This vacation was all about hanging out in the sun and unplugging. I think Turks & Caicos is perfect for that. I could stare out at the amazing aqua waters, white sands, and attention grabbing sunsets for days on end; which is exactly what I did.
But I did stop staring from time to time! Our 2nd night spent on the island was not only Thanksgiving but it was a Thursday. Every Thursday night Provo has a big fish fry, where locals and tourists alike show up at Bight Park starting at 5:30pm.
We didn't expect such a big party, but that is exactly what it was! On the main stage there was a very good band that had most people dancing. Later, musicians would parade thru the crowds. Various craft vendors had tables set up to sell their wares, and there were probably around a half a dozen food vendors selling fried fish, conch fritters, local lobster, etc.
You can also get rum punch which is very strong and very good. We tried a few!
One afternoon we booked a cruise with Caicos Dream Tours. We were picked up in the lobby of the Palms around 1:30pm and driven to their office and boat dock on the other side of the island. We were fitted for snorkeling gear before boarding our boat Dream Chaser, a 45 ft Corinthian Catamaran that holds about 50 people.
The crew were all about having a good time and making sure everyone else did too. Gail and I had great seats right in front of the captain which gave us incredible views of everything around. The color of the sea was just amazing!
It was sunny and warm but the wind and water were too rough for the normal snorkeling stop of the barrier reef; really too bad as it is the 3rd largest in the world and suppose to be gorgeous. Instead we headed to the shipwreck, La Famille Express, which during Hurricane Frances in 2004 dragged its anchor 12 miles in the high winds until getting stuck for good in the shallow waters.
Although there wasn't much to see, except a few conch and some debris from the ship, including said anchor, it was a pretty cool thing to snorkel around it. It's so eerie looking! And of course many climbed the derelik and jumped into the ocean. I was not one of them!
We continued on from here to Half Moon Bay which is a beautiful beach located between the islands of Little Water Cay and Water Cay. When we arrived the crew pulled some conch from the ocean in order to give everyone a demonstration of how to get them out of their shells. Conch are the local sea snails that are enjoyed by locals in a wide array of dishes,
Everyone set off on their own to explore for a designated period of time. Gail and I crossed the small island, walking thru the dry bush and keeping our eyes open for Rock Iguanas who make their homes here. Unfortunately we only saw 3 even though we could see many trails that their tails made in the sand. We got to the other side and found Half Moon Bay to be absolutely stunning! And we even saw a surprise wedding proposal!
Back on the boat the crew had conch ceviche, rum punch, and beers for us. To be clear, there had already been beers and a lot of rum punch so really just the ceviche was a new addition!
As we made our way back the captain anchored at a nice protected spot and we all went down the boat's slide, splashing into the warm ocean right at sunset. It was super fun! I did it more than once!
Our cruise had been about 4 hours and by the time we got one of the shuttles back to our resort we were wiped out! So we ordered pizza delivered and had it in our dining room. Super fun day!
The Palms has free bikes to use so one afternoon we rode into town just to explore and also get some cash. Unfortunately we found very little in the way of shopping (besides your average tourist tchatche offerings). We also found the only ATM in town to be broken and ended up having to take a cash advance on a credit card back at the resort. We hadn't thought it would be so tough to get cash for tips, etc. Word to the wise!
That same afternoon we decided to grab a taxi and get to some other parts of the island. Our first stop was Turks Head Brewery which is very popular on the island. The brewery offers tours and tastings but we were just there for some souvenir shopping.
We had our own snorkel gear with us (borrowed from our resort) and had the taxi then take us to the Coral Gardens Resort. Their beach is known for their great snorkeling due to a reef close to shore and another farther out.
Unfortunately a very dramatic storm came up so we weren't in the water long! But this is a great spot for snorkelers of all levels as there is a rope around the reef that you can hold onto if you want.
We ducked out of the storm and into the resort's beachside cafe called Somewhere for lunch. Very cute spot with good food where you can eat with your toes in the sand. I had a local lobster roll and a couple of margaritas. Most of the leanings were tex-mex which was great for us.
