Turks & Caicos: Day 6

Thursday, August 29, 2010

I'll spare you the getting ready details today.  J and I left the house somewhat early to grab breakfast at Fresh Bistro and Bakery and then headed to Graceway Gourmet to pick up more bottles of water.  After that, we were off to the Ports of Call for some souvenir shopping.  I got a TCI t-shirt and an ornament, and J got a hat.  I thought we were going to go on down to the Saltmills plaza/shopping center, but J thought we should head back to the hotel for a bit.  That's just what we did.  We were hot, and sweaty, so after chugging some water, I flopped on the bed under the ceiling fan.  This may be when I began to look at the insides of my eyelids. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Now refreshed, and having changed my shoes, J and I were off to do some more shopping at the Saltmills Plaza.  I found a pair of flip flops that were cute, but they certainly weren't worth their $100 price tag!  I really wanted a big, floppy beach hat, but they too weren't worth their $100 price tag.  I guess I should have bought the one I found at TJ Maxx for $20.  Oh well.  We passed by Jai's Jewelry, and I was drooling over the conch pearl and diamond necklace displayed in the window.  You can view it here.  Upon doing some research about conch pearl jewelry, I learned that that necklace is easily in the $3,000 range.  I did try to convince J that it would make a very lovely souvenir.  Have you seen me wearing the necklace?  Then my efforts were unsuccessful.

After leaving all of the stores empty handed, we made our way down to Hemingway's at The Sands Resort.  I knew I'd be getting conch fritters or cracked conch.  My decision was made easy since there was no cracked conch on the menu.  J ordered jerk chicken and fries, and I had the conch fritters.  I think the heat made us a little grumpy, so we took in the sights and sounds as we gulped down some cold, bottled water.  It didn't take too long before our food arrived, and we dug in after a couple of photos of course.  The conch had the same, chewy texture as crab.  Sadly, I was not in love with my fritters.  J seemed to enjoy his chicken and fries as he pretty much ate most of it.  I had my fritters boxed to eat later, though looking back, this was really not necessary; I ended up throwing them out.

With full bellies, we headed off to do a little more shopping.  We wanted to get a few more souvenirs for people, and I just wanted to see what kinds of shops they had around.  My most favorite souvenirs were the ones on which someone had taken a Sharpie and written Providenciales, Turks and Caicos.  Classy!  We picked up some items for J's co-workers, and I started dreaming about ice cream.  I'd read about this place called Island Scoop that made all different kinds of ice cream.  J said we could stop there on our walk back to the hotel.  Just before the Ports of Call, we approached Island Scoop.  By now, we were ready for a cold treat!  I chose banana chocolate, and I think J got mint chip.  Delicious!

We were nearing the Ports of Call, and I wanted to stop into Mama's Gifts one more time to see if there was anything else I "needed".  Somehow I managed to find a couple more things like a pin for Dave the Blue Bunny and a book about a shrimp, and J picked up a TCI map probably for his den wall.  The owner, Mama, recognized us from earlier.  We ended up chatting with her a bit and found her to be a great representative of the local people.  She was very laid back and welcoming.  I really enjoyed hearing about her three kids and life on the island.

After that, we browsed another nearby store that carried items hand-made by locals.  There were angel ornaments made from shells and amazing woven things like baskets and handbags.  I decided on a traditional shell necklace.  I just loved the color and how smooth and shiny it was.  It reminds me of the conch shell, and since we can't afford a conch pearl, the shell necklace will suffice.  It will forever remind me of the wonderful time I spent with my husband.

To view some of the shopping available, click here and here.         

When we got back to our hotel, we put on our suits and headed down to the pool with Dave the Blue Bunny.  We lounged in the chairs, and then J decided to try out the hot tub.  I got in with him, and boy was that water hot!  I think it was because of us.  Hubba, hubba.  Once again, some clouds were rolling in.  It was quite overcast, and there was a breeze blowing over us, which was nice after being in that hot tub! 

