I got the phone call on Tuesday and two days later I was on a plane to
Turks and Caicos.
The trip was originally planned for my gal-pal A and her man. Break-ups suck but when they happen two days before the big trip… they suck even more. Going into this I knew it was my duty to be the best wing-woman ever. I believe my mission was accomplished.
After clearing though customs we met outside with a big jumping hug and hopped in a taxi. I had pre-planned a proper kickoff and, on the way to the hotel, we had a toast with two mini bottles of warm
Jack Daniels. Arrival time was approximately 3pm on Thursday.
Our first night out on the island led us to
da Conch Shack for fried conch, live music, a big sandy beach and a whole lotta rum punch.
Fried Conch
Conch Lessons on The Beach
At the bar we met a group of high rollers, casino directors and "models" from the
Cosmopolitan Casino in Las Vegas. They welcomed us into their posse with open arms, dancing and more rum punch. We accepted (and thank you)!
Worth noting: If you’re planning a trip to Vegas you might want to take us with you.
The next morning around 5am I woke up with what felt like a huge granule of sand in my eye. I flushed with water, dropped with
Systane and went back to bed whining, slightly miserable and thankful for the remainder of booze that was lingering in my system numbing a majority of the pain. 9am rolls around and I officially cannot open my right eye… this calls for medical attention. Ugh.
We put our bikinis on, packed our beach bags and grabbed two bottles of mini
Kahlua from our stash. At the main office
A got directions to the clinic and we both poured the Kahlua into our paper cup coffees. My sunglasses held a crumpled tissue against my eye, keeping it securely closed, which I’m sure looked normal. It was a quick shuttle ride to the clinic and I was one of three patients waiting to be seen, this was a breeze.
A little over an hour later we were bored, starved and wicked antsy. Our coffee ran dry, we tried everything we could to fix my busted camera from the night before, we had small talk with some locals and we were aggravated. Four other patients had come and gone and I was still in pain. A said a few choice words to the nurse behind the window and in minutes I was back with the doctor. There was no sand and no scratch but my eye was definitely “not normal”. I was diagnosed with conjunctivitis and got a script for a steroid/antibiotic eye gel. I shuffled next door to the pharmacy and soon after we were on our way to the beach. Finally.
Our days at the beach consisted of dips in the salty water,
Corona's, food, jacuzzi hopping along the shoreline, naps, fruity cocktails, island music, gossip, people watching and reliving our adventures from the night before.
Friday night we were in rough shape. Even though we hardly managed to make it out of our room, the
big night out was about to start. Fighting our gag reflex we both swallowed our first cocktail and headed to
The Gansevoort for their Friday night party. I bought a super cute grey dress in China that I’d been dying to wear and this was the perfect occasion.
The DJ was spinning, the crowd looked fun and the bartenders absolutely sucked. After paying $27 for two half-ass glasses of delicious sangria I handed my drink to A and headed to the ladies room. The pool adjacent to the bar was designed with tiled stepping stones making it fun to maneuver around over several inches of crystal clear water. I decided to take a little tour on my way to the restroom.
“MAGGIE!” an unfamiliar voice calls out. I turn around and like a tall, pretty tree - I fall - into the pool. Stunned and disarranged I immediately look around to find the man behind the voice. It’s one of the casino directors from the night before but he’s not helping me up, he’s walking away. Mortifying. My very next thought: I’m in the pool.
In my own defense, here's what the pool area looks like at night. Pretty dark.
Five inches of soaking wetness covered me from skirt to shoulder. I was left with two options. I could take a $30 cab ride back to our room, change and then another $30 return or I could let it dry, have a drink and ignore the dampness. After assessing my appearance in the bathroom mirror I decided to suck it up and party on all while cursing my daytime Corona's for this disaster.
A was standing at the bar, right where I left her, surrounded by some of the Cosmopolitan gang from the night before. I told her what happened and, let's just say, there was laughing.
We were given access to their VIP section on the deck where we sipped free
Patron XO Café into the early hours of the morning. If you love coffee and tequila you must try this liqueur sooner than later, you’ll love fall in love.
The final 24 hours were extremely low-key. Like clockwork we got up Saturday morning, headed toward the beach, ordered some Corona's and took a snooze. Only this time we fell asleep before actually making it to the beach and before finishing the beer (gasp!). We were down for the count.
That marked the turning point in our trip and we knew the adventure was going to end soon. Later that evening we packed our bags for our upcoming Sunday morning flight, watched
Sex and the City 2 from the comfort of our cozy bed and by 11pm we were fast asleep.
Obviously these types of experiences don't come along every day and I'm incredibly thankful that my current schedule allowed for such a last minute jaunt. I was honored to be invited and so happy to spend that time with A. My random tragedies and her saddened heart made for a painfully awesome trip.
Love you A! You deserve nothing but the best.
