Turks and Caicos, the perfect get away spot from the world. Where paradise and reality come together to form the perfect vacation spot. There are so many things to do on the resort called Beaches by Sandals. From excursions to relaxing out on the white sand, just what anyone has wanted in a dream vacation. Of course for the adults, there are many alcoholic beverages to choose from. For the kids, an Xbox Gaming Garage with unlimited gaming access. Teens may do as they please, from enjoying a ride on the banana boat to renting out a catamaran, it’s there to enjoy. I seen it all when I took my trip to Turks and Caicos and thought it was the best vacation spot I will ever go on.
I still remember my aunt Angie telling me, “Pack your suitcase, we are going to Turks and Caicos.” I was shocked by her announcement and at the same time there were so many things running through my mind I didn’t know what to do first because I was full of excitement. I couldn’t wait to see the tropical islands with the crystal clear blue water in sight, it was just a dream vacation waiting for me to live it up in reality. Not to mention the resort we stayed at was amazing. Beaches by Sandals was the resort and actually they had just finish building a new portion of the resort that was finally constructed on January 20th 2009, called the Italian Village where we had stayed at.
Further more, the day finally arrives my aunt Angie and I fly out for Turks and Caicos. Along the way we did run into a few problems on our way to Turks and Caicos. Our first flight was to North Carolina, that it was there when we came along our first situation. We arrived at gate C and had to catch our next flight in five minutes and our destination we had to reach was gate G. Than I had asked my aunt Angie, “What happens if we miss this flight?”, than my aunt had said “this is the last flight out today to Turks and Caicos until tomorrow.” Than I had realized, “We have to run right now.” So than we had ran towards our next gate and I remember hearing the airport announcing, “Now boarding at gate G”, thinking to myself they are going to close the gate on us, we finally arrived after running through three other terminals. Once safely on board, my aunt and I were treated to first class seating, which I have never experienced before, and thought it was amazing. Now my aunt and I just kicked back and relaxed and enjoy our three and a half hour flight to Turks and Caicos.
“If you look just to your right, you will see many of the islands that make up Turks and Caicos”, said the stewardess. I leaned over my aunt and saw not only the islands that made up Turks and Caicos, but what was so mesmerizing was the clear blue water. As I gazed at the water, I had realized that, what makes up these enchanting islands is the shimmering water that it reflects upon. The islands weren’t the only thing that was casting mind bending shadows on. What would seem like coral reefs from thirty thousand to fifty thousand feet up in the air, was actually just a cloud casting its shadow over the water. Yes I guess you can say I was foolish to think something bizarre as that but hey, what are the odds?
“Aw we finally landed and than arrived at the customs center.” To me that was a great sign of relief for the fact that I thought it was a long but pleasant flight. Stepping off the plane feeling the tropical breeze brush across my face and feeling the blazing heat rub across my skin was the sign of tropical paradise to me. Our next step was to check in with customs. As we were checking in with customs, we also had to grab our luggage. So here we are my aunt and I looking for our luggage, minutes past. Than my aunt had finally come to a conclusion, our luggage never reached the flight back at North Carolina. Seeing how my aunt and I made the flight in less than five minutes, our luggage didn’t. Boy was I heated. I was freaking out thinking wow, what are we going to do now? I of course didn’t know what to do because I have never experienced anything like this before. Than, I asked my aunt, how are we going to get our luggage back? She had than told me, “Well I filled out the form with our information on it and they said our luggage should be here sometime tomorrow in the evening.” To myself I’m thinking “O I thought they had lost our luggage.” Now that I see that they didn’t lose our luggage, it was a great sign of relief for me. Although, the downfall to that was that my aunt and I didn’t have anything to where that following evening and onto the next whole day as well. Not to mention our tooth brushes and other things we needed to freshen up were all in the luggage too. Further more, as we leave customs and head towards the resort in our taxi, we got to see the island and the people that occupy it as well. The island stretches to about 12 miles long, that I find hard to believe but it’s true.
Moving on, we finally reached our destination. We arrive at Italian Village and welcomed by the hotel staff with moist towels to wipe our faces down from the intense heat and all. We were than offered rum punch, water, and even cookies, lots and lost of cookies. As we strolled along, we reached the concierge and finally checked in. Although, we had to wait like an hour because our rooms weren’t even ready yet, and to think it took just forever to get here the rooms would be ready right? Well we were wrong. There for, my aunt and I went into the PUB in the meantime, basically the spot where everybody goes to drink, hangout, eat, and most of all have fun. Believe it or not, the legal drinking age over there is seventeen. Of course I was eighteen by than so I was allowed that wonderful privilege and anyways I might as well take advantage of this now because I know when I come back in the states it won’t be legal to drink. There we are sitting down eating and drinking watching ESPN and notice the fastest man in the world was on TV. Our waiter happens to come by and ask us, “Do you know who that man is”, my aunt and I looked at each other and said “no who?” Our waiter than replied, “That’s my brother Usain Bolt.” Now really what are the odds of that happening, getting a waiter with a famous athlete in the family? At the same time me and my aunt we shocked and thrilled, but we had also felt bad because we didn’t know who his brother was.
