JoJo!!

What a random, cloudy day we had! We drove K&G to their kayaking tour (they'd never been before and wanted to start out somewhere a little calmer than our bay) before going exploring with Susie. I'm really getting comfortable with my left-side driving. If this island wouldn't make their speed bumps a mile high and almost impossible to cross without bottoming out we'd really have something. Seriously. I crawl across them and our little rental car still has no chance of not touching. Anyway, the three of us headed out to the conch farm to see what the deal was there. As it turns out a tour is $12 a person and they didn't have a working credit card machine so we just hung out with the owner, a So. Cal transplant, and discussed life on the island. He was...a character. When we told him that we were from Indiana he assumed we were dairy farmers. What?! Get out more, my man. Anyway, Jackson had NO interest in the tour, but Susie and I did. Bummer.


We left the "farm" and went to Long's Beach. It is a fairly new development with houses ranging from $1.3-5 million. We didn't want to live in such shacks so we just took the public beach access to go for our walk. ;)


I love signs like this.


Shockingly, Indianapolis wasn't on there. Lame. ;)


Jackson and Susie ready for our walk.


This dog left his "shack" and wandered down the beach with us. He didn't shed dollar bills as I'd hope a rich dog would. Ha. ;)


Sometimes he even lead the way (not to a buried treasure though- boo!). This beach had more large shells and corral rocks than ours so we cut our walk a bit short.


When we headed back to the car a horse tour came out of nowhere and into the water. I find this to be some form of animal cruelty and the horses pooped all over the beach and in the surf. It smelled just great!!! ;)


We stumbled upon what we thought was a dead crab.


Then he reached up and grabbed Jackson's water bottle with his claws.


I screamed and ran. I only returned because Susie demanded photos!

On our way home we stopped at a bakery we kept passing that had been favorably reviewed onTripAdvisor. We weren't disappointed. Why? The baker HATES cinnamon and won't use it in any of his goods. What's that sound? Is that angels singing? I think so. I had a chocolate chip muffin, Jackson had a few chocolate-filled croissants and Susie a pecan croissant.

We returned to the condo and our bakery- provided lunch before going back to "our beach" for the afternoon. The bakery's good were delicious and reasonably priced so we reviewed them as such on our TripAdvisor account. Can you tell we love that website?!


Jackson and I headed down to Club Med (again) to go sailing on one of their Hobie Cats. Susie was still on the beach and was able to capture the photo above of us out on the water. It was SO fun! Jackson hadn't sailed in years but did a pretty good job only stumbling when we needed to turn. We didn't get those down to a science or even close, honestly. I tore up my knees switching sides and trying to avoid falling off when the sail came barreling across the boat on turns. I'm happy to report that I was only hit in the face one time by the sail. I consider that a victory. We watched other people tip their boats over but Jackson knew I'd kill him if that happened so we were more careful. We still caught some great wind and had a nice sail. We returned to "the club" (as Jackson took to calling it) and got busted. The wristbands the guests wear are clear so we'd totally missed them! The attendant in the beach wanted to know where our bands were or if we were on a ($220 a day) day pass. I left Jackson to do the explaining ("oh, we needed to wear that? Oops. Ok. We are in room 1140 we'll go put them in now!") and returned my life jacket and scurried back to our condo before they tried to squeeze $400+ out of us for our sailing trip. Jackson only knew a room number because we'd read reviews online of the hotel and a guy posted his room number. Thank you, former Club Med guest, for saving ours butts!! Needless to say, Jackson's days of sneaking down to Club Med are over.

Jackson and Grace played a rousing game of frisbee (read: Grace on the beach making Jackson swim a ton to return her tosses) before we headed out to our sunset cruise.


The fam ready for some rum punch and fun.


Yes, Grace did JUST turn 13 and is almost as tall as me. Whatever.


This was our ship (photo from the company' website) and our crew was lead by Captain Rock. True story. He was quite the character.


We went for a sunset but the day was so cloudy that there wasn't one. We did get to see the island's famous dolphin, JoJo. Grace and I sat on the trampoline at the front of the boat and watched him swim right underneath us. It was awesome! He had a female dolphin and her baby with him, too. We loved it! The cruise also promised to show us glow worms. A few days after a full moon these worms mate and it makes a fluorescent glow when they do. Basically we watched bug porn. It was kind of neat but Grace and I decided these people had clearly never seen lightning bugs or they'd be less impressed. Ha! :)

The sailing was really fun and I was able to safely transport the slightly over served elders on this trip home without incident. We watched the Pacers blow it against the Heat before retiring for the night. Today is supposed to be sunnier so we are hoping for a tan to go home with tomorrow afternoon.

