{WARNING: the following blog post will make you want to stop everything you are doing, drop the kiddos off at grandma's, grab your sweetie and head to the islands} Allow me to gush just one more day about our heavenly getaway. I don't believe that there is another place on this planet that could top it. And, i think we must have visited at the absolutely most perfect time of the year. Because, T & C was deserted. Most days we had the beach to ourselves....seriously...do you see anyone?...
I told you yesterday that we went with our friends, Anne & Mark. We were their guests at this amazing resort.
They spoiled us and treated us and wined and dined us. We had so much fun with them. Anne is the author of the book that i illustrated. In the process of working on the books, we became close friends and our husbands have, too. We had such a great time with them.
The seashells in T & C are un-real. {I am going to run out of awesome adjectives to describe this vacation in this blog post! Ha!} Conch shells everywhere. I posted this picture on my facebook while we were there and my friends didn't believe that we found them on the beach. But, we did!
See!
We seriously plucked them right out of the water or in the sand. All of these...
and i filled a whole suitcase with them! I lovingly and gently wrapped and packed them all up and then the customs lady at the airport very unlovingly unpacked them all! Grrr! But, they made it home safely and perfectly! Success!
We only spied a few of these guys on our beach walks. He's yellow! I had to snap his picture for Griffin.
Of course my Mark had to catch him.
Mark and Anne chartered a boat for us for a day and it was so cool!
Captain Shaun was the coolest dude.
We stopped and toured Iguana Island {thankfully, they live only on their own island in T & C}...
then we stopped and went snorkeling on this sandbar that seemed to go on forever. We found sand dollars, conch shells and this gorgeous starfish!... the water, oh the water!!!! It looks like a swimming pool, right? Nope...it's the ocean. Crystal clear, warm and the finest powder white sandy bottom. The sand was the consistency of flour. I've been to many different beaches in my life and i've never felt anything like this before.
Then, we went bottom fishing over a reef from our boat. Our guys really wanted to fish, and Anne and I really just wanted to hang out in the sun while they fished. But, Captain Shaun encouraged us to fish, too. And, it was actually fun.
and a little bit scary, too. My Mark caught a barracuda! And, then i caught a spotted morray eel!
Yeah, Anne and I did some girly screaming when i reeled that puppy in. But, in our defense, even Cap'n Shaun didn't want to touch it!
At the end of the day, Shaun and his first mate, Pete cleaned and gutted our fish {mackeral, grouper and snapper} and put them on ice for us. We brought them home with us and our fellas cooked us up a feast. I'm not a seafood lover at all. But, even I ate that fish for dinner and it was yummy!
They LOVED that Turk's Head beer. They don't export it, so we'll just have to go back to T & C to have it again! :)
My most favorite adventure on this vacation was the snorkeling.
T & C is surrounded by coral reef and there was this awesome spot called Coral Gardens where you just walk right off the beach and into the reef. You can't swim over the reef because it's shallow and you would hurt yourself, and it's fragile and protected.
So, you swim around the perimeter of it and it's like being inside a tropical aquarium. We were in about 25-30 feet of water at the deepest point, but it was so clear and warm. I brought a disposable underwater camera with me and am a little disappointed by the quality of the pictures, but still, you get an idea of what it was like.
Rainbow colored fish everywhere! We saw a huge sea turtle and swam just a few feet away from barracuda {eek!}. It was surreal to have all of these amazing fish swim around you. Such a fun experience to share with friends!
why, hello fishy...
Best of all...our vacay was a big fat L♥ve fest. It was truly a second honeymoon. 5 days home now and we're still mushy gushy. To be able to focus only on us as a couple for a whole week was such a gift. I love this man so much. We are blessed.
L♥ve fest for them, too :)...
every night was date night! how fun is that!? We rented a car and the Marks {they are both Mark Joseph...that was tricky!} took turns navigating the island from the left lane! Yikes! i can still hear Anne saying over and over again "on the left", "on the left"! It just felt wrong!
T & C does fine dining very well. We indulged at some amazing restaurants and once again, had them mostly to ourselves.
We dined by candlelight, starlight and ocean breezes, enjoyed fine wines and mouth watering food and never ran out of things to talk and laugh about.
Turks & Caicos is a chain of 40 islands located east of Cuba and south of the Bahamas. Only 7 of them are inhabited by people. We stayed on Providenciales. Thank you, Vanna...i mean, Anne...
Before we left for home, Anne and I stopped at the local elementary school and public library and donated a few of our books. The people of T & C are so warm and friendly and the folks at both the school and library were overjoyed with our donations. Warm, fuzzy feelings for sure.
So, there you have it. Heaven on earth.
I was almost reluctant to blog about it because it felt like a well kept secret place. But, since we're friends, i will share it with you.
everyone should get to experience this place. i hope one day to bring our kids here. thank you, Anne & Mark for sharing this paradise with us. We love you guys! ♥
Wow - looks so beautiful for sure! So happy you all had a wonderful, magical time my friend! Maybe one day we'll have to visit, too!
BIG hugs to you!
Posted by: kristina | November 03, 2011 at 01:40 PM
Ok Lori, I already had T&C on my list of places to visit, but now seeing this...MUST GO! Looks like a wonderful trip, so glad you all had such a LOVEly time in such a beautiful place!! Oh and those shells--amazing!!
Posted by: Jen B | November 03, 2011 at 03:13 PM
I am so happy that you guys had a great trip. Looks amazing!!!!
Posted by: jenny elkins | November 03, 2011 at 05:59 PM
*hyperventilates*
You know, I live in a tropical country made up of 7,107 islands so we have an abundance of beaches here but I am so not a beach person... but your post makes me want to go to the beach, stat! The pictures are lovely and I'm sure your experience was even lovelier! Amazing! :D
Posted by: Reg | November 03, 2011 at 09:19 PM
How wonderful and so well-deserved. How old are your kids so I can start prepping hubby when we should plan for our second honeymoon?
Posted by: I am LOVD | November 04, 2011 at 09:26 AM