After we had finished eating at the PUB, it was than when my aunt and I went up to our room to see if it was ready. When we finally got to our room, we walked in and WOW, was I amazed to see what the room had in store for us. My room consisted of a bunk bed, my own sink and mirror, and unlimited access to and Xbox 360. Moving on into the next room, it was my aunt’s room which consisted of a really big bed, a really big couch, and an unforgettable jaw dropping view of the water. I didn’t realize that we were at the very top of the building we were staying in until after seeing that amazing view. After soaking all of that up, my aunt and I thought it would be a great time to celebrate and so we opened up the refrigerator and what do you know, there happens to be a fridge stocked up with lots of free alcohol and liquor. Of course at the moment called for a time of celebration, we popped open a bottle of champagne.
Afterwards, my aunt and I settled down for a bit than walked around the resort to see what we can expect the next few days. After walking around for a bit, it was time to eat dinner so than we headed back towards the PUB once again. After dinner was over we left the PUB and walked around the resort once more but this time, it was very vibrant at night. The resort was lit up with neon lights and also consisted of a giant pool that featured neon lights in it as well. Than my aunt and I had a seat at an outside bar with a couple drinks just talking about what a day we had and glad we made it. Afterwards, back up to the room and we went straight to sleep resting for the next day.
The next day arrives and we are well rested. Next thing you know the doorbell rings. Yes, can you believe that we have a door bell equipped with our room? Any who, it was the concierge to provide us with toothbrushes and toothpaste since we didn’t have our luggage at the time. I thought it was very thoughtful of them to do that for us. After freshening up, my aunt and I head over to a restaurant where they served a really big breakfast buffet. From pancakes to waffles, French toast, bacon, cubed potatoes, grits, sausage, eggs, and for something sweet five different types of Danishes and so much more to devour. Anything you want to have for breakfast or think of was right there. They even have chefs that will cook your eggs a certain way that you like. There is also a wide verity of beverages to choose from as well.
Afterwards, my aunt and I walked around the resort once more to see what this place had in store for us. We headed over to the French village where there was a café full of many deserts, pastries, and of course coffee. The French village also featured a stage where guests come to watch theatrical events and enjoy their evening dinner. What I thought was the best feature of the village was, the Red Lane Spa. From all that running around through the airport and wondering around the resort, the spa surely gets it done. That evening, we had sushi for dinner at the French village. It was quite a wait but it’s ok because there happen to be a wild cat circling around the dinner table hungry. Very surprising to see that at a resort while dinning. At last after a long period of wait, our sushi was finally served and all was good. Of course I couldn’t leave the cat out. I did give the cat some sushi and the cat seemed to be very satisfied with it. After dinner, my aunt and I headed over to the PUB to see what was going on over there. We walk in have a couple drinks and than out of no where, someone starts singing. We had no idea that it was karaoke night. We did have a good time though because some people couldn’t sing which made it very entertaining to watch. On the other hand the people who could sing, well I must say was also very entertaining to watch. If you have to know, no my aunt and I did not participate in the karaoke night. As that night drew to an end, we headed back up to the room and surprisingly, our luggage arrived. It was about one of the most relieving thing that occurred to me that night. So I hoped in the shower freshened up, and went to bed.
As the next day draws near, we pretty much had a routine going now, get up, get ready, go eat breakfast, and than go layout on the beach. Today was the day my aunts boyfriend Tom was suppose to meet us here. He had departed a different day than we did due to the fact that he was caught up in some business. Tom was schedule to meet us here in the morning around ten or so. In the meantime, I was done soaking up the sun for now so I wonder around the resort and found a basketball court. As bad as I wanted to play, nobody was playing unfortunately. I wasn’t bothered by it though but moving on, I came along the equipment rental storage and I really wanted to rent a football to throw in the water with my aunt. Unfortunately, they were all rented out. So after the unfortunate events that took place for me, I headed back towards the beach to where my aunt was still laying out. It was just about that time to meet up with her boyfriend. When Tom finally arrived, we went and had some lunch and relaxed for a bit. Afterwards, we than went on an excursion to Iguana Island to observe the protected species that thrived on that island. I must say that it was pretty amazing because I remember getting off the boat on Iguana Island and than seeing a giant type lizard behind a shack. It was pretty fascinating to see these rare species because only a few remain left that’s why they are kept on their own protected island.
