Turks and Caicos Islands (Day 2)

Scott's mom sent me this email in response to my post yesterday:

"Wow! You really put a lot of effort into your blog. I read every word of it and only cried three times. He smoked a cigar....I had a hard time imagining it.

Actually, It will be 32 years on Oct. 25th...which continues to amaze me when I remember His words to me were "Who the hell are you? I don't know you."

Heh. Heh. Heh. In answer to that question: "I am the woman who is about shake up your world by introducing you to one of the most dysfunctional families you will ever encounter! By speaking to you, I am invited you into my life to travel to emotional places you have never been before.....and through out the journey YOU, Keith Allen Bjorkman, will show yourself to be my Rock on Earth, my tie to normalcy, my encourager, my provider, my promise keeper, my caregiver, lover and best friend. You will show me Christ Himself through your servant's heart, devotion and sacrificial life.

Tony (Scott's older brother), through his confession of faith and baptism, will lead us back to the Lord and then you ultimately will become the Godly leader of many generations to come....
Who knew it would all start with such offensive words? Only God....and I believe He ordained it."

I am so thankful that these are the grandparents of my children. They are a legacy of redemption, hope, and transparency. Their family's story is a powerful one. No one could convince me that our God no longer does miracles today.

So, back to day two of our trip...

Friday, May 22--We spent our first two nights at an older, local inn that was 1/2 a block from the beach and was very affordable (in order to justify staying at a very nice spa resort on the beach the last three nights). It was so nice to have the freedom to sleep in, but I really wanted to see the beach. I got up about 8:00, went down for our continental breakfast and decided to head to the beach. Scott decided to go back to sleep for a while and meet me down there. (I have often laughed at the differences in our ideas of a vacation.) The pool was surrounded by palm trees and bushes with these beautiful flowers.
Whoa! This was my first view of the ocean in Turks and Caicos! It is difficult to describe the water here. The color changes drastically based on the sun, but when it is sunny it is a fluorescent turquoise and as clear as pool water. It is also a perfect temperature. I was surprised that there wasn't as much marine life as other beaches I've visited where you see lots of little fish, crabs, seaweed, and sometimes jellyfish. Once I swam out into it I did see several larger fish that were about 8 inches long. For some reason, the salt taste surprised me. I guess I expected it to taste like pool water, too! I left all my things on a chair and went for a long walk for about a mile down the waterline. It is the first thing I do when I visit a beach and I've done it since I was a little girl walking Pensacola Beach with my mother. It was serene and peaceful and I felt extravagantly spoiled.
Scott joined me about the time I returned an hour or two later. We went for a swim in the ocean and laid in the sun on a couple of beach chairs long enough to dry off. Then we decided to go try out Mango Reef for lunch. It was in a beautiful outdoor setting around the pool of a hotel. The food and dessert were delicious. Here is a picture of my dessert. It was similar to Tiramisu, but with a coffee and chocolate flavor. Yummmy!
The highlight of our lunch there was actually entirely different, though. While we were reading the menu, I noticed that the two guys sitting next to us prayed before their meal. I confess that I eavesdropped a little and their prayer sounded like "the real deal." I had been interested in visiting a church service on the island, so a few minutes later I asked them if they knew of a good church. They both began to laugh. One was the pastor of a church and the other was the pastor of the Salvation Army on the island. I guess I asked the right people! It was obviously not an "accidental" meeting and we sat and talked to them for 30-45 minutes while we ate.

They were both from the U.S. and had been living on Provo for about a year. It was fascinating to learn about the island from them. One thing that surprised me was to learn that there are over 100 churches on this tiny island with a population of about 30,000. He said that it is definitely a Christian culture and almost everyone goes to church somewhere. They also said that living on the island has made them realize how thankful they are to be Americans. They mentioned immigration and how difficult it is for most people to get visas to even travel to the U.S. It is also very expensive to live and eat on the island. All food (except seafood) and merchandise is shipped there and costs 3-4 times what it does here: $11 for a package of toilet paper, $8 for a gallon of milk, or $4 for a Coke.
At lunch with Stephen (originally from Arizona) and Brad (originally from Texas). Brad is living on the island with his wife and three children, who are in elementary school there. As you can see from the picture, I quickly noticed that the "Belongers" do not have a lot of experience with cameras, either. Every time I asked one of them to take a picture it was either blurry, completely off-center, or in this one Scott's head is also chopped off. Oh well. :)
After lunch, we explored the island in our rental car a bit, found our second hotel, and then took a brief nap. We went back down to the beach around 5:00 so I could take Scott on the walk that I had gone on that morning. I was surprised at the difference in water color when the sun is going down or behind the clouds. The above picture is of some people doing yoga on the pier of their resort. If you're going to work out, that looks like the place to do it!
We tried to find Da Conch Shack for dinner later than night. It is a casual, native restaurant and they dive for the conch after you order your food--that's fresh seafood! It is quite a bit east of where the hotels are and we got pretty lost in the dark trying to find it (although we did see all the churches everywhere the guys were talking about and many of them had packed services on a Friday night with people even standing outside on the steps listening). We finally found it around 8:30 and it was closed--pitch dark closed. When we inquired about it the next day, we heard that they close early if they run out of food. Good to know. We found a spot at the Turtle Cove Marina and had dinner outside there. (Once again, our picture above is completely off-center, but I ended up being thankful because you can see one of the boats in the background.) You can click on any of the pictures to make them bigger.