We also went into town for dinner on a few nights. At the very popular Coco Bistro you dine outside under a canopy of palm trees. It was lovely.
We hadn't thought to make reservations though so had to wait in the bar while a table freed up. The menu has lots of local seafood on it and also some traditional steakhouse offerings. I liked it!
Grace's Cottage at the Point Grace was very good and the bar area is absolutely Instagram worthy.
Our dinner here was lovely, even though we did not splurge on some of the cult wine highlighted on the fancy iPad wine list. Petrus in the Caribbean for $2k? Pass.
We moved up to the bar for a nightcap, the rum list was wonderful and very well priced. I thought this was a great pick for dinner and drinks.
At our resort The Palms, we had an excellent dinner at the restaurant Parallel 23 on our very first night. I hadn't been expecting much but we were really impressed with the service, the plating, and the food. And sitting outside under the twinkly lights was just gorgeous. So we decided to have our last dinner on the island there as well.
We started with some drinks at the bar, then another lovely dinner outside, and when the bill came we found they had comped us both. That was a very nice end to an already amazing stay at the Palms.
At the airport on the way off the island I enjoyed one last Turks Head beer. It had been a great vacation and I felt the island really lived up to it's gorgeous reputation. We found everyone who lived and worked there to be kind and friendly. I'd go back in a heartbeat!
We flew into Miami and had to really hustle to get thru customs and security before dashing for an Uber. We knew we didn't have a ton of time to transfer to Fort Lauderdale so we had done carry-on only. Luckily our Uber driver was up for the challenge and we got to FLL, through security with Clear and PreCheck status in 20 minutes to make our flight home to Seattle!
Part one of Turks & Caicos trip here. All photos here.
As is the norm for people in Seattle during the winter, I wanted to go someplace warm and sunny over Thanksgiving. My friend Gail had an Alaska Air companion fare that was expiring and wanted to use it. She also mentioned that she had wanted to go to the Turks and Caicos since another friend of ours had gone.
I didn't really know too much about these islands except that my brother had been and had told me the beaches were amazing. I didn't really need much more convincing than that! We booked round trip flights to Fort Lauderdale and decided to spend one night on Miami Beach on the way down.
The trip started out on a high note as we were upgraded to First Class! That always helps to take the sting out of having to get up early. We took an Uber from FLL to the AC Marriott Miami Beach. We barely had time to change and then we were back in an Uber heading to The Surf Club for dinner.
Thomas Keller's restaurant, inside the Four Seasons Hotel, is full on old school glamour. There was a champagne cart, tableside Cesar Salad, servers in beautiful suits. We were thrilled! Gail's pasta was accompanied by a waiter carrying a wooden box, inside was a white truffle which he then shaved an obscene amount onto her plate. I had lobster thermidor which was insanely rich and decadent.
Afterwards we had nightcaps in The Champagne Bar. It was a pretty luxurious evening and I'd happily do it all over again!
It was a 1 ½ hour flight on American from Miami to Providenciales Island, also known as Provo. We actually almost missed the flight as we were enjoying some margaritas at the airport; the very last people to board! We took a taxi from the airport to our hotel the The Sands at Grace Bay for about $40 (even though Turks is a British Territory they use the US Dollar, go figure).
We had booked a 2-bedroom ocean view unit at the 4-star resort and we were ready to get a tropical drink and hit the pool! Except when I went to the desk and gave them my name to check in they told me they'd be right back with the manager. Not a good sign.
Long story short, they had overbooked the hotel. But they were putting us up at their sister property the 5-star The Palms for the same price. After a bit of negotiating they actually put us in a 2000 square foot owner's suite; 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and ocean views from the living room, kitchen, and dining room. The suite normally goes for $2500 per night! We had to wait quite a while to get into the room however as the owner had just left after being there for a month so they had a lot of cleaning to do. I also negotiated that we each got $100 credit at the swim-up bar since that's where we would be hanging out until it was ready. It was absolutely ridiculous!
We spent the next six days completely giddy about our fancy suite with uninterrupted views of the ocean. When hot tub conversations with other vacationers turned hoity toity we pointed to our suite and watched their jaws drop. LOL!!
