Turks and Caicos Christmas 2021 - Day 4: Between The Bight beach and Grace Bay beach

 It was another beautiful morning at the Airbnb. As we had done last time it wasn't raining, we had breakfast on the veranda, and eased our way into Christmas Eve.

In pursuit of a new stretch of sand to lay upon, we headed about a mile up the road, just past where we got takeout last night, to a beach access / parking area. I didn't realize it until we got to the parking lot, but Sabrina and I visited this same spot almost 4 years ago.

Today, just as last time we were here, there was a steady trickle of people walking back and forth, some with snorkel gear, between resorts/beaches.

Occasionally, a parasail boat departed from the beach on either side and paraded back and forth for our entertainment.

We relaxed here for about 2 or 3 hours, swimming in the turquoise water to cool down, now and then. I donned snorkel gear and lazily swam down the coast, towards and around The Bight Reef.

The wind was blowing onshore today, so the water was a bit rough for snorkeling, but the visibility was still very good. We hadn't snorkeled this reef (AKA Coral Gardens) last time, so it was new to me.

Some time around 2 o'clock, we strolled up the beach, towards Grace Bay, looking for somewhere to get a snack. Unfortunately, all of the places in the 1/2 mile (ish) stretch of sand that we covered were part of all-inclusive resorts (mostly Beaches), and not open to the public.

Our only option were to continue farther up the beach, or head back the way we came (where the only option was the place we got takeout from, last night). 

Somewhat annoyed, we decided to return to the chateau for our own (early) happy hour. Once we reached our starting point, we had one last swim to cool down before piling back into the car.

Back at the house, I whipped up some mango daiquiris for our late-afternoon repose.

Around 5, we headed down the street for our Christmas Eve dinner reservation at the Magnolia.

We admired the sunset view over Turtle Cove Marina and enjoyed a veritable feast, al fresco.

After dinner, we promenaded around the marina to stave off food comas (and also to scout for future dinner venues).

The night air is full of lively music, and there was a brief fireworks show at the beach, visible from the veranda.

Tomorrow, we're going parasailing in celebration of the winter solstice. After that, who knows?

Turks and Caicos Christmas 2021 - Day 3: Rain

It turned out that the forecast for today was correct; it rained almost all day, with maybe a 90-minute break in the early afternoon.

We used up a significant portion of our food supplies to make a large brunch this morning, while listening to the soothing sounds of pouring rain on the roof. The veranda is covered only by a pergola, so we were mostly confined inside all day.

We relaxed and lounged around, planning and making reservations for future meals and activities. During the rain respite, a few of us took a quick trip to the Wine Cellar for some liquid supplies. (I like the FAQ page that just says "<No FAQs yet>".)

Eventually, we emerged again, in the rain, to return to IGA for solid supplies, and also pick up some take-out from Somewhere Cafe and Lounge, which is sort of a tex-mex restaurant.

It rained maybe 1" today, which doesn't seem like a lot... except there doesn't appear to be any stormwater management here, so all of the streets had standing water and some were absolutely flooded. Luckily, our rental car has adequate ground clearance, and we only did a three-mile loop, but traffic was relatively heavy and there are some very creative drivers here.

Tomorrow, the weather should be much nicer, and hopefully everything will have had time to dry overnight.

Turks and Caicos Christmas 2021 - Day 2: The Bight Beach

We had an early breakfast on the veranda this morning, before it got too hot.

In the distance, the turquoise water beckoned to us; we could not resist it.

It's only about 1/3 of a mile down to the beach, so it's theoretically possible to take the bicycles down to The Bight beach park... but there are only four of them, and five of us.

Also, the bikes seemed to be claimed by several small lizards, who were patrolling the area (hopefully eating bugs).

Here's the front of the Airbnb, nestled among the palms.

Instead of riding or walking, we decided to take the rental car down to the beach, so we could leave bags and the cooler in it.

Just as it was two years ago in St. Croix, our rental car is left-hand drive, which feels odd when also driving on the left. (We tried to open an identical rental car in the parking lot today, except it was right-hand drive. That, and the fact that it wouldn't unlock with the fob, clued us in.)

The only other people at the beach at 9:30 AM were there for sailing camp. Other than that, it was practically deserted.

We lazed around in the sun, reading, napping, people-watching, and occasionally going for a swim to cool off, for several hours.

I put on a snorkel/mask and floated in the crystal-clear water for a bit, following a few schools of fish around. The only notable sight was a small school of (what Google tells me are) palometa.

Approaching 11:30, the beach was still empty. Throughout the morning, parasail boats landed occasionally to swap passengers.

Just after 1 PM, a few tour boats returned from half-day jaunts. There's some talk of going parasailing, some time in the next week. Terms are still being negotiated.

Finally around 2 PM, people had gotten hungry enough to take action. There were a few promising-looking resorts a mile or so up the beach, but our internet hotspot wasn't working (overheated, possibly) so we we loaded up the rental car and headed down the road in search of a beach bar. As we entered the Grace Bay area, it got more crowded and harder to find parking. Not wanting to waste time driving around, we once again headed to a known entity: Solana.

After a leisurely lunch, we walked up the beach, marveling at all of the watersport options.

Grace Bay beach goes on for several miles; We strolled for almost a mile, within sight of the northern end of the crescent, before returning from whence we came.