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Rainy island day

I awoke this morning to a cloudy sky visible through my window. I did what I always dream of doing on rainy days: I went back to sleep. :) After our extended slumber we made a quick breakfast and headed out for a long walk on the beach.


We ran into this little guy and believe you me he was crabby! Ha! :)


Listen, walking in the sand is far harder than walking on sidewalks or the treadmill. I think I was more tired from this morning's walk than the mini-marathon. Ok, that's not entirely true. Still, we were worn out after logging over 5 miles.

The clouds were still not going away so we decided to have a lazy day. We read, took naps and just relaxed. I know. I'm surprised, too.

That lasted a record 3.5 hours before I was ready for something to do.

Jackson and I took the rental car (a sweet Toyota Belta) out to explore the island. At this point I was still navigating from our tattered and taped map while Jackson drove (recklessly). We were looking for a local fried chicken joint called "Sweet T's" that Jackson read about on TripAdvisor.com. The reviews raved about the food and warned about the neighborhood. Both were spot-on. To say that this nondescript shack wasn't in a normal tourist neighborhood would be an understatement. Still, nothing stands between Jackson and fried chicken. He got out of the car to go order and left me with no keys and my window down. It was raining in on me, but I refused to exit the vehicle. I kept sliding my wallet further and further beneath my seat. (I'd already left my wedding ring in the condo's bathroom per advice offered online as well.) Jackson ordered with the lingo we'd been instructed to use, "$20 worth of chicken, please." This is an unusually large order so he had to confirm it a few times and present payment before they believed him. Some local ladies (called "belongers") offered him a mamone. This is a fruit that, from the car looked like a really large green grape, is grown locally. I about cried out when he took food from a stranger (didn't we all learn in kindergarten not to do that?!), but kept quiet. He just stood there chewing and chewing with the ladies laughing at him speaking in another language we couldn't identify. He is still unable to explain the taste of this fruit and knows now not to take food from strangers. Better to learn this lesson late than never? Anyway, after 4-5 long minutes our food was ready. $20 got us FOUR large take-out containers of fried chicken. I've shared the prices here on the island so that's really something. There weren't places to eat at the "restaurant" (darn!) so we planned to take it all home for dinner. It was still early so we drove around with fried chicken in the backseat for another adventure.

Have I ever mentioned that I'm really bad with directions? I am. I rarely know which way is north, south, east or west. (Side note: Am I the only one who learned the compass through a silly saying in elementary school? I used my saying the other day, Never Eat Slimy Worms, and no one else had learned this helpful tool. That or they all forgot. Either way I was shocked. I never draw or think of a compass without that saying.) Jackson wanted to see one part of the island and I got us to the opposite side to a deserted national park. Don't think of a national park like we have in the U.S., instead think of a dirt road leading to seemingly nowhere. Yep. That was neat. After sticking out like sore thumbs (again!) while driving through some neighborhoods not meant for tourists we found the main road again. Hooray! Then Jackson tried to stop at the local's grocery store and I had to put my foot down. I was tired of being places that we weren't exactly expected to be in and wanted to get back near our resort area. He begrudgingly obliged. Men. Ugh.

We stopped at the "gourmet" (read expensive but safe) grocery store and I ran in to grab a few things. Jackson guarded the chicken. I'm not kidding. Cars get broken into a lot here and we didn't want to lose our dinner! I got a good chuckle when I asked if they had Diet Coke and the employee replied, "we cannot keep that in stock. You people love Diet Coke!!" I laughed at the "you people" and told him that certain members of my family loved while I preferred water. I got 4 items for $14- what a deal- and headed out to meet Jackson. I opened the door and he screamed like a girl thinking I was carjacking him. Hilarious. Then I told him I kind if was because I wanted to drive home.


A moment of panic as I realized I was about to embark on yet another adventure. Or so I thought. You guys, I'm an excellent driver. I honestly was just so happy to be back in control of things that being on the opposite side didn't even bother me. We both agreed that I was much better equipped as the driver and Jackson as the navigator. That's our normal travel routine. Shame on us for thinking a change in driver position changed that!

