What To Do: Turks + Caicos

Jake and I had planned to not really leave the resort during our 5 day trip and I have to admit, that I could not do it! We ate breakfast, lunch and dinner at the two hotel restaurants and I was getting a little stir crazy. Don't get me wrong, I was obsessed with our hotel, but I learned that even I needed a change of scenery (and food) after a few days. Read about our hotel here. 

Leave the Resort. 

I actually caved before we even left Charlotte, around a month before our trip and reserved a rental car for the last 2 days. I had to! I felt like I would be missing out on everything the island had to offer. We did take a taxi to dinner one evening and it wasn't too expensive but there is really nothing like being able to explore on your own. Our hotel concierge was amazing and helped us get into the best restaurant on the island at the last minute. I have never really relied on the concierge before (due to my obsessive planning) but get this -- we did not have one single reservation for any meal before we stepped foot on the island. This changed after we had been there for about 20 hours. I'm not sure we really needed reservations every single night but we definitely did a few times. So I was glad that I had the concierge to help. The takeaway here is, even if you are going to a semi-remote island in the middle of the caribbean, a little planning is still necessary. Our favorite dinners were at Magnolia Wine Bar and Coco Bistro. Our best lunch was at the Conch Shack -- you are literally right on the beach. Can't beat that view!

Go on a Boat Excursion. 

The front desk also booked a 4 hour Caicos Dream boat excursion which was supposed to leave at 9:30 am on Thanksgiving Day, but likely ended up leaving closer to 10:15 due to something I like to call Island Time.  Not to worry though, because we still had a blast.  Our ship captain was named Kwee and had a penance for "conch" jokes, such as "you conch believe it", etc.  Two of the ship mates dove for fresh conch, which they then made into a fresh delicious conch salad with. Tasty! We tried to snorkel but it was too rough, but I'm glad we jumped in anyway.  Jake even went down the slide into the ocean, but I wasn't brave enough to do that -- my excuse was that I didn't want to get my hair wet. Maybe next time? After that, we headed over to a private island you can only get to by boat and lastly, we stopped at Half Moon Bay and Iguana Island where over 5,000 Iguanas live.... and apparently an equal amount of bugs. I'm not sure exactly where I got bitten, but I definitely took about 35 bites home as my souvenir. Oh well. I can't complain. I mean, c'mon.  Oh and just when you thought it couldn't get any cooler, we also took a detour to a shipwreck. 

Visit Chalk Sound including Sapodilla and Taylor Bay.

The weather wasn't super great the day we went, but we still had an awesome time. We went to pick up our rental car (which was an experience all in itself) and got lost about seven times trying to follow the guidebook, but when we finally made it, sat down on the beach and took a deep breath. It was so quiet and calming. Just very peaceful. and I think it would be fun to stay a night right on the bay next time.  

Go to Grace Bay Beach. 

This beach was voted the best beach in the world by TripAdvisor. I'm sorry Hawaii, but I had to say, it was the most beautiful beach I've ever seen. Just absolutely gorgeous. The water, the sand, you name it. Our hotel was on Grace Bay, but it was toward the end of the beach. 

On your flight home, sit on the left side of the plane. 

You can thank me later on this one. 

xoxo,

 


P.S. Merry Christmas, friends!...if I don't talk to you until after the Holidays. As I mentioned, it will be pretty quiet around here. 

Where to Stay: Gansevoort Turks + Caicos

Several friends have asked how we choose Turks and Caicos for our Caribbean trip.  The answer is kind of silly, but I'll share it anyway.  We chose it based on the hotel.  Well, to be honest I actually have a running list in my head of all these different hotels I want to stay at... think Hotel Saint Cecelia in Austin, J.K. Place in Capri, Viceroy Anguilla. I never thought in a million years that I would be splurging on 5-star hotels, but let me tell you, it's addicting.   Once you start, you cannot stop!

Do you see the couple in the photo below? Jake joked that would be us in 30 years. If so, I'm in!

I love having a mid-November birthday because I can always rope Jake into going on a Thanksgiving Trip to take advantage of having 5 days off in a row. I'm pretty sure that this is the only time all year that we have 5 days off in a row without having to take even one day of vacation.  Below is my welcome birthday cake, complete with champagne! Always tell the hotel you are celebrating a special occasion and they will definitely take care of you.    

We stayed in a Pool View Studio which was an upgrade as a result of booking through an Orbitz travel package. I would recommend booking through a package if you have researched prices online, you can usually save several hundred dollars.   

Can you see the ocean peeking out? Look closer :)

And now, for my favorite spot on the entire properly. Just lounging at the pool. I spent as much time  there as humanly possible (when it wasn't raining) -- more on that later. See below: the biggest wine pour you've ever seen during said storm. 

