Well hey everyone!!
I’m back with another trip report!
And this one? Guys, it’s a trip to celebrate Nickie’s 50th birthday!!!
ANNNND we had like 16 people with us to do!!!!!1111
And it’s not a Disney trip!
Aw come on you guys. It was a trip to Turks & Caicos.
Yeah, I don’t know what that one means. But let’s get on with it!
Celebrating Nickie’s 50th in Turks & Caicos 2024: The Deets
So figured I would set the stage first for this trip.
This one was a biggie, you guys. We were celebrating Nickie’s 50th. Which, is like, all kinds of a big deal on account of Nickie is the best ever.
And turning 50 is a big deal you guys.
I mean, I think it is. I’m like way younger.
And being that we were celebrating something so momentous, this one took a lot of planning. We spent the last two years planning for this one. And throughout those two years? A bunch happened you guys. Namely, I lost and found a job in that time. And like, because of that, at one point we were even considering cancelling if I didn’t get a job.
Thankfully, I did end up getting a job that is actually legit 1000 times better than the job I had before so everything worked out and we could continue with our plan of day drinking and getting sunburned with people we love.
And there were A LOT of people we loved joining us on this situation. We originally had 18 people total, including us. But, bad news incoming, two members of our party – my brother Jeff and his wife, Sheila – had to make the last-minute decision to not join us because they live in Sarasota, which was right in the direct hit zone of Hurricane Milton. Which was obviously sucktown.
The good news is they are ok and suffered minimal damage. But obvs squad it was a totez bummer they couldn’t go. We missed you guys!
But that left 16 of us heading down, which yeah. It’s a lot of people.
We are VERY popular.
But not everyone was all coming at the same time so I am gonna let all that play out through the posts. You can learn who is coming by continuing to read through this series of posts.
That’s called clickbait, boys and girls.
But I mean, that’s probably all you need to know right now. I don’t wanna go spoiling things. Let’s go to Turks and Caicos!
Celebrating Nickie’s 50th in Turks & Caicos 2024: Day 1
It is time.
And speaking of time, we were up INTENSELY early on Day 1 you guys. Nickie, Owen, and I were up at around 3:30AM to get ready, pack up some last minute toiletries and what not, call an Uber and get to the airport.
The plan was to make sure we were ready by 4:30 AT THE LATEST so that we had enough time to get through security and be comfortably at our gate by the time we had to board for our flight, which was leaving at like 6:45.
But I mean, first things first….we had to say goodbye to these fluffers.
Bye Stitch.
Bye Lilo.
Aw they legit look sad AF. And I get it. We were gonna miss them too.
It was gonna be ruff.
Get it?
Because dogs?
But thankfully, our moms were gonna be chillin’ with these two.
Oh also.
Wait. Trigger warning for all you foot haters.
But.
Look at my toes you guys.
Nickie’s theme for her birthday trip was “50 Golden Years” and her colors were white and gold. So when we got our pedicures before the trip, I asked the girl if she could do a starfish design in those colors and she deffo delivered.
And yeah, I mean…get ready for a lot of white and gold you guys. We white and gold’ed this mofo UP.
As per usual, we were ready VERY quickly so we had time for a quick cup of coffee before we called up our Uber. Nickie had hers in this situation.
Such an exciting cup of coffee right there. On account of we were going to Turks & Caicos.
Cray.
Stitch continued to not be in love with the idea.
At around 4AM, we decided to finally make our way to the airport, so we ordered up our car and brought our bags out to the curb to wait.
Think those will fit in the overhead?
…
Ha no. You guys, those are trash and recycling barrels.
You guys.
We made it to the airport by around 4:20.
Heh. 4:20.
But yeah we made it to the airport by about 4:20.
And we ended up getting our first friends situation happening. Because while, yes, we were up early to head to Turks, three of our travel buddies – the Falzones (Tony, Larissa, and Mia) had an even earlier flight down. And by the time we made it through security, which was legit nothing, they hadn’t boarded. Which meant…
AIRPORT FRIENDS MEET UP PARTY!!!!
Now, to be incredibly clear, this would be the last time we would see the Falzones for a couple days. They were not even initially going to be traveling down today but because of Hurricane Milton (that bastard again?) they moved their trip up to avoid any potential travel issues.
And while they were heading directly for Beaches Turks & Caicos, the main destination for this trip, we had thrown in a couple non-Beaches days to do a little exploring of the island.
But still. It was great to see them and wish them well on their flight. They boarded soon after we got to their gate…
…so once again, it was just the three of us.
And it was time for breakfast, y’all!
We hopped in line at Dunkin’ Donuts.
