Pedro St. James

Today we took our Primary class to the Pedro St. James Castle here on Grand Cayman to learn a little more about Cayman's history. It was a lot of fun. We had 15 kids and about 9 parents come. When we went in they had pictures of the Pedro St. James home and images of how it has changed and been rebuilt because of various fires and hurricanes over the centuries. It was built around 1780 and was the largest and first stone home on the island.

The picture gallery leads to this cute little theatre room that they have a model of the back and the front of the house. When the show starts it gets really dark, wind starts to blow, it sounds like rain is falling and lightning flashes. It is really cool. I almost felt like I was at Disneyland. The girls got a little scared during the storm. Then this big screen comes down and they show a movie of the history of Pedro St. James Castle and why it is so significant to Cayman's History.

This is the actual house that has been fully restored to what the original structure looked like. It is 3 stories high. The bottom is a food prep area, a storage place, and a prison cell. The second and third floor was the living space. The entire house is so open to let the breezes pass through. This house was the birth place of Democracy on the island. And where they formed the new local laws for this new government. It was also where they announced that they were abolishing slavery on the island.

This is the back view of the house. From the second and third floor you can over look the beautiful Caribbean sea. When we first got here there was a storm rolling over the ocean which was amazing to watch.
Back in the day they did all their cooking in these little stick houses so that they wouldn't heat up the main house as they cooked.

This is the first floor of the house. (food prep area)

This is the main room on the second floor, It was here that they met to form the Democracy. The house was restored with authentic wooden fittings and fixtures. All the wood is a rich mahogany and it is absolutely beautiful.
This is the top floor.
On each floor there is a large main room in the center and then around the sides on the corners are other rooms that are full of slatted window shutters to that the breeze will pass through.

Here are a few of the cute kids in our branch looking at the miniature donkey that lives on the grounds.