Well hey everyone!
Here we are.
Face to face.
A couple of silver spoons.
Wait. Sorry.
What?
But yeah here we are. Last post of this trip you guys. Covering Day 6 AND Day 7, our final full day in Turks and the day we travel home.
It’s been a lonnnnnnng road y’all. Like, when I started writing about this trip? We weren’t even sure if Wicked was gonna be a good movie or not.
Elon Musk wasn’t even president yet.
Current events, amirite?
Anyway though – I say we get on with this, aye? Day 6. Hit it.
Celebrating Nickie’s 50th in Turks & Caicos 2024: Day 6
Our last full day, folks.
And it started a little later than most other days. We weren’t really up and out of the room until close to 8AM. 8AM? Pfft, we had already lost legit HOURS. We immediately got pool-ready and headed down to meet up with some other members of our party at the Cascades Pool in the Caribbean Village.
Other members. Like Scarlett!
And Steph and Sophia!
Oh the Pittmans?
They’re the s**t. Man.
S.
But we couldn’t spend that much time at the pool since I mean. Breakfast, right?
Breakfast this morning was at Schooner’s and when we got to the restaurant, EVERYONE was there. Which is great. Because everyone is the best.
Breakfast started with a coffee, obvs squad.
But I mean, we were on vacation, right? I wanted a breakfast beer.
I asked the waiter if they could make that happen but he said they didn’t have access to the bar right now? I think they could do Bloody Marys and Mimosas because of what they had in the restaurant but alas, they had no beer.
I toyed with the idea of not having a beer for breakfast but this seemed very stupid and bad.
We had beer in our room but it was a pretty long walk back. Thankfully, the Falzones’ room was legit right behind Schooner’s. Also? When I mentioned beers at breakfast, a few others thought that idea sounded all kinds of swell (Mikey, Tony) – because I mean, breakfast beers ARE vacation – so they asked if I would grab a few.
So Tony handed me his keycard and off I went.
Unfortunately, my sense of direction is like, Christopher Columbus level bad. So once I got behind Schooner’s, I was like Homer in that Treehouse of Horror episode where he gets stuck in the walls.
So it took me far too long to actually get to his room and back. Like, according to my picture timestamps? It took me like at least 20 minutes.
Again, he was right behind Schooner’s.
But I did make it.
And victory never tasted so sweet.
So ok. I feel like I have mentioned this before. But, look, I know. We are on “island time” and whatever. But man oh man was service slow at breakfast today. We got there around 9AM. That coffee you saw earlier? Arrived at the table at around 9:20.
And this steak and eggs I ordered? 10:15.
So right. AN HOUR AND FIFTEEN MINUTES this took. Like, what? And huh? And how come?
I also ordered my eggs over-easy.
So I mean.
It was definitely not egg-zactly what I asked for.
Look, the food itself was really good. The steak was tender, the breakfast potatoes well-seasoned and cooked well. And the eggs, despite not being what I ordered, were tasty.
But the service at certain points on this trip was deffo lacking compared to past Beaches trips.
I did order some extra eggs and hash browns so I could get some over easy. And hash browns. And those surprisingly came out pretty quick.
But still – it was like after 10:30 by the time we finished up. And I love a long meal. But I love a long meal that includes food. When like over two-thirds of an hour and a half meal is sans food, that kind of robs it of its magic.
Ah well. Onwards and upwards.
After breakfast, a few of us (Me, Myles, Hannah, Owen, Tony, Mia, Mikey, Sophia, and Scarlett) made the plan to head to the water park while the others went to hang at the pool. It was our last day, so we wanted to try and get some water park time in before we left.
Pirate’s Island, ‘all. Arrrrr you ready?
We started off where we ended the other day. At this surprisingly terrifying slide.
I am telling you guys. That blue one is a monster. Don’t let it’s size fool you. That thing’ll get ya.
Me, Mikey, and Tony ended up spending a good amount of time at this splash area here with the girls.
I, myself, raced Scarlett quite a few times down those dual slides in the front there.
She won pretty much every time.
But I mean…that’s cuz she always went on 3. Not like 1, 2, 3, and then go. So she kind of was disqualified.
Those are kind of all of the pictures I have from that day at the park since I didn’t want to get my phone wet and what not. But we spent quite a bit of time there. Tony and I even doubled on one of the raft slides.
And that went as you would have expected it. With us flipped over at the end, drinking in what I can only assume is pristine water.
We also all took a spin around the Lazy River, which I think ended up being the highlight of the day. On account of we all got to enjoy it together and like it was right before the girls had enough and lost their minds. Like, literally, we were all laughing and having a good time and then Soph and Scar were like, Nope. And just melted.