I think the evening was spent watching TV and doing other...things.  ;)  You've all already told me exactly what you think we were doing when I "couldn't remember" what we did.  Honestly, I don't remember what we did because we really did a whole lot of nothing, and it was FANTASTIC!!!!  What I do remember is that I got another mosquito bite that evening as I snapped a picture out on the balcony.  I was only out there about 30 seconds, and I managed to get bit.  What is it about me?! 

The next day was a real adventure.  I hope it doesn't take me another month to type up a post about it. 

Turks & Caicos: Day 5

Wednesday 7/28/10

We probably got up around 7:30 because that's what we usually did, but I think I remember setting my alarm early (like 6ish) in the hopes of catching a sunrise.  I was just too comfy to get my booty out of bed, and based on the snoring next to me, someone else felt the same.  When we finally decided to get moving, we enjoyed some cereal on the balcony.  Well, first we put it in a bowl and poured milk on it.  Anyway...

We suited up, me in my blue bikini and cover-up, and J in his swim trunks & t-shirt.  I figured you all were desperate to know that!  We slathered on the sunblock, grabbed our essentials and headed down to the lobby to speak with Andrea, the excursions coordinator.  I probably took a picture of a lizard on the way.  Andrea was happy to see us, but she had to tell us that they didn't schedule boat excursion for my first choice company.  No big deal because they did book with our 2nd choice.  We were to be up in the lobby by 9:45 for pick up on Friday.  Now it was time to head to the beach to be picked up by our parasail boat!

J and I arrived at the beach to find Max with Sky Pilot walking towards us.  He asked us if we were ready, and after a positive response, he called the boat to come get us.  Let the fun begin!  The boat "pulled up" to the beach, and a ladder was lowered for us to climb aboard.  One of the guys was there ready with a helping hand.  As soon as we were situated, the boat pulled away, and J and I were given life vests.  Once snapped in, the "seat" apparatus was fastened to us.  The boat was now in deeper water, and we were ready to get hooked to the parasail.  I handed my camera to the guy who was helping us get ready.  We took our seats on the back of the boat, got latched in and the driver said something like "Here we go.  I take you 900 feet in the air."  We just started going up, up, up and away!

Two words: pure elation!  What a feeling!  The sun was warm on my face, but the breeze was cool.  I could see so much from this height!  We could see the coral as well as shallow spots where the water was this lovely sparkling turquoise color.  The people swimming below truly looked like ants but with only 4 legs vs. 6.  I reached for J's hand as we floated through the air.  We could feel when the boat turned, and though we didn't feel unsafe, we did get the urge to hold on to our connecting straps.  Towards the end of our adventure, I reached over to give J a kiss.  We really had to reach to make contact.  We heard the guy with our camera shouting for us to do it again, so he could take a picture.  Then they were waving to us and snapped a picture of us waving back.  We could feel them "reeling" us in now, and as we neared the boat, they were telling us to stand up.  We followed directions very well, and the landing was smooth as silk.  The one guy unhooked us, and they asked us if we had a good time.  We said "yes" emphatically and thanked them for their service.  We handled the financial business (bye bye $150) and were taken back to our resort.

A guy on the beach sunbathing asked us how it was.  We told everyone within earshot how much fun it was and told them they should try it.  One lady said she was too chicken while another one asked us some details about cost and what it was like.  She was there with her two daughters who were already in the water.

We found a couple of empty lounge chairs and got an attendant to put an umbrella in the ground for us.  I also asked him for a couple of towels and any rafts if they had them.  He brought us towels and a boogie board.  Oh well.  It'll have to do.  J and I took it to the water and played around on it for a bit.  J eventually headed up to the lounge chairs, and I took the boogie board close to shore.  I laid down on it and let the waves wash over me.  Well, really the waves were pushing me every which way until I was finally able to wedge myself up on the shore enough to be more stable.  I could have spent all day in this position.  It was so relaxing, and it was almost as if the waves were providing a much needed massage.  Who am I kidding?  I haven't been working all summer, so "much needed" was a bit of an exaggeration I suppose.  Eventually, I left the waves for the lounge chair.

