Jacksonville, FL

I’m back…

I’m sitting in the kitchen of my newly adopted Uncle Glenn and Aunt Ginny. I got in from the islands last night at 9:30. This was a vacation you needed a vacation to recover from.

I have a lot to write, especially since I could not use email or cell phone for the past week. It was very freeing to be away from technology. Now, I could have used the CPU if I wanted to pay for it, but, I was in the islands. And, it was $4/minute for dial up or phone usage and also $1/minute to use their internet connection.

Where to start? I guess with the excitement of boarding a plane to the Caribbean. I’ve never done anything like that before. Man, I was pumped. I left out of JAX on Monday morning and my friend Steve was flying out of Charlotte. We were meeting up in Miami and then off to the Islands. Steve had a long layover in Miami, so I found him at the bar reading a John Grisham book. After hellos and hi fives, he was surprised to know I’d never read any Grisham. It sounds like his details are excellent.

The two of us were like kids in a candy store. We walked around the Miami airport oodling over the scenery and hopeful for the beauty that awaited us.

We were not disappointed. The plane took off and I realized that I had never flown over a big body of water before. I was always afraid of it, thinking about going to Europe and other distant places, but no way, not today. I loved the blue water and the white caps you could see from huge boats down below. No fear, only fire.

As we headed down towards The Turks, I was amazed by the turquoise sheen below us. Nestling up to it was the whitest sand I’d ever seen. Now, I grew up on water and beach, but this was something I’d never imagined. I know people tell you how great it is, and if I was more descriptive, I’d try to tell, but this is something you must see for yourself. Water like you’ve never seen, sand like you’ve never seen, and beaches like you’ve never felt. It was rough.

As we arrived, Club Med crew was there to greet us with a fruit drink and an energized hello. Steve and I were not sure what to expect. We were being shown to our rooms and we had to ask the host, there are two beds, right? “I think so.” There were. The room was perfect for a roommate situation. On both walls were a bed and chest of drawers/closet. He had his space and I had mine. The shower and bathrooms were small, but big enough. We were not planning on being in the room much anyway. It worked and there were two beds.

Steve and I handled the always interesting question that two guys hanging out, especially hanging out on a tropical island, get asked, “Did you guys come together?”

We would laugh and explain, yes, but we are here as hunters. Hunters for relaxation, food, and women…

I won’t break down all that was there, it would take too long. But, I will say, the sand was like no other. It was as finely ground as any I’ve seen and walked on. I loved it. As hot as it was – mid 80′s, the sand never was too hot to walk on with bare feet. The beach was long and the water a perfect mix of warm and cold. It was warm enough to sit in and cool enough to be refreshing.

We spent much of our time sitting on the beach reading and recharging. And looking. There were people from Europe there. People from Europe on a beach can be interesting. We saw some suits we should not see and also saw some without suits. Again, we were glad to see some of the nothing suits, but others, maybe not.

It’s hard to explain 5 days in one entry. I wish I had typed some while there. The details will shake out was we go.

There was a lot of eating, beaching, sailing, snorkeling, and late nights. We met a ton of people. Some from Montreal, Toronto, NYC, New Jersey, Boston, San Diego, San Francisco, and a lot of other places. This resort was 18 and up. There were no kids and everyone was relaxed. The atmosphere for meeting people was great, as they sat you at tables of ten during all meals. We had some great laughs with people we’d never met before. We closed down the restaurant a few times.

Each night they had shows that were put on by the staff, and even some of the guests. They had a comedy skit show, a comedy skit on tennis, a trapeze show, and a retro music show. I enjoyed them all. On the first night, we were amped up and feeling no pain, so we were dancing the night away with strangers. It was an invigorating feeling, to do what ever you wanted and not care what anyone thought. If you know Steve and I, you’d know we’re not the biggest (or best) dancers in the world. But we did it anyway and they did not kick us out, so it worked out well.

I need to eat some lunch. I’ll be back with some more.