TCI 2022: We all need paradise (Part 3)

JUNE 8

I don't want to ever leave this place! So much beauty and relaxation and peace. 

A little bit of gym time and a good breakfast, and then we made our way to the beach. Greg's selfie this morning had a special touch of me reflected in the lenses. Nice job on the photo, babe!

Had a break for lunch and another cocktail at the Hemingway's bar....Turks Head beer for Greg and a strawberry daiquiri for me. I can't get enough of the midday blended drink refresh! Feels great after a hot morning at the beach.

After lunch it was time to explore some more before we had to drop the car back off at the rental agency before dinner. We had never been to Long Bay Beach so decided to drive that direction to check out the Caribbean side of the island a little bit more. We wanted to first see if we could get access to Leeward Beach in the northeast corner of the island but there was so much construction going on (hello massive villas and mega money), that we gave up and kept driving towards Long Bay.

Shore Club looked good and it's a 5 star resort, so we figured why not crash it?

I was so nervous acting like we owned the place and belonged there, but took Greg's lead and went down to the beach and made ourselves at home. Nothing like getting someone to bring you a fresh towel and be nice to you....even if we didn't deserve it!

I really didn't like the beach too much, however. It was very narrow and there was a lot of seaweed. The water had a cloudy appearance and was choppy, not nearly as nice as at Grace Bay. But it was good to check it out to see if it was somewhere we might want to stay. The resort itself, however, was absolutely beautiful. 

One cool thing that you can see from the beach is an old shipwreck two miles off the coast. Back in 2004, during Hurricane Francis, an old Soviet naval vessel turned Caribbean cargo ship, La Famille Express, lost its mooring an drifted 12 miles, becoming lodged off Long Bay. It was stuck for good and is now a rusted out relic that attracts tourists. It's not safe to climb aboard but you can take a boat tour over to it and the snorkeling is supposedly fantastic due to the sea life and coral that has attached itself to the bottom half. We could see it from shore. There is also a tiki bar you can go to in the middle of the ocean....didn't get a pic of it but it sure sounded fun!

We didn't spend much time at the resort as we did need to get back to get ready for dinner before dropping the car off. Greg might have stopped in the middle of traffic, however, to get a funny photo on the way back.

After dropping the car off we took a moment for some cool photos against one of the buildings painted a vibrant green color. Plus Greg is really photogenic and I like him, especially with the epic tan he was getting. 

Our dinner spot for the night was Solana at Ocean Club West resort. They had sushi on the menu that sounded great. We ordered that and some drinks and enjoyed our spot looking at the ocean. It was another beautiful sunset evening.

The waiter liked that my drink matched my dress, and I let the bartender choose the next cocktail to make for me. The service at this restaurant was really exceptional.

After dinner we took our time walking back to the hotel. I could never get tired of walking along Grace Bay Beach. It's never crowded, it's quiet, the sunsets are gorgeous, and the water warm and gentle. We take a lot of selfies, I know....but I also just really liked my new Lilly Pulitzer dress, not gonna lie. 

JUNE 9

No more rental car, so no more exploring around the island. Back to the relaxation of our beach, which I could never complain about! First off, however, was long walk on the beach while Greg went on his run. It was a very peaceful morning with a few walkers and runners.

After exercise and some breakfast, it was back to the beach. I spend a lot of my time reading, but we've also been snorkeling just off the shore and lounging in the water. 

Greg had the thought to go onto one of the catamarans available at the resort, but I figured why not let him try it out solo and then if he survives and comes back, I'll go on it with him. He did really well for never having been on one before, with only a little trouble navigating it back to shore against the current, but he was successful!

So I kept my promise of going out on one with him, and it was great! I had so much fun out on the water with him and he did a phenomenal job of steering it, without whacking me in the head once! He probably wanted to whack me, though.

Definitely something I would try again! Before heading in for rest before dinner, we of course stopped at the Hemingway's bar AGAIN. It was time to switch to the coladas, mango up first.