I know J and I didn't stay too much longer, probably because we were hungry.  As we were leaving the beach, we noticed the daughters of the woman asking us about parasailing were getting their hair braided.  (Okay, that sentence was a bit awkward.  Sorry Mr. Greene.)  This was the first and only time we saw anyone performing this service.  The lady said to J and I, "You do parasailing.  We get our hair braided."

I can't even remember what we ate for lunch today.  Maybe we had turkey sandwiches again, but it seems like we didn't.  We may have even taken a nap, but I cannot recall what we did!  I know in the afternoon we decided to check out one of the pools.  The main pool was a bit busy, and it didn't look like there were seats available.  The next pool is the quiet pool, and there were plenty of vacant lounge chairs that were much more comfortable than the ones on the beach.  We put our stuff down on the chairs, and J got right in.  I dipped my toes in and was surprised to discover how warm the water was.  It was similar to the warmth of the ocean and felt really nice.  I was able to get in without having to get used to the temperature.

We swam around for a bit checking out the little waterfall and an area shaded by a palm tree.  It was a little deep in the latter section, so we didn't hang out there too long.  J got out to relax and eat a snack.  I decided to do a little reading in the comfy chairs.  Okay, this is getting long, so I'm going to fast forward.  We tried out the hot tub, lounged around some more and then headed up to our room to get ready for dinner.  That's when we discovered it was only about 3:00 in the afternoon!  

I called Coco Bistro to make 6:00 dinner reservations.  I'd read numerous positive reviews of this restaurant and heard it was a must visit when in Turks and Caicos.  It was our luck that it was within walking distance from our resort.  We got all dolled up (well, I did) and headed out around 5:30.  When we arrived, we discovered that we were the first and only ones there.  I'm positive I've never been in a restaurant in which we were the only couple.  All seating was outside surrounded by palm trees.  I hear it's a pretty spectacular setting when the sun goes down as they have little lights wrapped around the trees, but we don't like to eat late and didn't want to walk home in the dark.       

We were lead to a little table for two and ordered a bottle of water while we perused the menu.  They brought our large bottle of water out with some bread stuffed with pesto.  It was some of the best tasting bread I have ever eaten!  We were visited by the resident cat, Coco.  He/she hung out by us for awhile after receiving some love, and then he/she made his/her way to another couple seated nearby.  J decided he wanted to share an appetizer, so we ordered a "refreshing salad".  We followed that with steak for J and mahi mahi for me.  It was all just mediocre, and I really should do a review of the restaurant on Trip Advisor.  I did enjoy my strawberry daiquiri, and J had no trouble finishing off his piña colada.  We wanted dessert but were positive we couldn't fit another thing in our bellies.  We asked for recommendations and considered only desserts we could get to go.  We tried the coconut pie, and it was not what we expected.  It was thick and rich, and after a few bites from each of us, we boxed it up to go home with the rest of our leftovers.  Coco came back to visit, so I gave the cat a piece of my mahi mahi.  I wouldn't miss it.  Oh, I almost forgot to mention that we had two fantastic servers.  One seemed new and was trying very hard, maybe too hard.  He was super sweet though.  The other gentleman was friendly and attentive without being annoying.  I knew their names at one point and now can't recall.  I blame my 2nd graders for killing some of my brain cells!

We grabbed our leftovers and started our short walk home.  I was covered in bug spray, so I felt pretty safe.  Jeremy was not covered in bug spray, but did he receive any bug bites?  Nooooooooo-oooooooo!  On the way to our resort, we came upon what appeared to be a millipede.  Of course I had to take a photo!