Gail made friends with one of the pool-girls and every morning she had our loungers made up and waiting for us. Our daily schedule was made up of morning beach walks, breakfast buffet (included with our room) outside at the hotel's garden patio, and then the entire day by the pool or on the beach.
The sand on Grace Bay beach is absolutely unbelievable. It's incredibly white and as fine as talc powder. There was rarely anything washed up on the beaches and when you walked out in the water the bottom was smooth and felt like clay. It was everything I had imagined!
As the day grew longer, Gail and I would move to the hottub and visit with the other guests. Most seemed to be from the East Coast, especially New Jersey.
The resort had a little shack on the beach serving cocktails where most people, including us, gathered around nightly for the spectacular sunsets.
This was such a great trip! Absolutely relaxing, no running around (we did go out a bit which I'll write about next), just a gorgeous resort with wonderful service. Highly recommend!
If you are looking into traveling to the gorgeous Turks and Caicos, you can find information and updates about COVID-19 related news here.
Part two of Turks & Caicos trip here. All photos here.
We decided to do only one excursion while in Punta Cana, although there were many day trips to choose from, as we really just wanted to enjoy the beach and pools at the resort. We also chose an afternoon excursion because the last thing I want to do on vacation is get up early!
We met with the representative from Olympus Tours to book our snorkeling tour. We were picked up in the lobby of our resort and after two more pick ups we drove about 30 minutes to the Marinarium Resort. We headed out to the reef, which was a short but entertaining catamaran trip, and the crew divided beginning snorkelers from advanced. This was great as we ended up getting more time in the water and also got to venture off farther.
The reefs had a fair amount of brightly colored tropical fish darting around, mainly on the smaller size with a few parrot fish chomping loudly on the coral. There were lots of brain coral, which I don't always see, and tons of spiny urchins. As we swam about there were also lots of tiny jellyfish! I hate jellyfish and was a bit worried about getting stung but luckily no one did.
After about 30 minutes of exploring, our guide ushered us into the large ocean pens which house a half dozen or so nurse sharks. Nurse sharks are generally docile and they'd rather hide under coral reefs than chase after people. But even knowing this, and having dove with black tip reef sharks in the past, the sight of the sharks was a bit nerve wracking. Also nerve wracking was Dayne who immediately went chasing after them!
We swam through four different pens, each with nurse sharks, sting rays or a combination of the two. In the last one we got to hold a stingray. I'd done this way back in the day during a trip to Grand Cayman but it was still awesome. They are much heavier than they look and their skin is strange. And slippery. If you rest your forearms just under the water some will actually swim right up and take a swim break!
Back on board our catamaran, the staff passed out rum & cokes and beers while we sailed down the coast of Bavaro and Cabeza de Toro. When we reached what they call "Paradise", a warm and shallow area of the ocean, there were at least three other boats anchored, all their passengers in the water having a big "pool" party. It was awesome!
We all joined in, the staff of our boat strapped floaty rings to their drink trays and the floating bar was open. I really can't tell you how incredibly warm, clear, clean and awesome the water was. And there even was a crazy drunk, basically nude woman on one of the other boats, all too happy to be the entertainment for the afternoon!
On the way back we spotted tons of red starfish in just this one little area off the coast. The staff gave a lesson in making Coco Loco's and also dancing the Merenge. It was a very relaxing and fun way to spend the afternoon! And then it was back to the Majestic Elegance Resort...
Generally our trips are a bit adventurous, cultural, active, or even illegal but every once in a while it's nice to just go someplace beautiful and chill out, and for me that is always on a beach. Since our Cape Cod beach vacation got rained out, I booked us an all-inclusive get-a-way to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic for our 9th wedding anniversary.
Just like our Iceland long weekend, this was a total steal that I found through Travelzoo.com. The package consisted of round trip air from Miami, airport transfers and 5 nights in a junior suite in the all-inclusive (all food, all drinks) Majestic Elegance. Additionally we chose to upgrade to the "Elegance Club" in which we had exclusive pools, bars and a beach without children, our own butler, a couple of concierge lounges with computers, snacks and drinks, private check-in/check-out, etc. etc. All of this was $2100 total for the two of us (that included trip and hurricane insurance).
