Time to Say Goodbye

Today we spent the day soaking up as much sun as possible.  We spent the morning on the beach and in the ocean and the afternoon at the pool.  

We had our covid test this afternoon and tested negative......woohoo!!!!  We head out tomorrow.  It is bitter sweet.  I will be glad to get home and back to reality but I will definitely miss the warm weather and the beautiful ocean.   

Tonight we went to dinner where several of the locals go.  After we ordered, we noticed the locals were all ordering burgers.  We should have but no we thought being our last night we would order steak.  We really should have ordered burgers.  They did not cook steak well.  I am sure we will be referencing that meal for a long time.   We even laughed about how bad it was.  Lesson learned!!!  Don't order steak when everyone is ordering burgers.....they know something you don't.  

Off to bed......traveling tomorrow. Here are a few pictures from the week.  I tried to put captions on them to explain them but it wouldn't hold.  Sorry.  

Lazy Day

 Today was a pretty laid back day.  This morning we decided to try a restaurant a few blocks away for breakfast.  We had heard great things about and were excited to give it a try.  Since it is a fairly close  we decided to walk.  Glad we did as there wasn't a lot of spots to park and it was good to get some exercise.  Art rated his a solid 9 and I rated mine a solid 4.  I should have ordered the same as Art.  His even looked like a 10.  

We spent the morning at the beach.  I spent a lot of time in ocean.  Our original plan was to spend the afternoon at the pool but after we went back to the condo for a late lunch we just ended up laying around enjoying the coolness and before we knew it the afternoon was done.  It was nice to just relax.  

After dinner we went back to the casino.  Art was feeling it all day.  He thought we would do good.  He was right.  To my complete surprise they remembered me.  I thought it was so nice.  I even got picked to play the special deal or no deal.  I only won $20 but it was $20 more than I had before.  Overall I broke even but Art did really well.  He was on fire.   We were playing cards and a crazy drunk guy came and was pretty obnoxious  he sat down next by me.  He wanted me to increase my bet but I said I didn't think it was a good idea so he gave me a chip to increase it,  We lost that hand.  I told I didn't feel good about the hand ....he should have listened. He didn't offer anything else after that.  Anyway, we had a good time.  

We will see what tomorrow brings.  It is our last full day.  

It's a love Buggy

 Today we had a our last excursion. We rode love buggy's all over the island.  They are really cute looking.  They remind me of a miniature Volkswagen bug except these ones only have three wheels.  they are pretty small.  Art and I shared one and it was pretty cramped for us both but we endured. Out tour guides were a couple of locals that were very passionate about their business.  The leader of the group repeated himself so much that we were sick of hearing him by the end.  The tour lasted about 4 hours. 

I am so glad we did it as we got to see the most beautiful parts of the island that we would not have been able to see otherwise.  We saw a $16 million and $24 million home.  And wow the views were absolutely incredible.  We saw the house that the artist formerly known as Prince lived.  It had a purple drive way and it apparently inspired him to write the song Purple Rain.   Hmmmm who knew?!  

We also went to an old cotton plantation that is now in ruins.  It was an active plantation in the 1800s and was operated by slaves.  After the plantation we went to lunch.  

Lunch....... what can I say about lunch. We were served a platter for 2 that had fries, fish fingers, chicken wings,  some sort of corn pone and conch.  I decided I was going to try it all.  Yep...... I did it.  The fish fingers actually didn't taste too bad. They really didn't have a fish taste.  I really like the pone.  The wings were not my favorite and believe it or not I did like the conch.  That was the first time eating conch for both Art and I.  I took a bite and the flavor was fine and the texture was slightly rubbery.  It kinda reminded us of a cross between clams and calamari.   I was so proud of myself for trying it.  I am not one to try new foods. 

For some reason I have been absolutely fascinated by how the locals live and their culture.  So later this afternoon Art and I went for a drive and went to a hardware type store.  They had a ton of items.  And true to everything else the prices at this store were extremely high.  I found a hand mixer for $145 that costs less that $50 on Amazon.  I really was gobsmacked at all the prices. I found my favorite isle.........the cleaning isle and was shocked at the cost of basic supplies.  We stopped on the way home at the grocery store and picked up some food for dinner.    

