Today we arrived back in Ames after an amazing vacation to Turks and Caicos! We left Ames on Saturday the 18th and flew from Minneapolis to Toronto, where we stayed the night. On Sunday we flew to Providenciales, where we stayed at the Beaches Turks and Caicos resort until leaving on the 24th. We stayed at a hotel in Minneapolis before returning home today.
We had really been looking forward to this trip for at least a year, and to pay for the vacation Elizabeth and I each donated plasma for most of that year. In the end, we were able to pay for almost the entire trip with plasma money! The resort was great, as it was located on Grace Bay, which had an amazing beach. the resort had an awesome water park, multiple large swimming pools, a surfing simulator, and over 20 different restaurants. I will try to sum up in chronological order how we spent our time there...
Sunday the 19th - We arrived to the resort around the middle of the day. After a welcome and check in process, the kids and I ate at the Mac & Cheese food truck (which was located very close to our room in the French Village. I had the crab mac, Maxwell had the All American, Nolan had taco mac, and we split an order of the deep fried mac balls. They were out of the veggie mac, so Elizabeth grabbed a sandwich from Bobby Dees. We then spent a good amount of time in the kid pool by Bobby Dees and then the water park. For dinner we went to Schooners. Nolan tried sea scallops as an appetizer, and he actually liked them! I ordered conch chowder and the swordfish steak. Also two pina coladas (they were very tasty). Afterwards, while the kids relaxed in the room, Elizabeth and I checked out a dessert buffet.
Monday the 20th - We enjoyed breakfast at Barefoot by the Sea. Elizabeth had the honey grilled pineapple, which was very good. I ordered the Jamaican stamp and go, which was a couple of poached eggs on a saltfish fritter. Nolan had peach pancakes, and Maxwell had an all American breakfast. Then we swam at the Italian pool for quite a while. The Italian pool was the largest pool at the resort, and the kids really liked it. After that, Elizabeth was able to tye-dye a couple of shirts. Then we walked over to Bella Napoli for some pizza at lunch. I enjoyed the BBQ chicken pizza. Afterwards, we checked out the beach. Maxwell built sand castles while the rest of us did a bit of swimming and snorkeling. After that, we did more swimming in a pool and played water volleyball. After relaxing a bit in the room, Elizabeth and Nolan played giant chess. Nolan won, but I gave him several pointers. For dinner that evening we went to Soy for some sushi. Nolan was a good sport and tried a spicy tuna roll and some salmon sushi. It was not his favorite. I ordered three rolls (crunchy shrimp, rocky road, and volcano) and some assorted sushi (salmon, eel, and conch). After that the whole family did a night swim at the French pool. The French pool was my favorite because they must have heated the pool. It basically felt like bathwater and was always easy to get into, where the other pools seemed a but chilly initially until you got used to them.
Tuesday the 21st - We had breakfast at Neptunes. Nolan had hard boiled eggs, Maxwell had the All American breakfast, Elizabeth had avocado toast, and I had eggs Benedict. One funny thing happened during breakfast. Maxwell exclaimed "Hey look there is a naked person over there!", and a few people at nearby tables all turned their heads to look. It was just the statue of Neptune that he was pointing at, but it was pretty funny. The kids thought that it was a riot because they could see the statue's butt. After breakfast, we spent quite a bit of time enjoying the water park. I talked Maxwell into trying out the red tube slide (he was nervous to do so at first). After the first time he went down it, he loved it. Over the next hour I probably went down it another 6 times with him besides floating on the lazy river in between. For lunch we went to Cricketers Pub. The wait time was longer than I would have liked, but the Guinness and the fish and chips were good. After taking a break at the hotel, we went swimming at the Italian pool. The kids had Bobby Dees for supper, and then we watched the Sesame Street show. Maxwell was into the Muppet show, but Nolan thought it was too boring. Then the kids were able to hang out in the hotel while Elizabeth and I went to an adults only restaurant for dinner, Le Petite Chateau. Evening attire was required, so we had to dress up. I ordered the French onion soup, lobster tail, and creme brulee. The lobster tail was probably my favorite food of the trip.
Wednesday the 22nd - We had breakfast at Sky. I ordered the smoked salmon Benedict, Maxwell had tangerine beignets, and Nolan had eggs tomatillo. The view of the ocean was the best part of breakfast. Afterwards, we went swimming at the pool by Arizonas. The Arizonas pool wrapped around 3 sides of the restaurant, and it has a little cave in one area that the boys likes to swim to and find some shade. Next, we spent some time at the beach and did some of the watersports. The four of us went on a hobie cat ride, and then Elizabeth and Nolan went kayaking. For lunch we went to Neptunes. I had the Greek salad with shrimp, Maxwell had the saffron fish basket, and Nolan had a burger. After lunch Maxwell and I relaxed in the hotel while Elizabeth and Nolan went parasailing! After that we met up at the water park and had plenty of time on the lazy river and water slides. For supper we went to Barefoot by the Sea. Maxwell had the coconut shrimp, I had conch fritters as an appetizer and the snapper for my entre, and Nolan ordered shrimp surf and turf. The shrimp was good but the steak was kind of meh. Then Elizabeth and Maxwell went to the Sesame Street show, and he was able to meet Cookie Monster.
Thursday the 23rd (Thanksgiving) - We had breakfast at Marios, which was a buffet. The buffet was probably easier for the kids than sit down restaurants. Then we walked down the beach a ways and went snorkeling at a coral reef. This was one of my favorite activities of the trip. Nolan an I were the ones who snorkeled mostly. Elizabeth wasn't feeling the best at the time, and Maxwell would rather stay on the beach and play in the sand. Anyways, some of the fish we saw were "sergeant major" fish, which had kind of black and yellow vertical stripes. We also saw Caribbean blue tang and some yellowtail snapper, among other fish that I have no idea what they were. No sea turtles. After spending time at the beach, we went swimming at the Arizonas pool (to try and get all the sand off of us as best as we could). For lunch we went to Bayside, another buffet. It was ok. Then we did more swimming at the French pool. For supper we went back to Soy. I ordered the Firecracker bowl and some assorted sushi. After the kids were relaxing in bed, Elizabeth and I watched a show at the Italian pool.
On Friday all we really had time for was a breakfast at the Reflections buffet. Then we had to check out and start our trip home.
 |
| The boys enjoying the Italian pool. |
 |
| Nolan having the ocean waves crash over him. |
 |
| Elizabeth enjoying the waves at the beach. |
 |
| Maxwell with his favorite statue. |
 |
| My lobster from Le Petite Chateau. |
 |
| Nolan doing a cannonball at the Arizonas pool. |