The resort reminded me of a spanish villa. I absolutely loved the color scheme. Everything was really clean and white with pops of mint.  Even the towels were mint green. 

My other favorite detail was the colorful bougainvillea that really brightened up the property. 

When you walk out to the ocean from the hotel, this is the view. Not too shabby. We took several morning walks along the beach including one where all of a sudden we were up to our waists in water out of nowhere. That tide is very unpredictable! 

On the first day of our trip, it poured RAIN. Not for a few minutes or hours. It poured almost all day. So the guys at the bar were pretty generous with their pours ... and now I present, the biggest wine pour ever in history. *mic drop* 

For further reading, hotels that I have crossed off my list recently:

The Standard, NYC

Ion Adventure Hotel, Iceland 

St Regis, Princeville

Thompson, Miami Beach

I'll be sharing a few more photos from our Turks and Caicos trip later on the blog, including when we ventured off the resort. Stay tuned next week! 

20 Questions | Turks & Caicos Edition

I was inspired by a friend who posted this travel questionnaire to Facebook after a trip to Europe, so I thought I would be fun to answer a few questions about our most recent trip to Turks & Caicos.  So, let's jump right in (pun intended):    

Favorite photo: 

See above. We ventured out to Grace Bay on one of our last days and it was incredible. The bluest water I've ever seen (sorry Hawaii). 

Favorite quote: 

I read this quote the first day of our trip and I couldn't agree more --  "Live your life with intention and attention". Boom!  

Favorite city: 

Providenciales. Well, that's the only island we went to. So we're going with that.  

Favorite beach: 

Grace Bay (pictured above). 

Favorite aspect of Caribbean Travel: 

How simple everything is. There is one security line and only a few gates at the airport. 

Proudest moment as an American: 

Reading our guidebook to understand the tipping customs so we didn't totally miss the boat. I'm proud to say that we tipped 20% on our free breakfast each morning. 

Most shameful moment as an American: 

Not asking questions and trying to understand the locals and their culture better.  

Strangest custom: 

Driving on the left but in an American car. 

Best decision: 

Choosing the Gansevoort Turks and Caicos as our home away from home. I cannot recommend it enough. We booked a package through Orbitz and I'm sure that saved us several hundred dollars. 

Worst decision: 

Not bringing or using bugspray. See 'Not looking forward to' below. 

Best discovery: 

Conch (as in: trying a fresh conch salad on a boat ride that we took on Thanksgiving day). 

Most startling discovery: 

Turks and Caicos isn't actually in the Caribbean. It's in the Atlantic. Who knew? 

Best day: 

The day we visited Grace Bay. 

Worst day: 

On our first full day, there was a huge rainstorm and it basically poured all day. Per the guidebook, there are 350 sunny days per year. So we just drank our sorrows all day.  

Best meal: 

An unassuming restaurant called Magnolias wine bar where we ate Thanksgiving dinner. I had the lobster and Jake had the tuna steak. It was simple but very well done. They even had a Pumpkin Pie dessert for us. 

Worst meal: 

We didn't have a bad meal per se, but the food was a lot more expensive than we anticipated. So, keep that in mind if you decide to take a trip here. I would definitely go back, but maybe just adjust my budget accordingly. 

Still excited for:  

Doing my blog post recaps and editing my photos -- duh! 

Not looking forward to:  

Scratching my bug bites. They still haven't fully healed yet. 

Most looking forward to: 

Jake and I sitting down and going through all 479 of our photos together.  

Most thankful for: 

The ability to travel. I sometimes take it for granted, but it's pretty cool to go from wanting to visit a place, researching it and then actually making it happen. It's pretty magical in my eyes! 

xoxo,

Friday Five | Vol. 7

What's that you say? Only 2 more working days until Thanksgiving? That's right... it's almost the end of November.  Do you remember when I was just saying, I cannot believe it's November? Well, get ready because it's almost... December. Holy crap is all I have to say (in a good way). Christmas... or bust. 

(1) Watching HGTV's Hawaii Life makes me want to move back to Kauai. 

(2) Even though I already have too many blanket scarves, who wants to get me this one for my birthday Christmas?  

(3) You probably know by now that I am obsessed with Kindred Restaurant in Davidson, NC. Jake took me there as a surprise for our 4th anniversary in August and (you guessed it) we went again for my birthday this week. So good! (and P.S. it was voted one of the Top 10 Best New Restaurants in the Nation by Bon Appetit Magazine. NBD).  

(4) According to science, it's OK to spend all your money on traveling. Well that's good news. 

(5) Speaking of... In 4 days, we'll be sitting on a beach in Turks + Caicos. Caribbean... here we come!  

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

P.S. Sometimes I say y'all. 

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