We hung out watching T.V., but after awhile I could hardly keep my eyes open.  This may have been the night that I fell asleep during South Park, but had to wake up when I heard Tosh.O.  It was a great episode, and I would've hated missing it.  After that, I officially fell asleep.  I'm trying to think of a good ending like I tell my students they need to do, but I am just too tired and lazy right now.  Deal with it.

Turks & Caicos: Day 4

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Can you believe four days of our vacation have already passed?  At this point we were still thinking that we had so much more time left in paradise!

We got up and had breakfast on our balcony (shocking, I know!).  I noticed the cat from Sunday on the walkway in front of our balcony.  I couldn't resist calling it over, and it very nicely obliged me.  It came and sat down on the patio below us and meowed a couple of times.  I came in to get some turkey, and J was very disapproving of my plan for said turkey.  I threw a piece down to the cat, and it ran into the bushes.  It then slowly crept out and sniffed around but never quite spotted the piece of meat I offered.  I tossed down another piece, which it found pretty quickly.  Then it was able to sniff out the original piece I'd thrown.  Upon throwing a third piece of turkey, I noticed another gray cat on the patio to the right of the one below our balcony.  It was creeping in, which made the first cat hiss and run into the bushes.  I tossed down a couple of pieces of turkey for it and headed inside to ready myself for the day ahead.

I decided I would attempt to straighten my hair today, but I'm still not positive why I bothered.  I guess it's simply because I like how I look with straight hair better than partially wavy, partially straight, mostly frizzy hair.  It was quite a process with that chintzy hair dryer the resort provided.  It's a good thing that I brought my professional flat iron!  Two hours later (okay, that may be a slight exaggeration) it was time to head down to the lobby for our ride.

This day we were going on a semi-submarine tour of the coral reef.  A van was scheduled to pick us up at 9:20 in front of our resort for a 10:00 tour.  Our Caicos Tours van pulled up, and an older gentleman got out, opened the doors and put down a little step stool (yay, someone who cares about us vertically challenged peeps).  The driver introduced himself as Alastair and invited us into the van.  We hopped in and were joined by a family of four.  We made a couple of stops along the way until our van was filled with people (mostly kids).  Another ten minutes or so on the road, and we arrived at our final destination - Turtle Cove Marina.
    
Once at the Marina we were introduced to Alastair's wife, Betty.  I do believe they were Kiwis, and I got a big kick out of listening to Betty speak.  We chatted a bit about life in Arizona, and she shared how much she loves her job.  Off to the side, J shared with me that he wasn't feeling so well, and I asked him if he'd be able to make through the tour.  He seemed to think that he'd have no problem.  After taking care of some financial business (a.k.a. signing away $110), it was time to climb down inside of the "sub".  The seats fold down from the side and seat two people.  The family of 4 from our resort took the two seats in front of us; the three year old was super excited about everything he was seeing through the lookout windows.  He shouted "fish" almost every time he saw a fish, and there were lots of fish! 

Betty narrated the tour; she pointed out what we were viewing and gave us information about some of the sea life.  She explained that parrotfish eat coral and the bits that get "excreted" become the lovely sand on the island.  Interesting.  We were essentially walking through and laying in parrotfish poop!  We spotted a puffer fish (not puffed up), two or three turtles, lots of snapper and a bunch of other fish whose names escape me. I thought it was a neat way to see the sea life for people who don't dive, so for us, it was worth the price. 

Alastair drove us back to our resort where it was time to just do nothing.  J had been doing some thinking (not as dangerous as when I do it).  He thought it might be cool to go on a boat excursion.  I had thought the same thing when I was planning this vacation, but since we'd never been snorkeling before and the cost was high, I hadn't planned this for us.  We went into our resort lobby to see if they had any information about boat tours/excursions.  We saw only a little info, but as we were looking, the excursion coordinator entered the room.  She asked us if she could help with anything and introduced herself as Andrea (An-dray-uh).  She told us most boat tours do the same things, and they only book with people who've turned in paperwork to the resort about licensing and what not (don't ask me what the "what not" includes).  Andrea told us that when we stay at the resort we are like family, and they want to take care of their family to make sure that we make it home safely to our families.  She was so friendly and warm!  We told her we'd decide what we wanted to do with what company and get back with her the next day.

