Exact Navy: Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos

Terrible weather here today. It's in the low 30s, and the rain is coming down just hard enough to be a nuisance. Naturally, I'm back to dreaming of places I'd rather be, which is basically anywhere other than here. But today, today I'm especially thinking of Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos.

Time for another photo dump from the Christmas cruise, first mentioned here!

Not such a bad view to wake up to...

This was the first time we'd been off the ship in two days... rested and ready to explore!

First, we took a taxi downtown, passing a ton of narrow "streets" (more than one-car alleys) the people drove down at an insane pace.

Never ones to miss some the town, we stopped by some of the hotspots, including The National Museum of the Turks and Caicos (not a joke),

Her Majest(y's) Prison,

The island's public library, completed in 1889,

And perhaps a church with the most beautiful view in the world, St. Mary's Anglican Pro-Cathedral Church, built in 1900.

A view from the front doors,

and from the entrance gate. How gorgeous is that?!

Well, I could only stand just looking at the water for so long, so I hopped the little stone barrier and went down to test the water.

It was freezing! Compared the Gulf of Mexico, which is essentially the temperature of bathwater year-round, I couldn't stand the water of wintertime Caribbean. Does that make me a weenie?

After all that fun in the water (like, 2 minutes worth), I was in desperate need of refreshment! We went over to a local market, met this festive sailor...

(Quite the chatty fellow!)

And picked up a Turk's Head Island Draught Amber, which is a fine, if slightly sweet, beer,

After a short break, we headed over to our final stop of the day: the place where Columbus first landed in 1492 (though there is some dispute as to whether any of the Spaniards began to populate the island then, or later in 1512).

Exhausted from our adventures in the historic downtown area, known as Cockburn Town, we headed back towards the ship. There are some very touristy shops (think Diamonds International and perfume galore) that I avoided like the plague, as well as a pretty swimming area and tons of beach chairs under palm trees.

I'm happy to report that Daddy found the conditions permissible.

All good things do come to an end, though, so sun-tired and sandy we hauled ourselves back aboard and got ready for the night. Before it got too late, though, I went upstairs and shot a couple more photos of the island