We got home (minus any life threatening driving maneuvers) and finally got to try the chicken. It was really good! We got a ton of it, too. We fed all five of us with only three of the four boxes. Yes, this means Jackson has leftovers. I know he is just so bummed about that. ;)


After dinner Jackson finally convinced Grace to go play volleyball on the beach with him. She came back much more tired than he did. I don't know if that indicates that her serves were more direct than his or not. ;) We all spent the evening telling stories and just hanging out. Jackson and I attempted to go to the hot tub, but it was a cold tub so we swung in the hammocks instead. It was a lovely alternative and a nice relaxing way to end a lazy day!

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B&B- TCI

This morning we woke up to an empty condo. Once we finished praising the Lord (I'm just kidding. Kind of.) we got to work. We did laundry, swept, picked up and made breakfast. When the ladies returned from their long walk everything was ready.


I made a blueberry bread that was quite good considering I wasn't familiar with the kitchen or the country's measuring system. Who doesn't use tablespoons? Oh, the rest of the world it seems! Anyway, we survived and had the bread, scrambled eggs, orange slices and fresh pineapple along with coffee. It was delicious and we decided that we are ready to run a B&B here.


We spent the day at "our" Grace Bay beach. It is just so gorgeous. We found a bodyboard and took turns catching waves. Well, most if us. Susie had a bit of a time as shown in the video below (note: my laugh is awful in this video so I apologize in advance.)

Susie's attempt at bodyboarding


Jackson even started reading a book. We were all so shocked that I needed photographic evidence as proof-ha!


I sat under the umbrella most of the day as I'm determined not to get a sunburn! We saw a few wild dogs roaming the beach today and it broke my heart. Some people fed them so that was good. I always find the random dog phenomenon in other countries so sad. Jackson and Kathi hit up Club Med again but due to a special event couldn't "borrow" (without staying there) their water toys. Oh the humanity. I think Jackson even wanted to complain before he remembered that he wasn't an actual guest.


The view at lunch. We made that, too. B&B trend going strong...

We hung around the beach all afternoon, too. Jackson lost a float and a kind sailor fetched it from the middle of the ocean and returned it. That was a good thing considering Jackson had "borrowed it" (without asking-see a trend there, too?!) from a neighbor. He's a mess.


We made dinner, too. That leaves B&B status and becomes an all-inclusive resort. ;) Jackson and I took a walk as the sun was going down and found these two old guys doing "boot camp" on the beach to be pretty humorous. I even made Jackson pose so I could get their photo. I'm so sneaky. ;)


The sunset was a little cloudy, but still beautiful.


We watched a pelican hunt for dinner for a bit on our walk.


Jackson, ever the 9 year old, caught a crab. The crab pinched him. I was so proud of that little crab. ;)


We came back from our walk and the others played a round of Monopoly. I don't like board games, card games or miniature golf so I sat on the patio researching diving cruises (a no-go thanks to photos of sharks uploaded by other cruisers) and writing my blog.

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We're off!

Saturday morning I met my Mom for breakfast in Anderson at Cracker Barrel. Has anyone ever tried to eat there while dieting? It isn't easy. Anyway, we met so she could puppy-sit MacKenzie while we vacationed.


MacKenzie looked just sick over spending a whole week running wild with other dogs in God's country, no? OK, no. Hush. I sure missed her for the rest of the day!


It took her about .4 seconds to make herself right at home. Typical. ;)


Grace and Kathi came up that evening and we celebrated Grace's, wait for it, 13th birthday. I'm sorry, wasn't she JUST turning 6 the other day?!


It took me ages to get all of those candles on the cookie cake. Ha! After a sad, dog-less walk we headed to bed because we had an early morning of leaving too early for the airport ahead of us.


I'm still marveling at Kathi and Grace fitting all of their goods for a WEEK into a roller board bag and a carry-on. Jackson and I had five total bags. I guess we intend to just stay. ;) Our flights went pretty well and we landed in Providenciales- Turks and Caicos Islands.


