Grits With Grins: May 2011

Spring Break 2011 - Turks & Caicos Islands

Turks and Caicos has to be one of the most beautiful and relaxing vacations we've ever taken. There's not much to do besides relax. And eat. So we did plenty of both!

Spring Break - Turks & Caicos (snorkeling)

We took a day cruise that allowed us to go snorkeling in the Carribean...something I'll never forget! It was so much fun. The girls and I went in, while Scott and Isaac "guided" us from the boat.

Here, we are getting ready. A little nervous...not sure what to expect!

But we jumped in!

I wish I could describe the beautiful, colorful fish and coral reefs we could see. But, even Scott and Isaac got to see some fish from the boat.

Dylan is in the foreground, and you can barely make out Kat and me in the distance.

Drying off.

We then went snorkeling in more shallow water for conchs. I found two of them, and Isaac was fascinated by the way it would come out of it's shell.

And then, we learned, in a very graphic way, how the conch is removed from the shell.

And this is what it looks like!

The kids are holding the now empty shell.

And this is what became of them. Conch Salad. It was so good that Dylan ate two bowlfuls!

Spring Break - Turks & Caicos (eating conch)

Some of the most fun we had revolved around eating conch. Turks & Caicos is the world's leading supplier of conch. I have to admit, I'd never tried it before, so it was an experience. But we all tried it. And we all enjoyed it...at least a little!

Getting to Da Conch Shack, apparently THE place on the island to eat it, was quite an experience. Being a British territory, you have to drive on the left side of the road. And, being a fairly undeveloped island, we had very primitive directions, and took many scenic tours down pot-holed, dirt roads before we finally found it!