it's a good length swim, though with vests and flippers on, it's pretty easy to finish.
G0731591 4x6 by
carriecook, on Flickr
G0771617 by
carriecook, on Flickr
Back on dry land, and with the sweat washed off us, I took a few pictures with the ship as our backdrop.
IMG_0495 by
carriecook, on Flickr
IMG_0439 by
carriecook, on Flickr
IMG_0450 by
carriecook, on Flickr
By then we were famished from all the exercise, so we strolled over to Cookie's Too for lunch, passing some lovely scenery along the way. I really loved Castaway Cay, and one day there felt much too short. Disney should open a resort there and allow you to book an extended stay.
IMG_0520 by
carriecook, on Flickr
Here's my lunch plate. Yes, it's just a BBQ joint, but I thought the food was pretty good. We saw a guy carting about 15 bags of chips around in his kid's stroller. I guess that's what happens when it's all-you-can-eat prepackaged food.
IMG_0526 by
carriecook, on Flickr
More lovely scenery:
IMG_0531 by
carriecook, on Flickr
IMG_0539 by
carriecook, on Flickr
We didn't buy the race shirt, but I snapped a photo of it.
IMG_0557 by
carriecook, on Flickr
Up next: Castaway Cay Part II.