Tonight was just like being home........ sleeping in the chair while watching TV til it's time for bed. 

For the record driving on the left still freaks me out..........always choosing the right is good for so many reasons........even driving......just saying. 

It's My Birthday

Today was the magic day!  61 today.......

It really was a great birthday! It started with a private dining breakfast.  We went to the restaurant at the resort and as it turned up out we were the only ones there.  Art laughed and said he planned it.  Then we hung out at the beach.

I found a place where I actually sweat from being so hot.  It is such a foreign concept for me.  But man was it ever hot.....and humid.  We got in the ocean to cool off but even at that it was just so hot that we decided to spend the afternoon at the condo where there was air-conditioning.  

We had a lovely dinner.  Then off to the local casino to celebrate.  It was a little scary at first.  It was like the movies.  Two big men guarding the door.  They looked through my purse they did the metal detector wand.  We passed and they let us in. Art gave me $61 to spend.  But I found out from one of the dealers that they celebrate birthday's.  I gave them money equal to my age and they doubled it in free chips.  I also got cake, champagne, tiara and sash.  They even played a drum and sang.  It was awesome.  I left the champagne but I kept the rest.  The man next to me gave me a 5 dollar chip for my birthday.  So fun!!!  I did terrible... Art did better but we had a great time.  Heard from loved ones and friends sending wonderful birthday wishes.   

Tomorrow we are exploring the island on the love buggy's.  Should be fun. 

This has been an awesome birthday!!! 

If I Had to Describe

If I had to describe this day in one word it would be blast.  Today was an absolute blast!!!!  We had a snorkeling tour scheduled today so we got up early as not to miss it.  Well early for me but certainly not for Art.  We grabbed a quick bite from the room and headed down to the beach.  We walked down to where we thought the boat was suppose to pick us up.  We were told it was a black catamaran.  There was another black boat that pulled in a little ways from our hotel.  I was worried that was our boat and we would miss it so we hurried down to it.  It was not close by any means. It was more than a 5 minute walk through sand.  I was pooped by the time we got there but then I am out of shape and have a bad knee. Turned out it was not our boat but...... there were others there waiting for the same boat we were.   The boat arrived picked us all up then went to the spot we were originally at.  Ugh..... we could have stayed.  My fault!  

Anyway,  we headed out and on our way we there was another boat and there was a cute dolphin jumping it's wake.  Our boat captain saw it and high tailed it over so we could all watch.  it was so cool.  The world's third largest reef is here and we went to it. There were about thirty people on our boat including about 10 kids.  Not everyone but most jumped off to snorkel.  I of course was one of them.

There was a family with three daughters snorkeling.  The girls freaked out once they got in the water.  I stopped to talked to them and told them what I do to start and they tried it and out calmed two of the girls down and the dad concentrated on the third one.  The two girls  had a great time after that.  There were thousand of fish.... I am not kidding.  I have never seen so many and so many different kinds of fish.  It was just incredible.  I even saw a turtle. That was a huge surprise.    

After snorkeling, we went to a island that had a lagoon in the middle.  That was pretty cool.  The lagoon was really warm.  Another boat pulled in and they had a couple conchs.  The first mate and captain of that boat pulled the living creature out and those of the boat ate it.  No thanks!!!  But I was watching and the captain of that boat told me to pick the conch up and he would take my picture.  He took a bunch.  

We then got back on the boat and had turkey wraps and a drink for lunch.  I am a fan of wraps but I will say that was one of the best wraps I have ever eaten. It was so good. 

We then went to a deeper part of the ocean.  The boat had a diving board and a slide.  The rule was you had to jump off the board  before you could use the slide.  You needed to be wet so you could actually slide on the slide.  I wasn't a huge fan of he board.  But I did do the slide twice.  It was really fun!!!!!  Overall I would give the whole tour a 10/10. We spent some time this afternoon at the pool.  The pools here are pretty nice.  

We went down to were a lot of shops are and walked around.  Things here are really expensive.  I know I am cheap but man things are really expensive.  Then we had dinner at one of the restaurants in the area.  Art was wanting some  wings so we found a place that served them.