Moving on, after we toured Iguana Island, we left from there and the boat took us snorkeling. I’m not the best snorkeler in the world and not that strong of a swimmer either so I knew this was going to be a bit hard for me. I had to do it though because my aunt paid for it so I didn’t want to waste her money. After the captain of the boat gave us a few tips and rules of snorkeling, off we go into the water. I jumped in and at first it was ok but than I knew that I wasn’t going to last very long. The water was choppy out and made it even harder for me to swim and snorkel at the same time. I knew from the start I shouldn’t have jumped off the boat without a life vest. After struggling for a while, I finally climbed back on the boat and waited for my aunt and her boyfriend to finish snorkeling. After snorkeling, the captain dropped us off at a private island and told us to hang out here for a while and find sand dollars. So we did just that but I didn’t find any sand dollars. By this point I was very hungry and thirsty because we waited on this island for about an hour and a half. During this time, we were standing just inches away from the water while giant stingrays swim past us. It was just stingray after stingray, and I thought, “Man this never happens in Virginia Beach”. Finally, the captain picks us back up and we all board the boat. On the way back to the resort, the captain had been preparing a conch salad for us, and might I say it was very good. The boat ride back was very tiring and long and by the time we got back it was time for dinner. Worn out and exhausted, there was no time for a nap, we freshened up and went out to eat for dinner.
After dinner was over, the three of us headed to the PUB to have a few drinks and listen to some karaoke. I on the other hand met up with a few people from New York that I’ve never met before. They were some pretty cool people actually, but I did meet a few other teens from New Jersey, and let me say that I didn’t enjoy that experience. These Jersey kids were very cocky and that’s one of the most things I hate in people and it really bothers me. Any how, I just ignore it and brush it for the mean time. Might I add in that these kids were downing alcohol like it was water. I mean it was beer after beer like “slow down before your liver gives out gosh!” So this night ended up like every night has pretty much.
As the next day draws near, we got ready to go on a catamaran. What would seem like a perfect day for this really wasn’t. I mean don’t get me wrong, the sun was beating down on us, water was cool and refreshing, but the there was no wind at all to go on the catamaran. Of course they did take us out on it but the only problem was that we were going slowly due to the fact that there was no wind to blow us along. The catamaran took us half way around the island to view the different area of the islands and we also saw other resorts there as well. Some resorts had been there for quite a while, while others have just been built. After our afternoon stroll on the catamaran, we sail on back to the resort and have lunch at a pizza bar called, The Dive in Movie. Here we watched movies on a big screen while served any pizza of our choice. After we had finished eating, we headed back towards the room for an afternoon nap to regain energy for the night. Every night was like any other night except the fact that we ate at a different place every night. That night we had Italian food, specifically I had Chicken Alfredo. Typically when I eat at an Italian restaurant, that’s normally what I order.
Sadly, this was our last night here and we had to end the night going back up to the room packing for tomorrow. As much as I didn’t want to leave paradise, sadly that’s reality. So we headed back up to the room and packed our luggages. The next day arrives and we had to be out of the room by ten in the morning. We got up extra early so we could go have breakfast for the last time. Afterwards, we waited for our shuttle bus to pick us up and drop us off at the airport. Waiting for the shuttle bus to pick us up seemed like forever. Once the bus had finally come, we headed towards the airport. Once there, we arrived and shockingly, the line in the airport was very long. To myself I’m thinking, “Really? Is everyone leaving on the same day now?” As we wait, the line gradually moves along and we make it on our flight. As we begin our flight back to Virginia Beach, I look out the window and reminisce on everything wonderful about Turks and Caicos. I was beginning to miss the super salty water when I went swimming, and the unlimited amounts of food I could possibly devour. Not only that but the people that inhabit the island as well with their superb services at the resort. I’m also going to miss going to the PUB every night watching people sing horribly and well and no stop drinks at the bar. I also started to miss days where my aunt and I would just lay out and soak up the sun for hours and than have a pretty good tan afterwards. Believe it or not but I’m glad I took the chance of snorkeling when I knew from the beginning I was going to struggle because in the end, I would regret not taking the opportunity I had to do so in such a beautiful aquatic environment. I’m going to also miss all the great food served on the island that won’t be found back in the U.S. Just the scenery itself is mesmerizing which is a big thing to me because who knows when I’m going to be able to come back. All I know is that I’m returning back here some day in my life time.
So there we are on our flight to Charlotte, North Carolina and when we finally get there, another unusual situation happens again in this airport. Our flight was delayed. So than in the mean time, we went into some sports bar restaurant they had at the airport and ate there for a while. After spending about an hour there I even had time to go and get me some ice cream at Cold Stone. Now you know your flight is really late and delayed when you have all the time in the world to do all that. I even got the biggest bowl of ice cream you could possible get, and I finished it. After the long agonizing wait for our flight, the plane finally touches down and we board for Virginia. To myself I’m thinking, “Wow after all it took just to get here, first having to rush to our next flight to get to Turks and Caicos, and than losing our luggage, to not being able to snorkel and swim, and all the waiting we had to go through on the island, and than waiting to leave the island to come back to the states, and than having our flight delayed even longer, I must say it was all worth the trouble going through. As impatient as I am, I would do it all over again.