J still wasn't feeling all that well, and I'm convinced it was due to his tummy being sensitive to the pork dinner he ate the previous night.  My guess is that it was too rich for him.  It could also be that he shouldn't have devoured the entire meal leaving nothing for the next day.  At least he enjoyed it! 

J wasn't really feeling up to hitting the water, so he probably watched T.V. while I read.  Now that I think about it, he may have taken a nap while I was reading.  Before I knew it, I was sleeping as well!  We awoke and ate lunch.  J had another turkey sandwich, and I ate my leftover salmon.  I just couldn't wait until dinner time to have it!  I really don't even know what we did for the rest of the day.

J and I thought it would be nice to catch a sunset, so after lemon Pledging myself, we headed down to the beach.  On our way, we noticed a black and white cat kickin' it in the sand.  I took some pictures.  Did you expect anything different?  We kicked off our sandals and left them on the boardwalk before jumping down into the soft, white powder they call sand.  I'll admit, it felt like it was taking forever for the sun to set, but neither of us seemed to mind simply doing nothing in each other's company in a beautiful place.  That was pretty much the theme of the trip.  I played around with my camera settings and took some pictures of the sunset.  There was a group of people to the East of us playing a friendly game of rugby (can one really refer to a game of rugby as "friendly"?) and only two kids swimming after building something in the sand.  Several people would pass by us, walking the long stretch of beach.  I think one person was actually jogging and listening to her mp3 player device thingamabob.

After watching the sunset, we went back up to our room to get the laptop to do a little research on boat excursions.  We found a couple of chairs by the pool where we'd be able to get wi-fi access.  We were looking for a boat with nice shade for J; he was a little burnt, and so was my scalp.  One of the excursions I liked visited a couple of smaller islands nearby and even took you to a pirate cave/shipwreck site.  According to their website, however, they only go out on Wednesdays, and guess what the following day was?  Back to the research!  We narrowed our search down to Caicos Dream Tours or Silver Deep.  I'd read so many good things about the former company that I was leaning a little more in their direction, but both pretty much offered the same exact excursion: visit Little Water Cay (Iguana Island), snorkel, dive for conch, visit a deserted island (Water Cay) and get dropped off on the beach of your resort.

As we were researching, we heard some commotion in the trees and bushes behind our chairs.  We looked and saw the black and white cat climbing a tree.  Then we saw a lizard frantically trying to outrun the cat.  The cat dropped down into the bushes, and I pulled out my camera and set it to movie mode.  That's when the cat jumped back up into the tree, climbed up, caught the lizard in its mouth, looked at me as if to say "I am so cool" with the lizard dangling from its mouth and ran off.  We were happy for the cat but sad for the lizard.  I could hear "The Circle of Life" playing in my head.

When we'd finished up our research we made our way to the room for a chicken pot pie dinner.  Let's just say it was edible.  At least we had some Ghirardelli milk chocolate squares as a chaser.  Okay, this may have been the night we watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  It just made me crazy for candy!  Oh Lemonheads where were you?!  

Time for bed.  We're parasailing in the morning!

Turks & Caicos: Day 3

Monday 7/26/10

I sat and wracked my brain trying to remember what we even did this day.  Here is what I recall:

We woke up around 7:30 (this was pretty typical throughout our stay) and had some cereal on our balcony.  I probably tried to get wi-fi access for my Facebook fix.  Then we put on our suits and headed to the beach.  We swam, sunbathed, read and just relaxed on the beach.  After what was most likely a couple of hours, we started getting hungry, so we went up to our room to have a sandwich.  Again, we ate our meal out on the balcony.  The weather was nice, and there always seemed to be a lovely breeze blowing.

