Day 3--Grand Turk

Today we are visiting Grand Turk. It is a little breezy, but the weather was warm and pleasant. I wanted to get a picture of us with the ship in the background.



Our cruise ship is huge!

Welcome to the island of Grand Turk!

There are a lot of souvenir shops and it reminded me of a town square with this water feature in the middle.

A map of the Caribbean showing Grand Turk and the Caicos islands.

Delwyn loved the Tortuga and was excited because of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie.

There are lots of pretty flowering bushes on this island, so I had Delwyn stand in front of this one to get a picture.

One of the first things we saw was the John Glenn space capsule exhibit. Delwyn was, of course, pretty interested in it.

In 1962 the Friendship 7 capsule splashed in to the Atlantic a few miles from the island of Grand Turk. You can see a tall rocket in the background.

Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville!

We are stopping at four islands this week and going on excursions. Delwyn and I are going on an excursion called Island Vibes and Pristine Beach. We got on a little tour bus that took us around the island to see some historical events and landmarks.  At the front of the bus was this little plaque that reminded me of Wade because he loves pirates so much, so I took a picture of it.

There are a lot pastel colored buildings on the island. This is the Tourist Board.

They told us a lot of trivia about the island. It is only 7 miles long and 1 and a half miles wide. There are no traffic lights. About 3700 people live here. There is only one hospital and it only has six rooms because hardly ever get sick here. People live to be about 90. Wow! What a healthy place!

Mary Prince was the first slave to be set free in the Caribbean. When she learned she was free, she said, "To be free is very sweet." She was standing on the balcony of this building when she said those words that would become famous.

This wall was made in her honor.

This was another space capsule that we saw also honoring the Friendship 7.

A lot of movies are filmed here with these big rock formations.

Wild donkeys roam around the island and are tame animals. They joke that they are state patrolmen who keep you from driving too fast because they are often crossing the road and drivers have to slow down or stop. I took these pictures out the bus window.

A gull was perched on the back of a donkey. It didn't seem to mind at all and kept grazing while the bird took a rest.

This stretch of beach is part of the Bermuda Triangle. No one knows why so many ships and planes disappear here.

We could see a lighthouse in the distance. It looked so majestic and pretty.

We got out of the bus for a sea life exhibit. We learned about conch shells. They are a type of sea snail and these large ones are queens. The shells are elaborate and colorful.

These are baby conch. Wow! They are so little and have no color at all. How interesting that they turn into such big, beautiful shells.

We were allowed to hold a sea star if we wanted, and so Delwyn did.

This is the top and it wiggled and twisted in his hand until

it flipped over on it's back.

This is a jellyfish. They are interesting creatures with their gelatinous body and dangling tentacles that sting. They use their mouth to eat and to discard waste. Gross.

Then we went to the beach and it was so beautiful! I love to watch the waves crash onto the shore.

I haven't been to the beach very often in my life,but I love them! The white sandy beach and turquoise water are just so beautiful! It must have been a private beach, I wondered if Carnvial owned it, because no one was there but our tour group which was small, with only about 20 people. It was so calm, peaceful, and relaxing.

They gave us a slice of Island spice cake and it was delicious!

I had to take the classic photo of enjoying the beach from my lounge chair. What a spectacular view!

This is how Delwyn enjoys the beach--in tennis shoes! He wasn't super excited about spending time at the beach, but he went because he knew I wanted to.

After eating our cake and relaxing for a bit, we went on a walk along the shore and climbed on the rocks.

The water was pleasant and fun to walk in. This beach was one of my favorite things about the cruise. So pretty and we had it all to ourselves!

You can't miss this large grounded ship. Called the Mega One Triton, it washed ashore during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

It was a former oil rig service vessel, and then it became a cargo ship with routes between the Dominican Republic and Grand Turk. It was huge!

Attempts have been made to remove it from the beach, but it is too big and too expensive of a project.

There are always performers on the ship and during the late afternoon we watched some of them. This guy played the guitar and sang. He was really good and would take requests.

This guy played these drums, but it sounded like a piano or keyboard part of the time. We were really curious what made it sound like that.

We talked to him for a few minutes when he was taking a break and he showed us they were like a bowl in the middle and that's what made the different sounds. It was the neatest thing!

The waiters danced on the tables again for dinner. It was so fun!! I wish I would have written down the song each night. 

Another one of my favorite things were the shows they had each night. Tonight's theme was the 60's with songs from the Beach Boys, Jimmy Buffet, and more. They would sing and dance and it was so, so fun to watch!

The guy who was playing the guitar earlier today was also in the show.

The show had some special effects on a screen behind the performers, so they passed out 3 D glasses to everyone. 

This is Cookie, the cruise director. He was hilarious!! He made the best jokes and was so humorous all the time. I just loved him! After the show there was an after party and he was trying to get everyone excited about going.

He is a great people person and makes everyone feel like you are his best friend. We did go to the after party for more music and dancing. Another fabulous day!!