Friday, August 6, 2010

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!

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