After lunch, we thought it would be fun to take a walk down the beach, so we headed west.  I started out with shorts on over my bathing suit, but it was pretty hot out.  I'm guessing it was around 94° with 80% humidity, so off came the shorts and into the water I went!  Even though the water is fairly warm, it was still very refreshing.  After some cooling off we continued meandering down the beach, me barefoot in the waves and Jeremy in his sandals on the wet sand.  There was a section of the beach that did not contain a resort (though the property is for sale if anyone's interested), and we took some time there to write in the sand and take pictures.  I kept trying to get pictures of our footprints in the sand, but the waves were unpredictable and kept washing away the prints.

I spotted something dark in the water and thought it was some kind of ray; they have been spotted on occasion near the shore but are typically found in more deserted areas of the surrounding islands.  J wasn't too keen on getting near it, so I attempted a closer look (but not too close).  I remembered reading something about seaweed/sea grass in front of some of the resorts, so I figured that's what it was.  J still wasn't going to get close.   

We ventured further on down the beach.  I was hoping we'd make it to The Sands Resort because I wanted to see if it was reasonable to walk there from our resort.  I'd heard that their restaurant, Hemingway's, had an excellent atmosphere and excellent conch fritters.  We were starting to get tired and thought we should begin the trek back to our resort, but I thought the resort we were near was The Sands.  I remembered seeing pictures of their straw beach umbrellas and screened in balconies.  We walked a little further until we could find a sign to confirm my suspicion.  Finally, J spotted a sign that read "Hemingway's".  A walk there for lunch one day was definitely doable!  Oh, and we noticed more sea grass in the water. 

Our trip back to our resort's beach contained a few dips in the water and J's attempt to take a picture of me in the waves.  I wouldn't describe the water along Grace Bay Beach as rough, but the waves can be quite powerful.  They were jostling me about quite a bit as J was trying to capture my photo.  It provided some great laughs as I just couldn't stay in one spot!

Upon our return, we lounged a bit on the beach.  I started getting a headache, so I ran up to the room for some water and snacks.  I also grabbed my book.  As we sat relaxing, I spotted a guy walking along the beach.  It appeared he was asking people if they wanted to parasail.  According to the Trip Advisor forums, we should book a parasail ride with a guy named Max who walks the beach daily looking for customers.  I made eye contact with the guy, and he walked over and asked us if we'd like to parasail.  He said his name was Max and handed us some contact information.  I told him he was the guy I was looking for.  We set up a parasail ride for Wednesday at 10AM.  They would pick us up on the beach in front of our resort.  Sweet!  I was so pumped!

We decided we needed to get out of the sun and have some drinks at the Mango Reef bar.  I got a piña colada (sooooooo good), and J got a strawberry daiquiri (not as good as my drink, though I can't say that I actually tasted his).  

Alas, it was time to make our way inside to get cleaned up for dinner.  We showered and dressed, and I took some time to do a little makeup.  I also took some time to slather on the bug spray.  I smelled as though I had been dusting myself with lemon Pledge.  It was better than being bit by bugs!  I told J to suck it up and deal with it.  He did not use any himself because the bugs typically prefer me over him, which is understandable really.  We had a yummy meal at Mango Reef; I had the salmon, and J had a pork loin something or other.  We had the sweetest waiter named Donald.  He really took care of us and informed us that the pork and salmon were the most ordered dishes of the evening.  We again had leftovers for dinner the next evening.  Yay!

I imagine our evening ended with a little History Channel or Comedy Central.  One night we did watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but I can't remember which night.  We did come across the show I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant, and that caused a loud outburst of laughter from both of us!

Turks & Caicos: Day 2

7/25/10

The alarm was set for 6:00 AM to give us plenty of time to eat breakfast while checking out our view as well as time for me to get ready for church.  Well, the alarm was set to mp3 player rather than buzzer, so I woke up with a start just after 7:00.  Church starts at 9:00!