It was real hot out there, so I don’t blame them. If there wasn’t a chance a video titled “Grown Man-Baby has Crybaby Tantrum Near Splash Pad” was going to end up on social media, I probably would have lost it too.
But yeah, it was time to go so we gathered up Mikey’s things and I walked with him back to his room where the girls could chill in the A/C. And literally? As soon as they were laying in bed, in the air conditioning, eating potato chips, they were all kinds of fine.
The timing worked out anyway because the Patriots were playing the Texans that afternoon and we wanted to try and see if we could pick up the game somehow on the laptop. Steph offered to hang with the girls, so Mikey and I hit the buffet at Reflections to see if we could grab some snacks for the game before heading back to our room.
I think we grabbed some burgers, fish nuggets, fries maybe? I dunno. Lots of random nonsense. Also, Tony did God’s work and hit the Mr. Mac truck before coming over and brought literally every single type of mac and cheese they had.
We were well-fed. Is what I am saying to you now.
Back at the room, Myles did succeed in getting the game on the laptop.
Completely and totally legally, by the way.
But it kind of was going in and out due to the Wi-Fi not being the absolute best.
Still though, we saw a good chunk of the game. And what we missed? We didn’t really miss. Since they lost 41-21.
2024 wasn’t the kindest of years to the Patriots.
But it was fun getting to see some football that day. It always feels more special to find our teams on TV when we are away. Like the time we walked into a bar at like 10PM in Florence to watch the Patriots with the kids and the bartender had to work some serious magic on the TV to find the game.
This wasn’t as magical given the Wi-Fi and the state of the team. But still. Fun. Look at Myles and Mikey. They’re having fun.
After the game ended, we went back down to the pool to meet up with everyone else.
And weirdly, I don’t have any other pictures from today until dinner. I think we just kind of hung out at the pool for a little bit, had some drinks, just kind of soaking in our last full day. And at around 5 or so, we all went back to our respective rooms to shower and get ready for dinner.
Because tonight, we had reservations at Kimono’s, the Japanese Hibachi-style restaurant on property.
We have always had such a good time at Kimono’s. The chefs are all usually super lively and singing and encouraging everyone to join in. I mean, it’s Hibachi so it’s like a dinner and a show situation.
We got there, checked in for our 7:00 reservation and went over to the bar to wait for our table. I started with the Kimono’s specialty drink – The Saki Cruise.
Made with Vanilla Vodka, Saki, and both Pineapple and Cranberry Juices, this thing packs a pretty good punch but is super tasty.
Also look at all the kids. Hanging out at a bar.
We were seated at around 7:00 or so around a large two-grill set up.
Nickie and I sat across from these three. And next to Larissa and Tony, who spent considerable time checking himself out in his phone.
After we were seated, our waitress took our initial drink orders. A number of us, as is tradition, ordered sake bombs to kick things off.
So things were off to a good start.
But eh. I dunno. Today must have been an off day.
We didn’t get our appetizers until like 7:45. I, btw, ordered the Lemongrass Shrimp with Soba Noodles.
And then? We didn’t see any chefs at our table until like 8:15. An hour and 15 minutes after we had sat down.
I just. I dunno. And I think the chefs seemed less animated tonight as well. Nickie said she heard one of them talking to our main hostess and seeming irritated that we had waited so long. So I think that kind of threw them off.
Again, I think they were more upset that we had to wait so long without a chef rather than upset with us but yeah, it felt off.
They still put on a show. With the cooking and the fire and the singing.
And he called Scott up to give a toast to Nickie for her birthday.
But it all felt a little “less than” compared to previous visits.
The food itself was delicious – Shrimp, Steak, Chicken, and Mahi-Mahi served on Egg Fried Rice.
All really really good. The fish was actually a big stand-out here.
But again, the service left the meal lacking in my opinion. Which was a bummer.
For dessert, they served a Dessert Sampler of Mango Pudding, Lychee Cheesecake, and Spice Chocolate.
Which was…fine. The desserts here, honestly, have never been anything spectacular or anything. But they were definitely dampened further by an overall lackluster meal at what has been traditionally one of our favorite spots. Hopefully, like I said, it was just an off night.
After dinner, we all walked over to The Cricketer’s for a night cap.
It was only around 9:30 by this time. So the festivities for the night hadn’t started just yet. And it also meant Sophia could resume her favorite spot, right up at the bar.
I landed on a reliable standy – a Tito’s and Soda.
And the kids played some pool while we went back and forth on whether we would stick around for karaoke tonight or hit up Bobby Dee’s for some ice cream.
The crowd agreed tonight felt like more of a laid-back ice cream kind of night so off to Bobby Dee’s we went.
Well actually. When I say “ice cream” that’s a bit of a misnomer. On account of both Scott and Mikey actually ended up getting cheesesteaks?
Lol, All-inclusive. Amirite?