Rudy got a sudden burst of energy near the end, and chased some sandpipers down the beach.

Sometimes, relaxing can really be exhausting; we were all tuckered out by 3:45 PM, so we headed back to Solana, found the car, and returned to the house.

We had drinks and snacks on the veranda while the sun set in the distance.

After an hour or two of watching cars drive down the side road, towards the neighboring business that we could barely see through the trees, Rudy and I got curious enough to go see what all the commotion was. We had driven past it earlier in the day, and also seen it on Google maps, but the large sign reading Business Solutions wasn't very helpful.

The best way I can think of to describe it is: like a small Target, but without any food. 

It's your one-stop shop for stationery, cleaning supplies, furniture, toys, bikes, electronics, sign-printing, appliances, party supplies and balloons, guitars, holiday decorations, etc.

Despite seeing several things that would've been helpful to acquire, we hadn't actually brought any money/cards/wallets. There was only half an hour until close, so we decided we could return some other day if necessary, as its just down the street.

It would honestly be very helpful if the Airbnb reviews mentioned "if you forget anything, you can probably get it next door at the department store".

We had eaten a late-and-large lunch, and also snacked on the veranda, so nobody was particularly hungry for dinner. Instead, we had a smorgasbord of leftovers from yesterday, washed down with some of IGA's finest beer and wine.

Two hours after our retail adventure, someone decided that Rudy and Jeanne should pose for a Thank You photo, for the woman who provided the biscotti for the trip. I suggested they should feed it to each other, and the idea stuck.

This required some hands-on direction from the photographer, but she eventually got the shot.

The weather forecast mentioned rain tonight and tomorrow; there was a lengthy and aggressive lightning display to the west, earlier, but nothing is wet so far.

I recall being unimpressed with the accuracy of weather forecasts around this latitude, previously, but if it turns into a rainy day, we'll have to get creative with the agenda, as there really isn't much to do here that isn't outside (pandemic or not).

Turks and Caicos Christmas 2021 - Day 1: Arrival

We went to St. Croix in 2019. For obvious reasons, we didn't go on a trip last year around Christmas. This year, we booked Turks and Caicos as soon as we could get flights, back in February-ish.

Sabrina and I have been here once before, in January of 2018, which made some of the planning easier. The pandemic, however, made some of it much harder.

The entry requirements were similar to St. Lucia, but slightly stricter. Other than the usual plane ticket and passport, we also needed:

• Vaccine cards
• Negative COVID tests, taken no more than 3 days prior to arrival
• International health insurance, with proof that it covers COVID treatment/testing
• TCI Assurance pre-approval, which required uploading all of the above
  

Due to the recent explosion in cases in the northeast, it took longer than we expected to get our negative test results. Lauren's was down to the wire; Rudy and Sabrina were submitting her paperwork to TCI Assurance at midnight, nine hours before we planned to leave for the airport. (A midnight typo caused another delay as we needed to upload a photo of her passport, and her approval came through around 9 AM.)

Sabrina managed to get all of the paperwork straightened out, for all five of us. We kept telling ourselves that this relatively high barrier to entry would keep other people out; when we saw how few people were in the JetBlue international terminal area, we suspected that our prediction was correct.

There was absolutely zero wait at security, which was good because some of our ziplock bags of snacks failed the swab test and went on a side quest, and the gate area was almost empty when we arrived.

According to a flight attendant, there were only 65 people (out of 162 seats) on our flight. We had several rows to ourselves, up in rows 6 and 7.

Our original flight was 11:45 AM, but it was changed to 1:15 PM (and possibly combined with a later flight?), which meant we didn't have much daylight to spare. It's only a 3.5 hour flight, thankfully.

The sun was waning as we deplaned, just before 5 PM. It was humid and warm, around 80°F, which is always a surprise when coming from below-freezing conditions.

As there weren't many tourists coming in, and we were at the front of the departing crowd, we breezed through COVID check, immigrations, and customs. It was as painless of a travel day as we could have possibly wished for, given the circumstances. (It was nearly the polar opposite to our St. Lucia experience this summer, for comparison.)

The change in flight time complicated the rental car acquisition, as the Avis franchise closes from 5 to 8 PM (presumably for dinner). Thankfully. Lauren had called ahead and had our car waiting, with the keys in it. Once we found it in the parking lot, it seemed kind of obvious in hindsight.

We made it the 4 miles or so to our Airbnb, unloaded, shed some layers, and concocted a plan for the remainder of our evening. After some debate, we decided to go with a safe bet for dinner and headed to the Mango Reef restaurant, just over a mile down the road.

Just as the last (and only) time we were here, there were birds patrolling the perimeter, presumably looking for dropped morsels. Jeanne asked about them, and I think the waiter said they were "night herons".

The food was excellent, and it was a beautiful night to dine al fresco.

After dinner, we hit the IGA grocery store, just down the Leeward Highway on the other side.

A passing stranger saw us taking pictures in front of the giant Christmas tree by the door, offered to help, and produced this absolute gem.

Back at the house, we stowed our plunder, further settled into our temporary home, and called it an early night. The sun rises an hour earlier here than at home, and the Terrizzis are all morning people. Plus, the upstairs bedrooms have open balconies into the vaulted living area.

Tomorrow looks like perfect weather, so we will probably go to the beach.