For dinner tonight, we walked down to Seven Stars Resort and hopped up to the bar at The Terrace. I LOVED this bar....you could sit inside or out (we chose inside with some A/C). The Dark and Stormy drinks were probably the best ones we had so far on the island and the food was exceptional.

A quick detour on the way back to our hotel so get photos at an awesome mural in town.

That concluded our night....stay tuned for the BEST day we had the whole vacation, coming up in the last blog post soon!

TCI 2022: We all need paradise (Part 2)

JUNE 6

We are now onto our 4th full day in Providenciales! 

I can safely say that we are beyond relaxed and content at this point. How could we not be? Time together on the most beautiful beach in the world, with the clearest blue water and sugar sand beach, and seafood to die for...that's our kind of vacation.

Today we picked up our rental car....Greg went on a run while I walked to the rental car place just down the road from our resort. He met me there to pick up the car....a very very beat up Honda Fit, which made us laugh. TCI is a British territory, so they drive on the left side of the road, and the steering wheel was on the right. Back in 2015, we rented a Vespa. I felt much much better about the car, no matter how beat up it looked! The car even came in Japanese....what an experience.

We decided to explore a bit of the island, starting with the Turtle Tail area on the Caribbean side. Prince had a villa there and we were determined to find it. I wasn't quite sure where it was but we had success! The whole Turtle Tail are is full of pretty spectacular villas. And we found Prince's! I figured we were totally trespassing on private roads, but YOLO.

After salivating over the rich people's estates, we made our way to Bugaloo's in the Five Cays area. It's a hole-in-the-wall restaurant right on the water. Last time we were here, fisherman were actually just off the water cleaning up the day's catch, which we then got to enjoy for lunch at a table right in the sand. No fisherman today, but we still enjoyed great conch, cocktails. and local Turks Head beer, and we waded out into the water (it's very shallow). The water was exceptionally warm over here, so not refreshing, but still a good afternoon.

It was getting so hot out, definitely the hottest day so far, so we drove to Turtle Cove to do some swimming and snorkeling at Smith's Reef. We needed relief! There were very few people in the cove. The water is very shallow, so a great spot to snorkel....you just have to be careful you don't get too shallow and scrape yourself up.

That concluded our exploration for the day. We finished off the last of the first bottle of local rum we purchased...perhaps we should slow down? Nah!

We chose the Pelican Bay Restaurant at the Royal West Indies resort. I loved the look of this resort and I was enjoying getting the chance to check out other accommodations on the island for potential future stays (always thinking about the next adventure!). We got a table on the patio, and there just happened to be a wedding reception about to start. A DJ was playing some great music and it was fun to check out the dances and the toasts of the new couple. Greg thought about crashing the wedding. I ruin all his fun by telling him no sometimes. But don't fear....he got a selfie. Food and drinks at the restaurant were great of course!

JUNE 7

Another day with the rental car, so another day of adventure! Morning and early afternoon spent at the beach. 

We ventured to the local rum store, FOTTAC (Flavors of the Turks and Caicos) to purchase the rum we planned to bring back home. You can't buy Bambarra in the United States, nor can you ship it there, so we had to bring it back in our luggage. We enjoyed the rum tasting and probably went a little overboard. Eight bottles for us of Black, Coconut, Reserve, and Trouvadore rum, and one bottle of Reserve for a colleague of Greg's. 

We drove to probably one of our favorites restaurants in Providenciales, Da Conch Shack. It's a few miles from the hotel, right on the water. It was a beautiful evening getting close to sunset.

The restaurant wasn't crowded at all and we got a table in the sand. Best rum punch on the island and the grouper is to die for. One of my favorite things from this place is that they always have a few stray dogs hanging around who enjoy being spoiled by the patrons. The island has a pretty big stray population (they call them Potcakes) and you can walk them or even adopt them and bring them back home. They try to take good care of them.

One of the excursions tourists can enjoy is riding horseback along the beach. There was a group that came by while we were eating. Someday I'll get up the nerve to get on a horse because it really did look like fun.

One of my favorite days on the island so far, but still so many adventures still to come! Stay tuned for Part 3....