The resort was lovely with huge open atriums, perfectly kept gardens, exceptionally clean and warm pools and beaches. We went in knowing that the food was going to be mediocre (which is was) and that the booze selection would be scant (which it was) but the other amenities more than made up for those things and we had a fantastic time.
We loved the Bali beds, both on the beach and by the pools, the swim up bar, the sand that was like sugar, all the nice newlyweds and the funny little casino where Dayne more than doubled his money. I had a very good massage in the spa one afternoon. And of course the Brugal rum flowed like water.
The resort hosted a White Nights BBQ on the beach one night, where we had our first taste of the local shot called mamajuana, a sweet blend of rum, honey, herbs and bark. Another day a few of the staff came around to everyone in our private pool area with a bucket of the brew on ice and shot glasses to hand out. Ah the stress of vacation.
And for those who wanted, there were nightly "shows" ranging from karaoke to live jazz. We chose to end each evening with a nice martini in the big open lobby bar.
We didn't see any of the country really, and I know that there are certainly some interesting areas. But for us it was a wonderful, relaxing vacation and I'd absolutely go back to enjoy those beaches again, the best I've ever been on!
All photos from our Dominican Republic trip are here.
As New Years Eve 2010 approaches and we gear up for another annual trip with friends I think back to our 2009 adventure. Going where we were certainly welcomed but not allowed by our own country, Cuba seemed a tad scary, mysterious and difficult to get to.
We chose to stay with a local family in their casa particular. It’s a unique way to experience how many typical Cuban families live while at the same time helping them to earn an income.
In our week with our hosts they opened their home to us, told us stories, talked frankly of politics, introduced us to their family and friends and spoke of the future. We invited them to partake in our nightly cocktail hour, sharing various treats we had brought from the states and gin martinis made with “real French vermouth” as they happily noted.
One day they held a big party for their family and friends and graciously invited us to join. They filled our paper plates with mounds of treats they had splurged on and prepared for the special occasion- roasted pork, tamales, cake, etc. We passed out the only thing we had a lot of: home baked Christmas cookies. The guests took it upon themselves to give us salsa lessons making it even more fun!
On New Years Eve we invited them to share in our champagne. We noticed the empty bottles were saved as souvenirs. My own wonderful souvenir is the memory of that truly unique experience!
It's time to wrap this Cuba trip up. Have I told you everything? Of course not, but I've got other trips to write about and there's still so much to tell!
There were the dinners in Havana's El Barrio Chino. A strange Chinatown with no Chinese people and an equally strange blend of Cuban and Chinese food on the menus. Highly recommended by Luis one of the restaurants was actually quite delicious. Our only gripe was that when I asked if it was family style or we should each order our own plate we were told to order our own. There was enough food leftover to feed a small army! The other Chinese restaurant not only ended up delivering some of the worst food ever but had us waiting practically all night for it. Our normally quiet and well behaved French friend Matt stormed into the kitchen demanding they bring out what was ready immediately!
Matt giving the kitchen the "what for!"
And there was the very interesting Museo de la Revolution, housed in the old Presidential Palace and decorated by Tiffany's of NYC. Inside we found life size Che & Fidel figures, a history of Cuba, their struggles against the world (told with an incredible communist slant, natch) and the funny Wall of Cretans!
And also the Capitolio Building, a gorgeous domed structure resembling the US Capitol that use to house the Cuban Congress. It's full of beautiful offices, libraries, huge bronze doors, and even a 35 foot statue of a woman. In the center of the main floor is a 24 carat diamond from which all distances between Havana and other cities in Cuba are measured.
There was the day spent in Vedado with it's huge abandoned mansions, amazing Art Deco, Hotel National, Plaza de la Revolucion and the cemetery Cristobal Colon, including it's impressive list of residents such as La Milagrosa
And one of the most fun nights spent up at the Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabana where Dayne shook drinks on a cannon before we all sat and watched the festivities of the nightly 9pm cannon shooting, complete with guards in costume!
