Turks & Caicos Family Vacation - Day 6 & 7

Day 6

Alan went diving again today.  And apparently it was the BEST dive he has had to date.  There was a lot going on underwater today.  Such as spotting more than a dozen sharks.  Wife = not happy.

The ladies went on a 4-hour kayak tour this AM.  Earliest I have gotten up on vacay – 6:45am…yawn.  It was a really cool adventure.  We started by kayaking through the mangroves and were able see a stingray swimming beneath us, starfish, and even an area full of jellyfish.  Then we paddled over to ‘iguana island’ where over 2,000 iguanas live.  It was fun to walk around and learn about them.  It was quite the workout because at time we were paddling against the current, into the wind.  But the morning was perfectly sunny. 

We grilled up the remainder of the mahi mahi tonight.  And made a huge spread of fish tacos.  Again, stellar meal with fish that we caught on the deep sea adventure.

Day 7

We decided to lay low on our last day on the island.  I sat under a palm tree for like 3 hours reading a book.  Ah-mazing.  Alan & I floated on rafts and snorkeled for sea shells off shore for the rest of the afternoon. 

Once we were sunned-out for the day, we headed to Sharkbite, because I read they had really good Grouper Reubens and half off cocktails on Fridays.  YES!  After dinner, we headed to these 2 swanky hotel bars right on the beach.  They were recommended to us by one of Alan’s college friends who just returned from Turks – Seven Stars & Grace Bay Club.  We listened to some great live bands who played ‘island’ music and even roasted marshmallows over a campfire.

A great way to wrap up the trip.  What a nice getaway :-)

Turks & Caicos Family Vacation - Day 3, 4, and 5

Day 3

Alan and his brother headed off to dive 2 sites in the morning.  Alan’s diving wish finally came true.  He saw not one, not two, but THREE sharks.  He also tested out a new underwater camera.  So, we can believe him that he was super close to sharks – because there is video proof, ha.  I can't quite yet figure out how to upload videos, I think the files are too big.  To be continued...

Alan scuba diving

While the boys were off playing under the sea, us ladies went parasailing.  Being suspended a hundred feet above creature-infested waters is not something I necessarily wanted to do…but since I am a good daughter-in-law, I agreed to it J

Post-parasailing cruise

By recommendation of our parasailing guide, we went to dinner at Mango Reef.  There was an entire side of the menu dedicated just to Lobster (it’s in season).  I think all 6 of us got lobster-something.  I ordered open-faced lobster raviolis and Alan got Thai lobster curry.

Day 4

We kicked of the morning with a trip to downtown Grace Bay.  There are a bunch of luxury shops, so we peeked in many of them. I even scored a new sunhat.  We ate lunch at Tiki Hut in Turtle Cove.  It was this great open-aired restaurant located on the harbor.  I found it in my travel book that has proven to be very useful on this trip. I got mahi mahi tacos with mango coleslaw and a Madori margarita. 

My slice of heaven - a new sunhat & a marg

Also in my quest to find a stellar snorkel spot on the island, we ventured to Smith’s Reef.  You navigate through a neighborhood, and then park at one of the beach access points on Turtle Cove.  Walk about 150 yards down the beach, and you find a stone marker that points out where you access the water to swim out to the reef.  You have to swim about 50 feet off shore (a lil scary).  But it was worth it.  We snorkeled with schools of fish, giant pieces of coral, and a bunch of other underwater creatures.

Sun goddesses

The beach at Smiths Reef

We cooked a rockin dinner at the condo tonight.  Pork chops w/ apples & pearl onions and cauliflower.  And finished puzzle #1 of the trip J

Day 5

Ahhh, today was such a blast.  We chartered a private fishing boat for half a day to take us deep sea fishing.  It was action packed.  We cruised 20 minutes off the coast.  Right out of the gate, 2 fish bit our lines and Matt & Cassie jumped in the reel them in.  We lost one, but captured the other.  The guides connect you into this belt, but it is still really really hard to crank the reel.  Holy cow, those fish are strong!  

Fighting to reel in the fishys

In the end our final count was 3 Mahi-Mahi’s and 1 Grouper.  All of us were soaked to the bone.  The waves were SO big, and the boat would just crash into them and water would shoot straight at us.  We just couldn’t even believe how wet we were getting!   I kept saying it felt like I was on one of those water rides at Cedar Point and you just keep getting dripping wet over and over and over.  About an hour left in the trip we drove with the waves to the marina - a much smoother ride.  Ate some sandwiches & had some homemade rum punch.  Alan’s parents were waiting for us at the dock and cheered when we screamed ‘we brought home dinner for tonight!!!’  The guides filleted the fish on the back of the boat and sent us home with piles and piles of mahi.

I got the biggest Mahi (20 pounds), just saying

Cassie wins with this 50 pound Grouper 

We wrapped up the day with a 3-hour nap (god, I love vacation).  All that salt water and sunshine really did us in.