But yeah, that’s pretty amazing right there.
After we left Bobby Dee’s, on our way back to our room, we met up with this cutie little kitty cat.
Who proceeded to follow us all the way back to our room.
And he did his best to get inside. Like, we had to open the door a crack and sneak in because this dude wanted to be legit part of our family.
It was quite the cat-astrophe.
But I mean. Whatevz. He’ll be gone tomorrow. Let’s all just say goodnight to the kitty and go to sleep.
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Celebrating Nickie’s 50th in Turks & Caicos 2024: Day 7
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Yeah, he was there when we woke up on Day 7.
Stalker, much?
Eventually though? He heard a bird in the bush below and we watched as he showed us the um. The circle of life.
That cat was a badass, man.
OK so yeah. It’s Day 7. And Day 7 is our last day, you guys. Womp to the domp.
And it’s not really a full day since we were leaving on a morning flight and what not. Literally, I have like under 20 pictures for the entire situation. And one of them is the picture of the cat you already saw.
My lack of pictures was a total cat-astro….oh right. I already made that joke.
Sorry. I guess I’m not purrfect.
Pfft, nailed it.
So we were up at around 7 or so today to finish packing up for the trip home with plans to meet the rest of the crew for breakfast at 8:00-8:15ish. After we got our bags packed, we started on our walk over towards Mario’s in the Italian Village.
It was a beautiful day outside to be sure.
And we were in the Italian Village a couple minutes past 8.
And in Mario’s shortly thereafter.
You know Mario’s.
No no. Come on.
Srsly? Stop now.
I mean. I appreciate the reference. But no.
Yeah. I suppose that’s better. Though its an awful picture.
Anyway tho – Mario’s is a buffet situation.
Offering pretty standard breakfast stuff – eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, et cetera et cetera. Plus they have an omelet station where they’ll cook you up a fresh omelets and eggs Journey-style.
…
…
You know. Any way you want them.
I, myself, got a ham and cheese omelet with a side of sausage. And a side of bacon. And also a side of breakfast potatoes.
Overall, good stuff. Again, basic breakfast stuff but that’s deffo not a bad thing. The omelet was, as you can see, packed with ham. Ham-packed, as the kids say.
Good breakfast for sure. Unfortunately, the end of breakfast meant we had to say goodbye to a large number of our crew. Here is how everything broke down:
- Myles and Hannah – actually had to head out rather quickly because they were on an earlier flight than us, heading back to school in New Jersey.
- The Michigan Goodys – meanwhile, had a later flight than us but we still had to say our goodbyes at breakfast as we had to do a little souvenir shopping before getting our stuff together and heading out.
- The Pittmans – Well, the Pittmans had another day left in paradise. So we had to say our jealousy-filled goodbyes to them as well.
- The Falzones – were on our (mine, Nickie’s, and Owen’s) flight back to Boston. So don’t be worrying about the Falzones.
Also, btw. As I mentioned, my picture taking today was legit terrible-town. Man, I crazily only have like 4 more pictures left from this trip. And only one of them is like of a person. And it’s really only the back of their head. So buckle up. This next couple paragraphs is really going to paint a picture.
So, like I said, we had to duck out to do a little souvenir shopping at the gift shop in the Caribbean Village.
We had to grab some stuff to say thanks to everyone for watching the dogs back home. Oh, and Owen bought a hat. I don’t have a picture of it handy but you should know Nickie and I just found it upstairs when we were cleaning, tags still in tact.
So you know. That was a great $45 spent.
What a hat-astrophe.
Amirite?
After we finished up our shopping, it was time to checkout. First, we hit up the guest services lounge because we had heard about some free gifts for return visitors. And they were literally my favorite kinds of gifts.
…
They were free. Free gifts are my favorite kinds of gifts. Keep up.
But I mean, the gifts were pretty swank. They gave each of us a free t-shirt and a bottle of rum for us all to share.
Which was unfortunate. On account of Owen is kind of a rummy.
But yeah, no. Thanks Beaches!
We then made our way over to the departure lounge to settle up any remaining charges on our account. Of which there was some. We ended up ordering some pictures from our photo shoot on the beach.
So I mean. We did have to take out a second mortgage but totally worth it. On account of we are all VERY good-looking. Don’t believe me? Check out the photos here.
See? Told you.
Our shuttle van arrived and us and the Falzones were off to the airport. We were at the airport and through security rather quickly and – pro tip – if you ever find yourself at the Providenciales airport, head upstairs. Downstairs is a scene, man.
Oh but wait you guys. So remember when I said Myles and Hannah had to head to the airport early because they had a flight before us? Welp, you guys. Our goodbye was a little premature because we got MORE MYLES AND HANNAH!
Yup, we ran into them before heading upstairs! That was literally all kinds of an awesome surprise. Love those two.
