Grand Turk

We had a leisurely wake up call set for 8 am (which was appreciated because we moved clocks ahead by one hour last night!). We had breakfast in the Lido Buffet. LC and I perched Mom on a couch overlooking the pool at midship and we walked three laps on the Promenade deck to equal one mile. We enjoyed 15 minutes sitting beside Mom in the sunshine. You can tell we are heading further south as the temperature was very comfortable. 

I then went to the culinary arts centre to watch two cooking demonstrations. One was with the head chef from Sel de Mer and she cooked mussels three ways. We were given a sample of one of them. The second demo was with Chef Tata from the Tamarind. He created the menus for all the Tamarind fine Asian restaurants onboard Holland America. The red chicken curry was delicious that he created!  And the best news yet - we were given the recipes!

A faulty engine (nothing to worry about the captain assured us) meant we arrived in Grand Turk one hour late. So we docked at noon instead of 11 am. That allowed us to eat lunch on the ship before departing. In he crowds of departing guests I got separated from Mom and LC. I exited off the ship and they were a dozen people or so behind me and they never came off!  I stood and watched closely and couldn't find them. Probably 10 ,minutes later they exited - LC had run back up to the room to get Mom's ID. The port has been developed into a beautiful beach and waterfront property quite removed from th local life. Mom, LC and I found 3 chairs underneath Palm trees.  

Chairs and Grand Turk green umbrellas were free - further down the beach locals charge $20 for umbrellas. The ocean had quite a strong wave rolling in. I walked down with Mom to put our feet in and Mom was nervous about entering. I suggested we check out the Margaritaville pool so we walked over to check that out. We found a shallow entry side where we walked in, then sat at the pools edge dangling our feet in the water. It quickly felt very hot in the direct sun. 

We returned to LC, collected our belongings and moved to the other side of the Grand Turk development. This is where I snorkelled three years ago and today it was exceptionally rough. I saw one lone snorkelled getting out of the water and he said it was far too turbulent to see anything. And far too dangerous for me to consider getting in the water!

By the time we returned to the ship Mom was having a lot of pain in her knee and lots of difficulty walking. We appreciated the cool cloths, glasses of water, shade and benches offered just outside the ship before moving inside the ship and upstairs. We headed in our bathing suits to the hot tub. 

After cleaning up with a shower, changing our clothes and dinner Mom and I went to watch the movie "The Light Between the Oceans" around the mid-ship pool deck while LC did other things. Popcorn is offered in bags at the bar and blankets at each deck chair. It was amazingly warm sitting there because they didn't have air conditioning blasting!

With plans for tomorrow we are all retiring for bed around 10:30 pm. I am going to carry on watching a movie from last night that operates like a personal digital player, knowing where I left off!