Being a British colony and all they drive on the opposite (note:not wrong, just different, per etiquette guides I read prior to the trip) side of the road. Watching Jackson get in on the passenger side to drive was really something. He was terrible and I feared for my life. I'm not kidding. Kathi, Grace and Susie got to ride with an experienced driver. Weenies. ;)


After only a few minutes (some of the longest, scariest minutes of my life), we arrived at our home for the week: a three bedroom condo on Grace Bay. Life is so hard sometimes. ;) I mean honestly. The view was just terrible. ;)


It was so bad that we decided to have dinner on the balcony. Ha!


The sunset was just amazing. I cannot believe how gorgeous it is here. I keep wanting to pinch myself! We retired pretty early after a walk on the beach as we were exhausted from a long day of travel.


We got up this morning and rolled out of bed to hit the beach in our front yard. Guys, I told you. Life. Is. So. Tough. ;) Snorkeling is the big thing to do here so we practiced in "our ocean" before heading to a corral reef.


Again, driving to the corral reef was an adventure. When we got there we discovered a few new gray hairs and a little white dog on the beach. Agh! I missed my puppy so much at that point.


Jackson brought borrowed snorkeling gear with him and we got Kathi and Grace sets for their birthdays this year. Those three went out diving first. Then K & G switched out with Susie and me. Jackson, a true PeteFISH, never left the water. He showed us around and we saw all kinds of fish. I got pretty far out into the ocean when two things occurred to me: I don't know how to swim well and SHARKS love corral reefs. It is amazing how quickly the second thought erased the first and propelled me back to shore. I had a mild (fine. Complete and total) meltdown when I cut my foot on corral and couldn't get back to shore as quickly as I wanted to. Jackson didn't help by leaving me to talk to another snorkeler. Grr. Anyway, I lived and only have a small wound on my foot to show for it (SHARKS can smell even the slightest amount of blood in the water!). I've never been happier to read a magazine in the beach. Ever.

Jackson and Susie did the initial grocery shopping yesterday while K, G and I went to the beach. They said they spent $170 on not much and I kind of brushed them off. Then we stopped in for a few more items on the (terrifying) drive home from the reef. Holy hades.


Oh, sure, $48 for a case of water? No problem. (Yes, that is in U.S. dollars!)


$10 for a 12-pack of Diet Coke? Gulp. It was the first time I missed home and our reasonably priced grocery stores. We survived and Susie's wallet got a lot lighter. :/ the girls were tired of the sun so Jackson and I hit "our" beach by ourselves. He decided that sneaking into Club Med down the beach was a great idea because then we could use all of their watercrafts. I'm always down for seeing foreign country's jails so I obliged. We made it in and selected an ocean kayak with the assistance of Jackson's new friend, Ronny. (Ronny worked for Club Med and either didn't know or didn't care that we weren't guest of that particular resort.) Listen, getting into a kayak in the ocean isn't easy. The waves don't stop just because you need to get in your kayak, the nerve. ;) After Ronny finished laughing at us trying to get in, he came over and got us on our way. It was SO fun! The waves made it like a thrill ride. I kept letting out yells of excitement because it was just so awesome. We returned our kayak and made a memorably bad dismount as a wave hit just as I was exiting and turned the boat over knocking Jackson into the water and his oar into my face. My pride hurt more than my face, no worries. ;) We plan to be Club Med residents for the rest of the week. ;)

This evening we decided to go to dinner at a restaurant down the beach from our place. It was fun to be able to walk along the ocean to get to the restaurant!


K & G enjoying the live music on the patio.


Jackson, Susie and Kathi exploring while we waited for our food.


Is my husband not the cutest guy ever? I know it. I love when he's "summer Jackson" which means tanned and relaxed. :)


Jackson tried friend conch. It was a bit chewy, but he liked it.


I had fish tacos with "rice with peas" on the side. The tacos were amazing, but my peas appeared to be black beans! (Susie, who got the same meal as I did, failed to notice this until she finished eating. Ha!!)


Grace and I even shared this glorious dessert. It was worth the diet cheat!!


We've heard from MacKenzie a few times. She's having fun with Madison, Macy and Addie in Upland. She's supposed to be using their electric fence but has been unfazed by the shocks she's been delivered thus far. Ha!!!


We were even able to FaceTime with my Mom last night and see MacKenzie's antics for ourselves. She's a funny little dog! :)

We aren't sure what the plan is for tomorrow. Whatever it is, I'm ok with it. We are loving the Turks!!!! :)

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