Girl’s Trip – Turks and Caicos

It’s been 4 1/2 years since the last time Erica, Amanda, and I last took a girl’s trip. While Amanda was home in January for my retirement celebration we decided that it had been too long, and started planning another. We tossed around several location ideas but eventually landed on Turks and Caicos Islands, a place none of us have been.

Skip the following paragraph if you are not interested in reading about my luggage and packing.

Since we plan to do a lot of travelling this year and I no longer get the free checked bags for being active military, Tom researched and purchased a backpack from Pakt (https://paktbags.com/) that would meet our needs and be able to be carried on, thereby avoided the checked bag fees. I knew this meant I would have to pack much lighter than I normally do and would no longer be able to bring my pillow, but I also hate paying for checked bags. This trip is the test and trial run of the backpack before we buy a second one. In addition to the backpack we bought compression packing cubes to assist in getting the most amount of space out of the bag. So far, I love these cubes and really like how they keep my stuff organized and how much space they save. While packing for this trip I found the most frustrating thing to deal with was how I was going to bring all of my liquid items with only being limited to a quart size bag and 3.4oz per container. After buying two heavier duty quart size liquid travel bags from Meijers and having the zipper break before I even got done packing, we quickly got on Amazon and bought a decent TSA approved liquid container that fits way more stuff and is way sturdier. I am very pleased with the product. I was able to pack the backpack without opening the extension zippers and felt like it was going to fit in the overhead with no issues. I was right! There was plenty of room to spare. Carrying the backpack through the airports was ok. I’m not sure if my shoulders felt it more from the backpack or my other new personal item bag that didn’t come with a shoulder pad on the the sling strap. Overall I really liked skipping the check-in and loved that I was able to go straight to security, and having TSA pre-check makes it even better! I didn’t have to take anything out of my bags and breezed right through to the gate. So far I am feeling positive about all of my new luggage purchases.

We didn’t have any travel issues leaving Milwaukee. Erica and I were seated a row apart in the very back of the plane. Amanda was supposed to land in our connecting city in Charlotte after us, but she ended up getting in a few minutes early and with us being one of the last ones to get off the plane meant she had plenty of time to get to our gate to greet us. We didn’t have a long connection in Charlotte and we made our way directly to our next gate. I wasn’t assigned a seat upon check-in and had to go straight to the counter. The gate agent already had a boarding pass printed for me that had me seated in the back of the plane, but Amanda mentioned something about an open seat next to her and the gate agent was more than happy to switch out my boarding pass and give me the seat next to Amanda in row 13, and she also moved Erica up to sit one row behind us (I am also too cheap to pay for seats so I just normally take whatever they assign). It worked out pretty good. Amanda and I had been settled in our seats for quite a while when another passenger walked on and said she had a boarding pass that said she was in 13E, the seat I was sitting in. I said I also had a boarding pass with that seat number so we both checked to make sure it was for the right flight and when we saw it was, she contacted a flight attendant. The flight attendant called the gate agent who informed her that the other passenger was actually assigned to a seat at the back of the plane. I think that was the seat that I was originally assigned, but now it seemed it belonged to her. Not sure how American got that screwed up, but I’m glad I was able to sit by Amanda. Flying into Turks and Caicos we saw a full arching rainbow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a rainbow from the sky before. Amanda wasn’t quite quick enough to capture a picture of the brightness of how we originally saw it, but she did get a picture with it faintly in the background. We did have to circle a few times to wait for clearance to land and then it took awhile to get into a gate, because apparently in Turks and Caicos at the airport it is first come first served.

We stood in line for maybe 20 minutes or so before it was our turn to go through immigration. I had a really nice officer that appreciated my smile. Soon my passport was stamped and we were officially in Turks & Caicos. We waited 10 or so minutes for our shuttle to the rental car pickup. This trip we’re renting through Thrifty and I wasn’t surprised with any extra insurance costs as I was in Panama. We picked up our little “blueberry muffin”, as we have named her for now, and I became the designated driver to figure out driving on the opposite side of the road as we do at home (although the steering wheel is on the left hand side of the car). With Amanda assisting to make sure I was on the correct side of the road and going through round-abouts correctly, Erica navigated us to our AirBnB. We really did feel that as first time drivers in this country that this was a 3-person job. We worked great as a team and we’ll all help each other out all week to remember to stay on the left!

We were warned about the bumpy road the last few minutes to the AirBnB so I was prepared. I was thinking it was going to be like pothole hell in Panama, but Turks and Caicos take bumpy roads to a whole new level. This road was much worse than any I drove on in Panama. Good thing it’s only for a short distance. Hopefully the blueberry muffin doesn’t get a flat tire.

Our AirBnB is very spacious. No complaints so far. We didn’t take the time to explore the area around the house as we were all getting hangry and decided dinner was more important. We set out to head to a restaurant at a nearby resort. We couldn’t drive into the resort, but there was beach access parking so we parked the car (which by the way has crank windows and manual locks) and took our first walk on a beach in Turks & Caicos. The sand is so soft!! Not much in the way of beach treasure hunting on the short walk we took, but it was still 100% enjoyable. The water is so blue and inviting. At the resort we found the restaurants, but were told we needed reservations or it would be a couple of hours. We were definitely not waiting so we walked back down the beach and got back in the blueberry muffin to find something else.

We ended up at Coco Van which was setup similar to a food truck with plenty of outdoor seating. Amanda and Erica share mahi mahi tacos and I got a smash burger and we shared brussel sprouts. I remembered to take a picture of Erica and Amanda’s food, but didn’t remember to take a picture of my burger until it was all gone. It was pretty good as I had been pretty hungry since I hadn’t really eaten all day. On the way back to the AirBnB we stopped at the grocery store. Everything in the store is EXPENSIVE!! This should really not be a surprise since we are on an island, but it’s still sticker shock. For example it was $10 for a family size box of cereal. I decided to skip cereal for this trip. I paid $29 for a 6-pack of local beer (that was $15), a bag of tortilla chips (local brand), Tostitos queso in a jar, and a bottle of water.

Back at the AirBnB we researched some excursions we want to do this week and came up with a plan of who was going to be the point person for which excursion. Amanda is in charge of diving/snorkeling, Erica has kayak tour, and I am in charge of an excursion to the North and Middle Caicos islands. I found a tour guide on Facebook that looks like he would be a good fit so I messaged him and am just waiting to hear back. It got pretty late so we didn’t have time for cards tonight. Erica was looking forward to redeeming herself in Phase 10 from our Bermuda trip, but unfortunately she brought SkipBo thinking it was the Phase 10 deck (or maybe she did it on purpose . . . we’ll never know LoL). I did bring 3 decks of cards so I can teach them Swoop.

It’s great to be travelling with these ladies once again! I’m looking forward to a great week!

Stats of the Day:

Steps: 7,912
Cost for Hamburger and Beer: $30.50
Number Of Times I Looked The Wrong Way While Driving: Just a couple. I’m learning quick!