Grand Turk

We woke at 6:00 a.m. with the dawn… showered and dressed… (Too early for a real vacation, but there is a schedule to me maintained…so we got up, showed and dressed then made our way up to breakfast, to eat and watch as we called on Grand Turk.

We slowly approached the dock, light lines were thrown, caught, and drogue in, pulling in heavier lines, mooring hawsers… each made fast, and pulled tight… a gangway was lowered, the local authorities welcomed aboard… We were here…

After a few minutes we were allowed to disembark… a 9 letter word for leave… We walked off the gangway, down the dock and into the “Cruise Port” and its associated village… a safe, cruise line owned, cruise line controlled tourist village… Full of shopping opportunities, a Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville Bar, A Wave Runner in case you would like to try surfing (without having to go in the ocean) a safe, clean beach, with life guards and security guards, more shopping opportunities, and a shore excursion desk…

We walked through the Village, past the “sanctioned” Taxis, past the sign saying “Please be advised that You are leaving the Cruise Center Property”… to where we could fine Nathan and his golf cart rentals… We had tried to reserve a golf cart from Nathan, but our credit card companies security department is fearful of charges on cards from service stations in the Caribbean, so we didn’t have a golf cart reserved, and there were lots of reservations, but some were from a different ship, (we were scheduled to be the only ship in port… but there was a hurricane, named Thomas, (you may have read about Hurricane Thomas in quality blogs like this one) (sorry Anthony)) second ship, which would arrive later… we were offered a cart for 2 or so hours… we accepted… we left, headed north to the far end of the island… where they have a light house… We only got lost once on the way… It’s not a big Island, you could get lost a couple of times and still find your way in a timely fashion… Along the way, I had to deal with driving on the left… I was ok when just driving, but junctions were difficult, and when cars approached (on a two lane road) I mentally assumed they were passing slower cars, headed my way, just ahead… and would first freak, before remembering… there are on their side of the road… I am on mine… all is good…

We reached the light house… we walked the bluffs, we viewed the reef… Having visited the far end of the island we headed back from where we came, the other end of the island… (this isn’t a big island…. )

Between the ends is found the major (only) city on the island, Cockburn Town… we paused, in search of the local museum which came highly recommended… we only got turned around a couple of times, before finding Front Street, the main street of town… on which is located the museum…

The museum lived up to its reputation… Its significant exhibit concerns a ship wreck, an old ship wreck, excavated some years ago… it is circa 1513, as early a ship wreck as has been excavated in the new world… the exhibits were good, the artifacts were well used, well displayed… the docents friendly and enthusiastic… all around a good deal…

Having done the museum, Tina sat while I explored the town… It was clearly English, clearly a colony… facing the sea… much remained to remind us… two warehouses, covered in sheet iron… other warehouses with the trading agencies name… a small dock… a quay… There was a tourist shop row, colorful shacks on one side of Front Street, a older building with shops on the other… Here and there evidence of Hurricane Ivan, who visited with great enthusiasm two years ago, and generally trashed the place… (Hurricane Tomas visited 3 days ago… it was windy, it rained… It left… the islands were fine…) I shot photos of town, of Front Street and of the H. M. Prison (“visitors welcome”, we didn’t visit) Then, with the second cruise ship visible off shore, we headed back to the Cruise Port…. To turn in the golf cart and explore a modern commercial, corporate enterprise, The Cruise Port…

As expected, the cruise port was clean, full of corporately sanctioned shops, mostly chains found at similar cruise destinations the world over, with a few carefully chosen local options (I assume certified safe) along with neat rows of beach chairs with matching towels and a foot shower (you are required to clean your feet before entering the Wave Runner… after all what is surfing if there is sand…), and a life guard on a jet ski… It was safe (no locals without authorization), sanitary, and had clean public restrooms, but no soul…

We explored, Tina tested the safe, sanitary restrooms, we walked through the stores, then headed up the beach, out of the Cruise Port, towards a known beach shack, a beach bar, Jack’s Rum Shack… It was about a quarter of a mile up the beach, on the beach (who knew, a beach shack on the beach).

We sat down, we ordered beers, we looked about, we ordered a second round of beers, and some jerk chicken… Other cruises joined us, some we knew… the owners dog went swimming in the surf… It was cloudy but bright and warm, then sunny, then it started to rain… more cruise guests joined us…

Eventually we walked back up the beach, towards the Cruise Port (It’s safe, It’s clean, It has security) through the Margaritaville, through a couple of shops (it was hard not to go through shops… it was designed that way) and back onto the ship…

Lessons learned… 1) People are scared of strange foreign ports… they are scared of foreigners… 2) corporations, travel corporations know this and create safe travel destinations and tours… boring travel destinations and tours, but they are safe, and easy, and folks take dollars and speak English… 3) Travel off the beaten path is interesting (more interesting) and rewarding (more rewarding) and cheaper…..

Carnival Corporation (owners of Carnival, Holland America, Princess and other cruise lines) will create ports… create experiences… much as Disney creates rides… But rides are not travel… The Disneyland Railroad is not a tourist railroad, it is an amusement park ride… a Wave Runner is not surfing, it is a ride… a Margaritaville Bar in the Cruise Port is not a beach shack and doesn't have a dog…

Now, 4:00, back aboard… we have sailed… there was a sail away party with drinks with little umbrellas… the official drink was the margarita (we haven’t visited Mexico, but we have visited the cruise port with a Margaritaville) The steel band played… people drank… the ship dropped her lines and sailed away… it began to rain… a warm rain, but outside it looks grey, not at all tropical…

While I love cruising, and am loving this cruise, I am glad we escaped the cruise port… I am blogging, Tina is napping (she sleeps more than most cats...) and all is good in paradise...

The photos can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/RandyHees/GrandTurk#