And ordered our food to take over to our gate. I went with a Pumpkin Cold Brew and a Bacon, Egg, and Cheese on an English Muffin.
Classic me. Amirite? Ol’ “Pumpkin Cold Brew and a Bacon, Egg, and Cheese on an English Muffin” they call me.
We sat near the window, which was nice. Even if the view was a little plane.
Huh?
So?
So what if I’ve made that joke before?
At this point, it’s a catchphrase. Let me know if you want it on a t-shirt.
While we were sitting there, Nickie asked if we could take a picture of her in the eye mask Larissa bought her for the trip. But, after she pulled it down over her eyes, we (the jokers that we are) told her the button wasn’t working but she should keep smiling because it was going to eventually take a picture.
While she sat there, smiling, Owen and I played Block Blast until she caught on.
She decided to take matters into her own hands.
With very attractive results, obviously. Rawr.
We boarded at around 6:15sh and folks. This plane.
I don’t know if you can tell from that pic, but there was legit like 10 other people on this plane.
The plan took off a little bit before 7:00AM and you know, once you’re in the air, time doesn’t exist so Nickie and I each ordered a Mimosa to go with our Biscoff cookies.
They hit the exact mimosa ratio I like – 2 sips of orange juice to 1 bottle of champagne.
Being that we were on American Airlines, there were no seatback sets or anything like that so we had to rely on our phones if we wanted to watch anything. Owen didn’t bring any Bluetooth headphones and I am obvs squad Dad of the Year so I gave him my headphones so he could watch Knives Out while I stared into the abyss.
Eventually though, Owen moved to another row so he could stretch out and Nickie and I played some 10-card Gin.
I think we each won a hand but there was no gin actually involved at all in this game. So we both lost.
What kind of a drinking game was this?
Pfft.
We had a connecting flight today since direct flights from Boston to Turks are a rarity. And today, we were connecting in Charlotte.
We touched down in Charlotte at around 9ish.
Out layover time was a little odd. Like, we landed a little bit after 9 and were leaving at around 11:30. We had already had breakfast and would be leaving before lunch, so it was like what do you do?
Apparently you go to Summer House.
You order candied bacon.
And you order wine.
I think that kind of does cover it.
After he finished his bacon, Owen slipped off into a short food coma.
I also have to commend Summer House at the Charlotte airport for their music selection. As we were walking in – at 9AM mind you – “California Love” by Dre and Tupac was playing. And I am pretty sure this was followed up by “Because You Loved Me” by Celine Dion.
It was like they plugged my brain into their aux.
At 10:20, we paid our bill and started to walk over to our gate.
But before we could make it like ten feet, Owen noticed Summer House had a cookie counter right outside the restaurant.
And I mean. He’s not made of stone.
He’s made of cookies.
So he got an M&M cookie to enjoy on the flight.
Look here.
Here he is enjoying it on the flight.
Seeeee?
The flight was around 2.5 hours and pretty uneventful. I had a vodka soda.
And of course some more Biscoff cookies.
And then I think I dozed off for a little bit.
But as we started to approach the island, I was excited to look out our window and see that turquoise water as we came in for a landing.
You guys ready for this view?
Are you sure you’re ready?
OK.
Get those eyes set and prepared.
Here we go.
Ta-da!!!
Yep. It’s a wall alright.
Awesome.
But at least we had this little tiny window behind us that we couldn’t actually really look through but could kind of reach my phone behind my seat to sort of get a glance at something that resembled water of some sort.
Magical.
But whatever you guys. I’m not one to complain except kind of yeah I am. We were in Turks & Caicos by like 2:15.
And it’s like super cool landing in Providenciales. On account of they literally are like, here we are on the runway now get out.
And oof, man. IT WAS HOT. It got up over 90 that day and I believe the real feel or whatevz was like over 100. It was hot. Is what I am saying to you now.
We made our way into the airport, through security/customs, got our bags and got our rental car for the next couple days. Which was a whole thing on account of while the wheel is on the same side as it is in the US, I was gonna be driving on the other side of the road.
Hence why I limited myself to just a champagne.
And a vodka soda.
Responsibility.
We rented a Jeep Renegade, for those keeping track. I neglected to take a pic at the airport on account of the heat made me forget how smartphones work. But I did get one a little bit later.
She’s a beaut, Clark. A beaut.
So right. After we got our bags and the car, we all realized we needed some food. So we drove to a place we have been wanting to try – Omar’s Beach Hut (https://www.omars-beachhut.com/). And as we pulled up and parked, we were already pretty sure this was the right call.
There were picnic tables.
IN THE WATER.
Like what? Technology. Amirite?