After a quick shower I attempted to blow dry my hair with the hairdryer provided by the hotel.  That was a joke, and so was my hair.  I called the front desk around 7:30 to have them arrange a taxi for us, and we caught our ride around 8:20.  Our driver, Gladstone, was very nice and seemed to be a much better driver than the guy we had the night before.  We arrived at Our Lady of Divine Providence in only about 15 minutes, and our driver said he'd return for us at 10:15.  We liked that, and we liked that the cost for the ride was only $15 rather than $15 per person. 

I wish I had taken some pictures of the church.  It was a pretty small building with metal folding chairs set up inside.  There were a few ceiling fans, and all of the screened windows were open.  There were wood benches set up at the sides and back of the church since it appeared there wasn't enough seating inside.  The music was traditional (Gather Us In, Gift of Finest Wheat), and the priest was very passionate.  The part of his homily we most remember was when Fr. talked about how so many people came to an event in which they prayed for things they needed/wanted but no one came to confession on Friday.  On Friday, J asked "Do you think anyone went to confession today?"  We shared a laugh. 

After mass there were people hanging out and chatting, and there were already people arriving for the Creole mass at 10:30.  There was no sign of our taxi driver.  Great.  Now what were we supposed to do?  We had no cell phones, and the next mass was beginning.  We were too far to walk to our resort, so we just hung out outside for a bit.  Another taxi showed up to pick up one guy, and we tagged along.  There goes another $30 plus tip!

We changed clothes and decided to visit our resort's restaurant, Mango Reef.  We were both starving since we didn't have time for breakfast, and it was about 11 AM.  After some indecision, I ordered a shrimp and spinach quesadilla with a Sprite, and J ordered a chicken panini with a Coke.  We were both pleased with our selections, and were happy we'd have some leftovers for dinner (especially since the cost of food is so high).  We quickly went up to our room to stash our food in the fridge and then headed out to find Graceway Gourmet, a smaller grocery store nearby.  It turns out that that store was only about 3/4 of a mile from our resort and was not a bad walk (except for the two bug bites I acquired on the way). 

Though I've read that the water is safe to drink in Provo, bottled water was high on our list of items to pick up.  I'm fussy about the taste of water; it should have no taste thank you very much!  In addition to the water, we picked up some turkey lunch meat, provolone cheese, a tomato, some wheat rolls, chips, 1/2 a gallon of  milk, a Gatorade and some Vitamin Water for a grand total of almost $50.  Not too bad actually.

Back at our hotel suite, we put the groceries away and then flopped on the bed under the ceiling fan to cool off a bit.  We were glad to have air conditioning as well as a ceiling fan.  Once cooled off, we decided it was time to suit up for the beach!  I had to stop when I reached the end of the boardwalk to just take it all in.  It was quite lovely, even with the dark clouds looming overhead.  The sand was like nothing I'd ever felt before.  It was like warm powdered sugar and quicksand combined.  It was so soft that it was difficult to walk through, but we put up with that minor inconvenience as we searched for a couple of lounge chairs with a beach umbrella.  We selected a couple of chairs, put our things down and made our way to the water.  We did have to walk through a section of sand with broken shells, but they weren't sharp.

Oh the water!  So warm, and the waves just lapped at our toes.  The water didn't seem so warm the further I went in, so I just had to dive right in.  As I came up I remembered that I was in salt water.  Ugh!  We quickly became used to the water and swam around for awhile before finding our seats.  We sat and people watched for a bit before doing more swimming.  We then lounged a bit longer as a I wished for some rain.  My wish came true!  J and I were safely under our beach umbrellas as the clouds opened up slightly.  We decided to go get cleaned up and retire to our room for the evening.  We watched TV (probably something from the History channel or Comedy Central) and ate our leftovers.  By 10:00 we were ready to sleep to regain some energy for doing absolutely nothing the next day. 