Turks & Caicos Family Vacation - Day 1 & 2

Day 1

Well we have, once again, arrived in the islands.  What a treat. This morning we departed from Chicago, jumped through Miami, and landed in Turks & Caicos.  Natives call in ‘beautiful by nature’ and boy, it sure is. 

Matt & Cassie greeted us as the airport and we all squeeeezed into our rented ‘minivan.’  More like a Kia expanded 3 feet.  We quickly dropped our luggage at the condo and headed to the IGA to stock up for the week.  Us Blosl’s LOVE to cook.  So we take full advantage of family vacations and make sure there are super duper kitchens to accommodate 6 people with knives.  This year, I planned ahead and printed some of my fave recipes.  So we all picked a few prior to heading to the grocery store.  Typically we go and it’s a free-for-all and we end up buying 19 more snacks than necessary.  But this year we were armed and ready with a grocery list (progress). 

I feel like Customs should warn you prior to landing in Turks.  WARNING: WE MARK UP FOOD TO UN-GODLY PRICES.  Seriously.  My travel book told me ‘Manhattan prices.’ Ummm no.  These are like crème-de-la-crème-whole-foods-manhattan-PLUS prices.  I honestly didn’t know a golden delicious apple could be purchased for $2.50.  We were all so sticker shocked at the grocery store that we could hardly put anything in the cart.  $4 for a cucumber!  $65 for a case of bud light! $18 for deli meat!  It was just totally unreal.  However, we ARE on an island, where importing is necessary.  So, what are you going to do?  Ya know?

We headed back and cooked up some salmon with yogurt + cilantro, greek orzo salad, and steamed broccoli.  Put our feet up on the patio.  And just relaxed.  What a wonderful start to a vacation.

Day 2

Rise & shine came late today.  Something startled me and 7:30 and I came shooting out of bed.  Soon to realize, there is absolutely.nothing.to.wakeup.to.  No dog.  No early meeting.  No chores around the house.  Nothing.  Back to bed I went until 9am.  Alan brought me a cup of joe and I sipped and watched ‘Devil Wears Prada’ from my pillow and it was SO delightful.  When I finally decided to roll out of bed, Alan’s mom & I went for a long jog around the area.  Dune buggies full of laughing teenagers zoomed past us (on the opposite side of the road from American driving!).  Wild dogs barked at us.  And the 80-degree sun soaked every ounce of fluid we had from our bodies.  But it was a great kick off to the day and we got to drool at all the mansion houses in our neighborhood! 

We spend the majority of the day on the beach.  Catching up.  Reading books.  Soaking in the sun.  Doing everything that is mandatory on my list of vacation activities.  Alan and I broke out the snorkel gear and found a star fish that was HUGE!!!!  It was probably 12 inches wide and bright red. Visibility was really bad under water today, because the current was rough.  But Alan tested out a new waterproof camera and I am hoping that tomorrow I can post a video of us playing under the sea.  So, stayed tuned!  For now, I just have a picture of the starfish, so cool!

Leeward Beach

Mr. Starfish

Eventually, we journeyed to downtown Grace Bay.  Just a mile up the road.  Watched the sunset from the beach.  The sand is like powder here.  I just can’t believe the way it feels on your feet.  Doesn’t even seem like real sand.

Kristyn in the sunset

Appetizers @ Hemingway's Beach

Chef Blosl’s cooked up another great dinner.  Steak w/ grilled mushrooms & Vidalia onions, green salad w/ feta & apples, and green peppers stuffed w/ goat cheese.  One thing is for sure - I won’t go hungry while I am here! 

We played 2 round of blokus (that I, unfortunately, lost) and started a puzzle on the patio.  Sigh.  Now THIS is vacation!

Europe 2012 - Day 11

Today we drove from Galway (west coast) to just south of Dublin (east coast).  Prior to hitting the road, we rented some clubs & played a round of golf.  Once again, a beautiful day!  Before tee off I got a little lecture from Alan…

…Kristyn, you have to watch your ball.  We don’t have a golf cart to drive around to find it

…Kristyn, they only gave us 3 balls each, so you have to really concentrate today to not go too far off the fairway

I admit, I am not the best golfer.  But, boy, did that little lecture bite him in the ass J  First hole, he drives into the woods.   Ball cannot be found.  Second hole, he drives into the heather.  Ball cannot be found.  I'll admit, it was nearly impossible to find your ball, even in the first rough off the fairway.  The course was covered in these little white flowers.  Not exactly easy to spot a white golf ball.  Anyway, it was quite the stressful day for Alan…as he continued to lose all 6 of our balls.  Guess how many balls Kristyn lost?  That’s right…zero.  So, this will go down in history as the only time I beat Alan in golf.  He is still bitter about it…kind of comparable to a MSU loss J

Sigh, last day in Ireland.  It is bittersweet to end a vacation.  While we would love a few more days of no true responsibility, we are ready to head to home sweet home.

[Nice views of Glenlo Abbey in the background]

[Overlooking the lake]

[Did you find your ball, hunny?]