Besides staying in a Casa Particular we also stayed at the Hotel Sevilla, considered to be a moderately upscale hotel. In addition to the stories about other thugs, writers and celebrities Al Capone once rented out the entire 6th floor here. We enjoyed their large rooms, running hot water, outdoor courtyard, music and mojitos.
And there was New Years Eve, which was a quiet one this year since we had to get up early the next day. We started with champagne, shared with Luis and Luisa at their home, then had a nice seafood dinner by the waterfront where we watched fireworks at midnight. There were parties in the streets as we headed home, people dancing and having a great time. Unfortunately for Tim and Forest, there is also a tradition of dropping water balloons off balconies, which they experienced first hand.
So there you have it, our Cuba trip 2009-2010 in a nut shell. Lots of pictures of all these things and more are in two sets here and here!
In every city there is bound to be some sort of tour guide activity, giving visitors a glimpse of the town in a condensed amount of time. New York has their "hop on, hop off" buses, London has the double decker bus tours, even Seattle has it's Ride the Duck tours. In Havana you get a horse and buggy. They are everywhere, they all look the same. The guides call out to you offering their services. How were we going to pick just one? How would we decide who was going to get our $30CUC (split between 6 of us).
"there they are, how do we choose?"
Woman tour manager: "Hello friends, take a tour around Havana?"
Forest: "Ummm, maybe. We're not sure."
Woman tour manager: "Look, I know you don't want to but come on."
How can you resist this type of salesmanship? We couldn't and so the 6 of us piled into a buggy driven by Wilfred for a little tour and some history about Havana.
We actually did this on our groups first day together, it was a really good way to get the layout of the city, see some of the monuments and learn a bit of history. We rode past the Museo de la Revolution with it's outdoor exhibit of the Granma, surrounded by vehicles used and planes shot down during the revolution.
From here we rode along the waterfront to the beautiful Plaza de la Catedral. Cubans dressed in traditional costume pose for (paid) pictures, music fills the square. The large Catedral de San Cristobal de la Havana sits on one side, once the resting place for the remains of Christopher Columbus!
Next stop was the Plaza de Armas. This is Havana's oldest square, originally laid out in the 1520's. There is a huge used book market set up daily in the center; magazines, books, post cards and programs bring back memories of the years before the embargo and of course the Revolution.
The Castillo de la Real Fuerza is also in the square. Built in 1558 it's the oldest existing fort in the America's complete with draw bridge, a moat and cannons!
On to the small Plaza de San Francisco de Asis with its beautiful fountain where we witnessed a girl having photos taken of her on her quinceañera, this is a traditional "debut" of sorts as the girl is now considered mature and will be permitted to marry in the next year (at 16).
With all this bumping around in the carriage we were very happy about our next stop, the Havana Club Rum Museum. Complete with salsa band and mojitos there are little exhibits set up explaining the process of making rum and the history of it.
It wasn't the best mojito we had but it gave us a chance to buy Wilfred a drink and hear more about his life. When I naively asked him where he might want to travel to he looked at me like a child and replied "this is a communist country, we are not allowed to travel anywhere". Being the beginning of our time in Cuba I hadn't learned about all these rules and felt ignorant of my knowledge of their life but Wilfred was very kind and continued to answer our questions both over the rum and back in the carriage.
We continued on our tour, past the main train station where we saw the incredibly old trains still running on the tracks built in the early 1900's. In fact Cuba was the sixth country in the world to have a railway, not much looks like it has changed including the Hershey Train which still runs today!
As a side note, transportation is looked upon as a bit of a joke in Cuba. Forest and I watched the movie "The Waiting List" (Lista de Espera) which is a very cute comedy outlining transit issues. Check it out if you're interested.
Past Parque de la Fraternidad with it's busts of Latin and North American leaders (including Lincoln) , the cigar factory (which unfortunately was closed for the holidays) and China Town (who knew?) we finished up our tour at the Parque Central Hotel where of course we went in for a cocktail. Of course!
Many thanks to fellow traveler Tim as most of the photos in this post are his. We had some technical difficulties and lost most of our photos from the first 4 days due to a bad thumb drive. Thanks Tim!
