Bucket list in the making - Turks & Caicos - Day 1

Monday, October 10, 2016 - Day 1 - Travel day

3:30 a.m. and it's rise and stagger, sleepy eyed to throw some clothes on, grab, gather the luggage and wake up grumpy monster also known as little feet, our normally sweet 10 year old. Getting to the airport was easy breezy at 4:15 a.m.  The airport was a little busier than normal this time of the morning because it was the Monday after the last Austin City Limits Music Festival and so there were a lot of people taking the early flight home.

We stopped at the American Admirals club to eat our breakfast that we picked up from Salt Lick, Scholtzsky's and Maudie's.  Salt Lick for Jackson, Maudie's for my husband and Scholtzsky's for me. Our flight to Miami was uneventful with a 1.5 hour layover to Providenciales.  The view of the islands and the gorgeous water from the plane was beautiful.  Our landing in Turks and Caicos was a little rough but fine.  Customs was a breeze and it took about 15 minutes to grab our luggage and find our way to Grace Bay Rentals.  They walked us outside to check-in, tag our bags for Seven Stars with our room number and then walked us over to the parking lot to our car.  Quick walk around the car for dings and dents, we were on our way in the Toyota Corolla to the Seven Stars Resort.  My husband had to get used to being in the right side of the car, driving on the left side of the road but we were at the resort in short time.  The island has no lights, only stop signs and roundabouts with the car on the right side having the right of way.  It took about 17 minutes to get to the resort.

Seven Stars!  Wow...what a beautiful property.  We parked the car ourselves because it was right there and we were greeted with a cold perfumed towel.  It was refreshing!  And then it was shortly followed with a punch for my son and coconut rum punch for the hubby and I.  We were asked to sit in the lobby while the staff checked us in.  This is not standard check-in.  We sat at comfy chairs, while they came over to check us in.  We were then given a tour of the property and showed to our one bedroom ocean front suite in Alhena building.  We were on the ground floor with our private gate for direct access to the beach and the pool.  The room is beautiful with a modern gourmet kitchen.  It was fully stocked for all things.  We were supplied with 2 bottles of water, coffee and espresso for their espresso maker.  The water is replenished each day and if we needed more, we could just ask for more.  The living room is beautiful with sliding glass doors across the length of the room with a view of the ocean.We were steps from the beach and the pool.  The patio had ample seating for dining and also lounge chairs.  That's were I'll be having coffee every morning.

The bedroom is beautiful with 4 poster king bed and the large master bath has a large shower and large jacuzzi tub.  The suite also has a half bath in the entry way.

We also received some complimentary champagne or wine for 2 at any of the bars and also found a lovely surprise in the fridge which included a fresh fruit tray and chocolate dessert.

Hurricane Matthew, Vacation Spoiler

The clothes were packed nicely in luggage and all the supplies were stacked neatly in the kitchen for me to take with us on the trip.  I haven't been this prepared with packing in a long time.  It was Tuesday and we were flying out on Friday.  I had been looking forward to this vacation as it has been extremely challenging at work and I needed this break.

As I make preparations, I was also tracking Hurricane Matthew brewing.  It hit Haiti and was expected to work it's way up the Florida coast from as far south as Miami and heading along up to the Carolinas.  It slowed significantly after Haiti and our flights out of Miami to Turks and Caicos was cancelled.  I saw the beautiful white sand and clear, aqua waters of Turks and Caicos disappear from my birthday plans.  

I had plan on flying out Friday, so I would be in Turks and Caicos on Saturday and not traveling dealing with airports, planes and ground transportation on my birthday.  I wanted to wake up to sitting on the patio with Baileys in my coffee overlooking the beautiful water, spending the day lazing around the beach and ending with dinner at the highly recommended Coco Bistro.  Hurricane Matthew devastated Haiti and went on with its carnage to Florida.  Hurricane Matthew, the vacation spoiler.

Fortunately, victory is ours!  We will prevail and make it to Turks and Caicos.  Our miracle worker travel agent did get us re-booked out on Monday after my birthday but it was a very stressful Thursday and Friday trying to figure it all out. She was definitely doing some travel logistics gymnastics to make it all happen.  

I will just have to celebrate a belated birthday on the island that has been on my bucket list for a long time.