Turks & Caicos

So it has been quite awhile since I last posted, I do apologize. I have been super busy, but promise to catch you up in the next few posts. Two weeks ago, was my spring break... yes, one of the perks of graduate school is that you do get spring break and are able to enjoy a WHOLE week off from school.

After this crazy and rough cold winter, mom and I decided we wanted to go somewhere WARM. We didn't care if it would be 100 degrees, we just wanted a place that would not be the slightest bit cold. We began researching trips about a month ago and finally decided on Turks & Caicos. I didn't even know it existed until we had planned the trip, it is one of the islands in the British West Indies. Turks and Caicos promised us warm weather so we knew it would be a successful week.

I left Austin on the 5:45 AM flight to Atlanta where I met mom at the gate and we boarded the 3 hour flight to Provodenciales, Turks and Caicos. When we arrived it was so HOT and SUNNY, perfect weather for our week in the caribbean. After arriving at the resort, we had lunch by the pool along with a delicious fruity cocktail drink to kick off the fun week ahead. After lunch we decided a nap was vital to survive the rest of the day since both of us hardly got any sleep the night before. I think I could've slept through the afternoon and night, I was just that tired, but I woke up to enjoy room service and of course, watch the season finale of the Bachelor. Great pick by the way Brad.

Our Hotel: The Regent Palms

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent laying on the beach and baking in the sun. Despite the fact that I was running a half-marathon in a week in a half, I rarely exercised on vacation. We rented bikes for the day and rode to town and did a little shopping, although there wasn't much to buy.

The best restaurant on the Island

Downtown in Provo

The view from the beach

The gorgeous sunset we watched every night

Thursday, we woke up to pouring down rain, something that you don't want to see when you are in the caribbean. We ate breakfast in the rain (and I mean in the rain) and then hit up the gym to do a little running. Dad flew in around lunchtime and we met him for lunch at the hotel. By lunch time the rain had stopped, and although the clouds stuck around we sat on the beach for awhile until it started pouring again.

The bartender knew how to make some great drinks!

Thankfully Friday brought us another sunny and warm day. We hung out by the beach all day and it was fantastic. The view of the crystal clear ocean and orange skyline never got old.

All dressed up for dinner

Sunday we spent the morning on a boat in not so great weather. It was cold and yucky, but we made the best of it. We "snorkeled" out in the middle of the ocean, or more like saw 3 fish while swimming around in rough rough sees and being attacked by coral, saw the beaches from the boat, toured an iguana island where we saw about 3 iguanas, and skied in the ocean. I was the only one up for skiing in the ocean, but I love to ski and have never gotten the opportunity to do so in the ocean, so I decided to give it a shot. It was so much harder than skiing on the lake, because the ocean was anything but calm. Surprisingly, I didn't fall, but struggled to stay up at times. After, spending the morning in the boat, we ventured out to a local place called "da conk shack" to enjoy some conk for lunch. One of the things Turks and Caicos is famous for is their conk. Prior to this trip I had never eaten conk, nor did I know that it was even edible, but it was so good. It tasted a lot like calamari which is one of my favorites. We also got to see all of the gorgeous conk shells on the beach.

On the boat

Lunch at da conk shack

Fresh conk

Conk shells

Sunday we slept in, packed and then mom and dad dropped me off at the airport. They got to enjoy one more night in Turks & Caicos, but I had to fly back to make class in the morning. I made it safely back to Austin Sunday night and reality hit Monday when school returned in full-swing.

We had a great trip and it was so much fun to spend some time with mom and dad, and of course get a tan, even though it was more like sunburn. Ha. My favorite part of the island was definitely the gorgeous views of the sun setting over the ocean and the amazing fresh seafood. Happy Monday friends!

-Morgan