Saturday, November 7, 2015

Turks and Caicos, British West Indies!

We departed the marina in our dingy the next morning and headed out for a cruise..
The boat was all prepped for fun. Paddleboards and kayak at the ready! 
Suz was game for wherever the day took her!
Hopefully it wouldn't turn out like this...
It was GORGEOUS out!
But soon we couldn't take the HEAT another second, and had to jump in the water fast.
Boy, did that feel better.
Just another breathtaking skyline!
We saw lots of great waterfront properties.

This was rather funky...
The paddle boarders were out getting their groove on...
I think it was way too hot for this kind of exertion though.
A massive 110' catamaran pulled up alongside our dock.
It was spectacular looking and we all enjoyed checking it out.
I thought this was absolutely postcard perfect!
We had  a great lunch at The Deck of the Seven Seas resort, and had to bust a move to keep the skeeters at bay. They were ready to CHOW down on us.
One of the most popular places in town was a big roundabout called..
Suz modeled as only she can do...Bwa chikka bwa wow!

We then had to make a pit stop at the local "Do It" Center.
What a great name for a Home Depot style store. We all cracked up!
It reminded me of Ben Stillers character in this movie nugget...
We later ended up at Bugaloo's for a nice seaside lunch. It was called "BUGaloos" for a reason though...this time of year it was swarming with mosquitos EVERYWHERE! As was the whole island for that matter.
Out in front of Bugaloos is Willie...he's just the sweetest and taught us about everything we wanted to know when it came to conch. He was the conch master.
I asked him if he ever got "conked out" (mwahahahaha!) and cracked myself up. He enjoyed it.
Wait until you see how fresh conch is removed from its shell!
Click on this link to view the video..
This is what his workstation looked like...
These edible "surprise balls" had coconut, crab and conch in them. No way I'm eating something fishy that's been sitting in the hot sizzling sun though...

Willy was such a doll and loved his job farming the conch.
That sharp thing he's holding was the "foot" of the conch and felt like a fingernail. Kinda creepy.
Brad manned up and had even pulled one out of the shell on his own.
Hmmm. Lunch? I think not.
The shells were a stunner of course.
Suz got in on the shutterbug action...
So did this rooster for that matter.
They had a charming beach shop.
As we left, we spotted this vessel on high ground as we were driving down the street.
So funny that the name says "Thank You Ameritrade"!
Suz and I muggin in the backseat.
While the boys kept us entertained with their singing in the front seat...Driving here is done on the right side of the car and you drive on the left hand side of the road.
Just like those English blokes love to do...
Then...we weren't in Compton anymore. It was election season...how hilarious was this billboard?! And timely for that matter.
This was the best car rental shop on the island..lol. Those crazy Canadians.
We made a pit stop at the grocery store and were shocked to see the price for a case of beer was almost $70.00! Anything imported was a premium price on the island.

Then it was time to head back to the boat for...drumroll please!

Pumpkin carving! It was Halloween after all.
Time to kick off our shoes and chill...

Since it was Halloween, Brad had to practice his howl.

I drew the pumpkin design and Brad took care of the masterful carving duty.
Sid handled the "removal" portion. A team effort!

With the pumpkins carved...

It was time for Brad to get his costume on! He always knows how to rock it out.
We headed back to the pool and enjoyed a late afternoon swim with everyone.
The skies were again, gorgeous as ever and I find them absolutely mesmerizing in this part of the world.
The next day, we opted for another dingy cruise as they are always full of surprises and you never know what to expect. Brad however,  got a new depth finder for our dingy... It's called The SID5000. Sid donned a snorkel and mask and stuck his head underwater to check out our depth for anchoring out in the bay. Such a gamer!
Suz Q tested the waters and declared it a shark free zone. 
We then decided it was time to check out some local iguanas on a deserted cay, 
and made our way over to Grace Bay.
The boys anchored the dingy out and then secured it to shore. 
We spotted a few little guys, and then got some great ocean swimming in..
My fave until it was time to head back.

That afternoon when we got back to the marina. we ran into the boat as fast as we could since the skeeters were out en force and biting like crazy!!
But first... Our spazz move. 
(and yes, Brads aware of his "man card" violation. ha!) 
Speaking of crazy... Have you met our awesome rental car? 
It actually was named Crazy!
And we get to park crazy on the curbs even....
That evening we headed to the infamous island "Fish Fry" that was a promising good time. We didn't know what to expect... It was on the beach and the food was supposed to represent the islands best. It was quite homespun, and part arts n crafts swap meet too. 
Everyone there was in line for some kind of island beverage. 
Suz and I sampled the piña coladas. Anything to cool off!
You could have them in a coconut too. 
For dinner we ended up choosing a locals fave, The Dolphin Restuarent to try out. The food was great and it all went down in a picnic style atmosphere... If you could wrangle a seat that is. 
Even an ice cream truck lent itself to the island vibe. 
 The funky reggae tunes cranked out and the festive atmosphere came alive. We only lasted about an hour or two there. It was crazy hot and humid. The mosquitos were driving everyone nuts. The locals even armed themselves with cans of bug spray... That's when you know it's bad. 

We went back to the boat and had a few rounds of Scattegories before we all tired out from fun.
The boys nestled in the Marina office the next morning... Snagging some wifi to get the latest news nuggets on their iPads before we departed. 
Sid & Susan stayed 4 more days in the Turks and went to Club Bed..I mean Club Med. HA!! Sid used to work there 30 years ago, and they went to see the statue in the center of the resort that was erected in his honor. Wish I had that photo nugget!

Later, it was time to head home after being away for almost 3 weeks.
We had a great week with Susan & Sid, making lifetime memories!
See you later Turks & Caicos.

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