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| The ship was the biggest thing on the island |
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| Smiles for all on a boat! |
We debarked our large cruise ship in lieu of a smaller boat, sailing towards Gibbs Cay. Why Gibbs Cay? Because that is the domain of the stingrays or at least the most tame, people-friendly stingrays. Our boat made its way over to the cay, but we didn't quite land straight away on the island. We had to do circles around the side of the island first to round up the stingrays. The sound of the engine attracts them, and they swim up to be fed. Also, they want to see us, but mostly, they like the food. We finally docked our boat and went swimming with these sea creatures. We had the opportunity, nay the privilege, to take pictures with the stingrays. So I bought the picture of a stingray swimming up my back. Focus Foxies, you can see by my reaction that I was scared. I blame the slimy feel of the beast for my fears. You will notice that Rob is kissing the barb. Apparently, it gives you 7 years of good luck. He claims he will have 15 years of good luck. More than the mathematics, I wasn't buying the logic behind kissing the barb. See Steve Irwin for details.  |
| Gibbs Cay |
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| More Gibbs Cay |
Besides having stingrays, Gibbs Cay was a beautiful island. Gibbs Cay is really small island to the east of Grand Turk. It has gorgeous white sand beaches that the Caribbean is known for, coupled with clear blue water. We had time to snorkel around to see schools of fish and lay out on the beach. If I had to pick my favorite trip picture it would be from Gibbs Cay.
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| Gibbs Cay, favorite picture |
Of our many culinary adventures on Grand Turk, our most daring was eating raw conch. One of our stingray guides swam to the bottom of the ocean and grabbed a few conchs. He de-shelled them and showed the little critter off around the boat. Then, he cut up the conch and served it to us. Well, not one to be left out of the fun, I grabbed a piece (and so did Rob). Focus Foxies, the following is a video of the experience.
Once back on The Grand Turk shore, we went to seek out some jerk chicken. The small piece of conch could not hold us over until we boarded the cruise ship. Earlier that day, I saw a sign for $3 local beers and jerk chicken, so we walked along the beach to the small hut. The delivered on their advertisements for both local beer and jerk chicken. The local beer, named Turk's Head Island Draught, came in both amber and lager styles. Fun Fact, Focus Foxies, the beer is made with Turk's head cactus, which is a prominent plant on the island. Turk's head cactus is so prominent that it is on the Turk and Caicos flag. I personally fancied the amber style better. The jerk chicken was well spiced without burning our mouths. Included in our plate was rice and fried plantains. We don't get too many fried plantains in the States, and that, my Focus Foxies, is a real problem.
We spoke with the owner chef about how he makes his meals and his future plans. Our favorite part of the meal was the sauce that came with the jerk chicken. It was a sweet and spicy red sauce. He brought out the ingredients he used in it: a hot sauce, a tomato based sauce, and his own blend of jerk spices. He also posed an interesting question, "Where is North Carolina?" He explained his needed to know because of a new opportunity he was thinking of pursuing. Apparently, he had an opportunity to set up a few jerk chicken restaurants in North Carolina. So, Focus Foxies, if you are ever in North Carolina and see a jerk chicken restaurant, take a chance. If it is his, it will totally be worth it. How often do you get a chance to have island food here? Answer: never.
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| Mangrove looking areas by the beach |
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| Palm tree swaying around! |
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| Parrot Head! |
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| View from the top |
As we sailed away from the lovely Grand Turk, we had cheese-burgers on the top open air deck because after all, we were in paradise.
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