This morning began on a hopeful note — Aimee is finally on the mend. 🙌 Not fully back to her usual self, but definitely improving. Today's mission: keep food down, stay hydrated, and attempt to transform her back into Island Mode™. Meanwhile the ship glided toward Grand Turk, where we'd dock from 11:30 to 7:30 — basically a full shift in beach heaven, minus any actual responsibilities. Weather: 80°, breezy, mostly sunny — prime "I might never return home" material.
At breakfast I loaded up on carbs like an Olympian preparing for the 5,000-meter pastry event. 🥞 Aimee managed toast — small but mighty progress.
Salt history. Grand Turk was once a major global player in sea-salt production. From the 1600s to the 1960s, salt was the industry — so important that salt rakers had their own traditions, tools, and neighborhoods built around the ponds. Abandoned salt mounds and old windmills still scatter the island.
Whales. Turks & Caicos sits near the North Atlantic humpback migration route (January–March). A sculpture honors them — and makes a perfect selfie spot for tourists unlikely to see a real whale but happy to pose with a metal one.
The legendary beach. Walk 50 steps off the ship → BOOM → turquoise water. No buses, no taxis, no effort. My kind of place.
Aimee's Triumphant Return
Aimee felt much better once we hit the beach. Sunshine + warm water = magic. Powered by nothing more than a heroic piece of toast, she managed a 1,000-meter open-water swim. Absolute legend. I put in around 1,500 meters myself, goggles on, and spotted a flounder (always fun to see a fish that looks like a living doormat), brightly colored reef fish, and a trumpetfish — long and skinny like a fish that aspires to be a trombone. 🎺🐟 Not a coral-reef paradise, but still really cool. We rented two chairs and an umbrella. Worth it. The sand was coarse like brown sugar where we were, then transitioned into softer gray down the beach — like walking through a geology lesson.
The Donkey Incident
Grand Turk is known for its wild donkeys, descendants of animals brought centuries ago for salt-pulling labor. Now they roam freely… including the beach. I accidentally got one's attention (I guess I made some clicking sounds?) and it walked straight over to me. Since I'd just read they can be aggressive, my stress level spiked. Aimee very helpfully reminded me that I was the one who summoned it. Fair point. I backed slowly into the water, and it wandered off to investigate the next group of tourists. Donkey drama avoided.
Food, Music & Time Travel
Aimee finally got to eat a real dinner — major milestone! Then we caught a show: Eliot Finkel, an extremely enthusiastic pianist I knew absolutely nothing about. But wow. The man lives inside the piano. 🎹 His fingers moved like waves on the water — Taylor Swift, Lizzo, Broadway, and a few pieces that seemed physically impossible. We don't usually do the shows, but this was a good one. Tonight we also jump into Atlantic Time, because the line slices straight through the Dominican Republic. Geography is weird down here. (And yes — I got a Starbucks mug. Because of course I did.)
Trumpetfish: yes. Flounder: yes. Sea turtle: not today. The campaign continues. Tomorrow, a VIP dolphin encounter in the Dominican Republic — a new country, and a whole different kind of marine diplomacy.