We grabbed a seat at the bar under the roof to get out of the sun but we had a real nice view of the water.
After we sat down, Nickie walked down to check out the water.
And Owen and I soon went down as well. Via these stairs. And those incredible toes.
It’s like a super cute place, that Omar’s.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about that Swamp Thing commercial.
…
…
Oh sorry. I forgot you don’t live in my brain. You know that Swamp Thing PSA about not littering or whatever.
You know the one.
“Hey Omar, look how the plastic cup acts like a boat in the water.”
This one…
“Sure does, Omar.”
For my drink, I ordered an Omar Special. Which I think was some sort of tequila fruit juice dream I had once.
I bet that cup would act like a boat in the water.
It’s always such a mad dash when you first land on vacation but we were starting to feel it now. Vacation vibes were legit setting in. Look at us. All vacation-y.
Oh and while we were sitting there, we made a friend. Guys, Sheba. Sheba, guys.
That dog loved our food us.
So cute tho that dog.
And speaking of food. I ordered the Fish Tacos. Which were incredi-pants.
Owen got the BBQ Babyback Ribs.
And Nickie went with the Jerk Chicken Wrap.
And both of them really liked their meals as well. This place was legit you guys. Highly HIGHLY recommend. Come for the view, stay for the drinks, and like move in permanently for the food.
The service was also great. We even ended up meeting Omar and talking to him for a bit about his place and what not and he was actually the one who told us Sheba’s name. Who, by the way, was still just straight up chillin down there.
After we finished up our wonderful lunch, we got back in the Renegade and drove over to our home for the next couple nights – Oasis at Grace Bay.
We checked in with the super friendly staff.
And they handed us each a drink – rum punches for me and Nickie and a lemonade for Owen.
Honestly, if you want me to love your resort, just start me off with an alcoholic beverage.
We were in our room by 5PM. So you know what that means.
ROOM TOUR!!!!111
As soon as you walk in the door, you see the main living area – pull out sofa, nice big TV. Owen sold separately.
And to your right is the little kitchen/dining room area.
And to the left is the bathroom. Well, one of the bathrooms.
And just past that, also on the left? The place where all the magic happens.
The master bedroom.
And by “magic” I mean “dreaming.” Because in my dreams, I can be whatever I want to be. Like a professional baseball player. Or a Viking. Or a turkey sandwich.
There also was a bedroom off there to the left, but I forgot to take pictures of it. On account of I missed that day at blogging school.
And there was a nice little patio out beyond the living room.
With a table.
And a lounger.
And a view of one of the pools.
We didn’t spend too much time in the room because we wanted to try and catch the sunset tonight. While the Oasis isn’t directly on the beach, it’s pretty close and they offer a free golf cart ride over there. So since sunset wasn’t too far off, we quickly ran up to reception at like 6:25 and asked if we could grab a ride over.
They very quickly obliged.
We were at the beach at 6:31.
The sun was unfortunately already pretty much in the “set” position but we still saw a beautiful sky.
And I did take a quick dip in the ocean but we honestly probably spent like less than 15 minutes over there since it got dark pretty quick. We were back at the resort by like ten-to-seven.
And I mean…since we had our bathing suits on.
When we got back to the room, we had a decision to make.
Dinner.
What to do for dinner.
We could go out.
We could.
But then that would require, you know, going out.
And we were tired, you guys.
It was a long day.
So we made the decision to order a couple pizzas and some beers and sodas from the on-site restaurant and stay in. I called in the order and Owen and I walked over to pick up the food at Trattoria Isolana.
The place looked super nice.
Like I said, we ordered a bucket of beers and sodas.
And a couple pizzas. A couple of pizza pies. Pizza ovah heah.
Hey I can do those accents. On account of I’m half-Italian.
Anyway – we ordered….
The Pizza Margherita (San Marziano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, olive oil).
And the Spicy Italian. Like-ah me!
Right.
OK. Yeah. The Spicy Italian (San Marzano tomatoes, Gorgonzola cheese, Ricotta cheese, basil, parmigiano, olive oil).
Honestly? This was like real good pizza. Everyone agreed.
Even Owen.
Also? The Bruins were on and playing their first regular season game tonight.
LETS GOOOoooo…oh.
Wait. They lost. 6-4. But still. The pizza was good.
And that was kind of it. After the game ended, we watched some Weather Channel before bed to check on Hurricane Milton, which was kind of right in Sarasota that night (again, thankfully, the fam made it out of that one ok) and then we went off to bed.
But I mean. Overall? A real good first day. And tomorrow? Tomorrow we get Myles and Hannah! And conch! Lots of conch.
So, see you all then!
Next Post – Day 2!
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