We find ourselves dreaming of white sandy beaches & turquoise water often. Neither of us had ever been out of the country together, but when we saw unlimited drink packages and a casino… need I say more?! Let’s do this.
Alas, baseball season has ended after 6 years and we decided to set sail. Baseball has taken us to many places, some good and some bad, where we’ve gotten to experience different foods, drinks, and people, thankfully by each other’s sides. But it was time to say goodbye to America for a little!
We were headed off to Nassau, Grand Turk (one of the islands of Turks and Caicos) and Half Moon Cay! Now we’ll only be talking about Grand Turk because we spent the most of our time there and it deserves to be recognized for it’s beauty. Not to the mention the awesome locals.
Our day in Turks and Caicos started with an 8 am bell that had us running onto the cruise ship dock to get to the main island of Grand Turk. There, we found ourselves surrounded by all the cool little bright colored shops filled with trinkets, beach hats, and plenty of sunscreen (of which we should’ve bought more of). From there we hopped on our catamaran adventure to take us snorkeling and then to a private island.
On the way to the snorkeling, everybody was keeping to themselves as they were shaking off the morning grogginess and the rum punch hadn’t been brought out yet. It was still early! The catamaran was run by local islanders, and one of them happened to be the captain and a DJ. There was plenty of bench seating, and even a couple of over water hammocks. Pretty neat if you ask me.
We finally got to our snorkel spot, no land in sight, where we could swim openly around with the fish, sea sponges, and even a few sharks!
I tell you what, 30 minutes of snorkeling did more than a trip to the gym could, we were huffing and puffing, and occasionally taking in gallons of salt water. Needless to say the water and sea life were amazing to be around, but the real fun was yet to begin.
The snorkeling came to an end and everybody started loading back up on the catamaran.. now we’re getting to the good part. The music and drinks started flowing, and everybody started opening up, feeling themselves as some might say. The boat took us to a private island right near grand Turk, as soon as you stepped off into the water you had just stop onto the softest sand you have ever felt. Some might even compare it to a cloud or was that the alcohol talking? Just kidding!
An hour there of unlimited drinking and sitting in the surf had us feeling just right. The islanders were sharing stories and had pitchers on pitchers coming around. We thought the private island was going to be the highlight of the day, boy were we wrong! The whole ride back was a dance party with rum punch flowing everywhere. At that moment we really felt the words behind Kenny Chesney’s song.. “The sun and the sand and a drink in my hand with no bottom
And no shoes, no shirt, no problems..”
There was something about Grand Turk that had us feeling extra friendly as we found ourselves hanging out with a couple from Texas for the rest of the afternoon. All fun must come to end but we weren’t ready for that.. low and behold we see a Margaritaville sign glistening in the distance calling our names. It was there we hung out poolside, listening to the live music that was playing at the resort (unfortunately jimmy buffet wasn’t there), and snacked on some blacked shrimp tacos and mahi mahi.
There’s something about being on an island in the Caribbean that makes you want to indulge in the seafood they had to offer. One of the favorites of the locals was conch, and they knew plenty of different ways to prepare it. Conch fritters, fresh conch salsa, conch ceviche, the list goes on. Our favorite was the Conch Ceviche and needless to say I wish we could’ve smuggled some on the plane with us back home.
What’s a better way to celebrate America’s birthday then celebrating it in another country?! Overall, it was so cool to experience the island life, food, and scenery. We would 100% recommend anyone looking for an island getaway to go there!
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