I was super curious where and how the locals live so we went for a little drive and found one of the high schools.  They are some really beautiful homes here.   Now we are tucked in for the evening.  If I had to describe this day on one word that word would be blast.  Today was an absolute  blast!!!  Hey.... I think I said that already.

Car Trouble

We had a nice breakfast today at the outdoor Restaurant.  We both agreed it was 10/10.  It was sooo good and cooked perfectly.  After breakfast we went to the beach.  They have nice loungers and mini chairs and are all under umbrellas.  The resort is really beautiful.  Anyway, we had fun and even got in the ocean.  I was amazed at how soft the sand is. I forgot my aqua socks but I really don't need them.

This afternoon we headed to the grocery store and on the way the car started making a loud thumping sound.  We thought we had a flat tire but all the tires were inflated. We hurried back to the hotel and called the rental company.  They sent a guy out and he discovered the thread/cord had separated from the tire and was banging against the fender.  We were lucky the tire didn't blow. So we were right in thinking the tire was bad even if it wasn't flat.  We got a replacement car.  

We are going snorkeling tomorrow but we had to print our tickets.  We couldn't get the printer here to work but the office manager helped us and ended up printing it for us.  Art asked her if she knew where we suppose to be picked up as none of the info we had said where we would be picked up.  She didn't know so she called them for us and got it all figured out. She was extremely helpful! 

The Dr gave us some recommendations for places to eat from a friend of his.  We went to one of them tonight for dinner.  It was by the harbor.  It was really good and the waiter was really nice.  There was even a turtle in the water. 

The resort has several pools so I think when we get back tomorrow, we will check one of the pools out.  Most everyone goes to the beach so the pool area is pretty empty.  

I still can't get use to driving on the opposite side of the road.  It is unnerving......I am glad I am not the driver.  Art does a great job. 

Off to Turks and Caicos

 Have you ever wanted to do something for a long time and it comes to fruition?  That is what this trip is.  It seems so surreal.   I have wanted to go to Turks for a really long time.  I decided that since this is my magic birthday I wanted to do something big.  That is what this trip is, something BIG.  I mentioned this is my magical birthday.......I was born 6-1-61 and I am turning 61.  That is a lot of 61s.  I am doing a lot of celebrating.

As I mentioned earlier, we went to Princesses graduation.  We needed to get a rental car so Art surprised me and got a convertible.  I love convertibles.  I even wanted one at one time. Knowing this Art reserved one and surprised me at the car rental counter.  The clerk said you have a convertible and I said oh no we have a mid sized car and Art corrected me and said nope we have a convertible.  SURPRISE! We got a flashy red mustang convertible.  It was pretty dang fun!!!!  The weather was a little rainy so we couldn't have the top down all the time but boy was it fun we we were able to put it down.  

Let me tell you the Atlanta airport is a madhouse.  We got to the airport 2 1/2 hours early.  Turned in the cute convertible and proceeded to the ticket counter....... so we thought.  We were sent to three different lines before we got to the right one.  Thankfully we did all the precheck.  The ticket agent told us that saved us a lot of time and thanked us for doing it.  Then off to security.  I am not sure I have ever seen so many people in one place at the same time.  We were beginning to seriously have doubts we were going to make our flight.  But we did....  just in time.  They boarded five minutes after we got to the gate.  

The flight was great and we got to the island early afternoon.  We got a rental car.  I have never seen a car like the one we got before.  The island is British ruled so ....you guessed it, they drive on the opposite side of the road.  I will say I am glad I am not the driver.  

Our hotel room wasn't  ready when we got to the hotel so we went to the grocery store and picked up supplies.  When we got back our room was ready.  We are on the third floor with no elevator.  You should have seen our faces when we were told "NO ELEVATOR"  oh boy!  Not fun to carry suitcases up but we are getting our exercise.  

We had dinner on site at the outdoor restaurant.  We saw on the online menu they had turf and surf but that menu was old.  When we asked the waiter he said they no longer had it but he would as the chef if he would do it for us.  The chef agreed and that is what we had..... steak and shrimp.  It was soooo good!! Then to bed early.