 

Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands

Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands

Turks & Caicos: Day 1

J & I left the house at 5:00 in the morning Saturday, July 24th.  I had trouble sleeping the night before, but I wasn't feeling tired because I was way too excited for that!  We got to D & S's house sometime after 5:30 (after a little I-17 detour we hadn't expected), and D gave us a lift to the airport.  We checked our bag and made our way to Starbucks so J could have his chai latte and a bagel with cream cheese.  I'd already eaten a bowl of cereal, so I was not hungry.  J bought a book to read, and we just hung out until boarding time around 7:30.  The plane took off on time at 7:50.  We were headed for Miami, Fl.

Though I was still excited, the sleepless night finally caught up with me.  I dozed on and off throughout the 4 1/2 hour flight.  In between dozes I worked on reading A New Earth; one of these days I'll finish it.  J finished his book during the flight and then had nothing to do but listen to his music.

Once in Miami, we found the gate for our connecting flight.  We really weren't in any hurry because we had a 4 hour layover, so we found some place to eat a mediocre dinner.  I was surprised that Miami International didn't have more food choices and kind of wished we'd had a connection at Dallas/Ft. Worth.  Oh well.

As we were boarding our plane, there was a guy there handing out Discover TCI magazines.  It had some good information about the islands and will make a nice souvenir.  I think our plane may have departed a few minutes late, but I can't recall for sure.  We probably left around 7:30 Miami time (4:30 AZ time) and were told the flight would take an hour and twenty minutes.  My itinerary read 1 hr. 50 minutes, so this came as a pleasant surprise.  I sat next to a very nice gentleman (other than J) who was traveling to Providenciales for the first time along with his wife, daughter and Goddaughter.  They were staying at the all inclusive Beaches resort, which was out of our price range and not really what we were looking for for our fist big trip away.  Beaches caters to kids and families, which is great, but I wanted a quieter setting with a less crowded beach.  Anywho...where was I?

It was disappointing that we had to land at night because we couldn't see the beauty of the islands as we flew in.  When we departed the plane, we had to walk down stairs unlike the larger airports we are used to.  No big deal.  The first thing we noticed was how muggy it was outside, but it was actually very pleasant.  Inside was a bit different.  It was kind of chaotic.  We weren't sure where to go, but we figured out the steps with some guidance.  After going through customs we got our bag as well as a couple of Providenciales maps and a Where When How magazine about the island, and we went in the fast track lane since we had nothing to declare.  Then we couldn't find the exit.  Luckily there was someone there who showed us out.  It would help if there were labels or signs, but I guess that's one reason the airport is under renovation.

Once we made it outside there was a guy there who asked us where we were headed and if we needed a taxi.  A taxi pulled up, and we were asked to take a seat while our bag was placed in back.  All of the taxis in Provo are big white vans.  Most charge $15 a person, even for short distances, which was the case when we arrived at our hotel.

The lady at the front desk of our hotel, The Royal West Indies Resort, was welcoming.  She gave us our keys and told us we were in building 2, and I leaned over to J and whispered "That's the good building!".  A young gentleman came and got our bag and showed us to our room.  We put our stuff down and had a look around.  It was nicer than I expected, and J said something like "Good job picking our resort, wife."  It was too dark to check out the view, so I sat in a cushiony chair and put me feet up.  J read through a binder of information provided by our resort.  Then we began unpacking.  There were plenty of hangers in the closet for our clothes and even a laundry basket for future dirty clothes.

After getting settled, it was nearly 11 PM and time for some shut eye.  I couldn't seem to fall asleep, so I said to J in a little kid voice "I'm too excited to sleep."  (Do you remember that commercial where the family is going to Disneyland in the morning, but the kids won't go to sleep.  One of the kids says "We're too excited to sleep!"  This is a line we use on occasion.)  Eventually, everything faded to black, and I was in dreamland (despite someone's snoring).

First Blog Entry Ever

For now, this blog will simply house my trip report.  In the future, maybe it will become something else entirely.  Time will tell.