They boarded pretty much right after we saw them so the rest of us headed upstairs. Which was completely empty. AND there was a bar and restaurant you guys.
And honestly? We would sit outside as there is a little patio off the upstairs where you can have drinks and food and watch the planes. But woof, it WAS hot you guys. So we grabbed a table inside. Even inside, it was kind of hot. They did have this giant fan upstairs but when we first arrived, it was facing away from the table, so I snuck over and wheeled it slightly to face us.
Making. Things. Happen.
Slightly.
Oh, also? Owen was tired.
But me? I was hungry. I know. That’s shocking, right? But look, I wasn’t the only one. Everyone was hungry. So we ordered some lunch.
I got a fried chicken sandwich and fries with a Coors Light.
And guys – this was a pretty good chicken sandwich. I kind of highly recommend this thing. And no, those who know me are WELL AWARE I did not eat those onions.
We boarded our flight a little bit before 1:00 and by 1:15 we were in the air. And look you guys! We actually had a window. Well, we’re movin on uppp.
We had a connecting flight so I spent the first leg of the flight making it through my current Stephen King book.
I don’t fully know what was going on during the flight (I mean give me a break…this trip was like 4 months ago) but given Nickie’s face, I am going to assume we had some bumps.
Nickie hates bumps.
Like I said, we had a connection today. And that connection was in Miami. Which like, last time we connected in Miami on an international flight, it was a bit of a “hell on earth” situation.
Anyway though, Mia was ready for whatever Miami had in store for us.
We walked out into the airport and immediately had to go through customs, but there really wasn’t much of a line so like within 30 minutes we were through and back out into the airport proper.
So at this point, it was like 3:30 or so. And like, while we weren’t hungry at that very moment, we knew we would most likely get hungry on our flight since it was going to be leaving in an hour and a half or so. So, a few of us said maybe we would get some sandwiches at Subway to take on the flight. Even though bringing food on a flight kicks my social anxiety into all kinds of high gear. Like, “is everyone thinking how gross I am eating a BMT? Everyone is looking at me now” and all that.
But eh, it was better than starving.
Slightly.
But…BUT…some members of our party (Ahem Larissa Cough Nickie Sneeze Mia) weren’t having the whole Subway thing. They preferred to grab something to eat here and now at a sit-down restaurant.
So some of grabbed a seat at the Islander Bar & Grill while others went to grab Subway to bring on the plane.
But eh. I wasn’t complaining. They had both Tito’s AND soda here. Some kind of Xanadu this place was.
Mia ordered herself a Chicken Sandwich and Fries. She was obvs squad happy with her decision.
Also though? While we were sitting there, we got the notification that our flight was delayed. And it was delayed past a time where we could actually have eaten dinner like normal folk.
The universe is not the biggest fan of us obviously.
But eh, I mean I already HAD a Subway sandwich coming. So I mean, couldn’t let that thing go to waste.
We also ordered up some calamari for the table, which like ended up being some pretty good calamari you guys. Oh and we ordered a side of wet wipes apparently.
Also, and guys this was a while ago so my memory might be a little fuzzy, but I believe Tony had his Subway sandwich AND I think he also ordered the Char-Grills Angus Burger.
On account of he is some sort of hero in my eyes.
So yeah, our flight was delayed.
Also though? It ended up getting delayed again.
An in addition, again.
We didn’t take off for a while is what I am saying to you now. I think our fight was supposed to leave between 5:00-5:30 and we ended up leaving closer to 8:30-9:00. But hey at least I got a Pumpkin Cold Brew Cold Foam from Starbucks.
Sorry. Nike got a Pumpkin Cold Brew Cold Foam. You know, the Goddess of Victory. Which was kind of ironic given how we were completely defeated by today.
But yeah. We did eventually get on our flight. Here is a picture of Owen working and stealing my headphones to prove it.
We ended up landing close to 11PM that night. But we DID make it home.
And I mean. We did it you guys. It took like 5 months but we made it through all the blog posts for this trip. I bet you had your doubts, huh?
Well, thanks for following along. I appreciate all of you that stayed with me through this whole thing.
And of course, thank you to every single person that came on this trip (or attempted to come on this trip – sorry Jeff and Sheila) to celebrate Nickie. And obviously thank you to Nannie, Nonnie, and Papa for watching the pups for us while we were away, making this whole thing possible in the first place. I think it’s a testament to the wonderful person Nickie is that she had so many people playing a part in making her special birthday even more special.
Nickie – I hope this birthday trip was everything you hoped it would be. You deserve this and so so much more for everything you bring to my life and to all who come in contact with you. You’re the specialest person so I hope you had the specialest birthday. I love you so much!
Until next time y’all!
Last Post – Day 5!
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