Month: March 2016

Slippery When Wet……. Avon Pier Avon, NC

I often hear that Avon, NC is not an “exciting” vacation spot. There just isn’t enough to do.  First of all, there is a very large ocean…… and since the island is so narrow if the ocean is too rough it is just steps to the bay.  People surf, kiteboard, wind sail, boogie board, swim and fish.  Others sit in the sun, read a good book and souvenir shop. There is a famous lighthouse to climb as well as many wonderful restaurants to eat at.  That being said, the Avon pier is one of my personal favorite spots. When the kids were younger we would always take one evening to go out on the pier and fish.  There are many interesting sights and sounds when you are out on the pier at night. When I say we, I am referring to our friend Mark and me.  John and Mark’s wife Sherry were not interested in the pier so Mark and I took the kids. We had many wonderful adventures.

Journal entry Tuesday July 28, 1998

After a dinner at Barfoot Pub Sherry and John went back to the house. Mark, Drew, Liza, Gregg and I went to the pier to go fishing. This was when the excitement began…..

As we entered the pier a large bang and crashing was heard. I turned to see Mark standing in the middle of ice and bait. He had dropped the cooler!  Of course we all became hysterical with laughter.  Steve, a kindly pier man, went and got a mop.  Mark, being the helpful soul that he is and feeling responsible for the mess, helped Steve in the door with the mop and bucket.

“Here Steve, I’ll mop,” said Mark as he grabbed the mop and whacked the drop ceiling knocking the panels askew.

As Mark mopped I swept ice out the door. Drew and Liza pretended they were looking at postcards and Gregg put a “slippery when wet” or “caution wet floor” sign up. We then went to pay for our fishing on the pier. I had a hard time convincing the pier people that I didn’t know Mark and that I was just there with my son and daughter. When we finally got out on the pier and set up to fish we asked Mark what happened.

“I slipped on the floor. The caution when wet sign was up and they must have just mopped the floor. I think it was still wet and I slipped,” Mark stated.

Gregg said, “I put that sign up after you spilled the cooler”.

Mark “Oh.”

More hysterical laughter……..

We never did find out what caused Mark to drop the bait and the cooler.  We didn’t catch a thing that night. In fact, we didn’t even have a bite. However, we have a memory that we will never forget. In fact, it is brought up many times when we talk about some of our favorite vacation memories.

 

 

 

eBags…A Miracle in Packing!

Let me begin today’s blog with a journal entry….

January 18, 2010

Up, breakfast and a quick trip to Mount Gay Distillery. Nice tour of distillery, bought many souvenirs, and saw a monkey. Back to hotel to pack for home. Down to lunch for our last meal at the Beach Bar. Back to rooms, pack and off to the airport.

We arrive at the airport and our plane is on time. We start through security. My bag is pulled and I am asked if I have a cork screw in my bag. I turn to John and ask, “Did you put a cork screw in my bag?” He says he did so we look for it and cannot find it. Eventually I am instructed to take everything out of my suitcase. Clothing, dirty underwear and all are placed in a plastic bin and sent through-nothing. My suitcase is sent through empty-nothing. (This is taking a really long time and I am getting angry. Liza and Charlie walk away like they don’t know us.)

I ask the agent, “Are you sure it was my bag that you saw a cork screw in?” The guy answered that mine was the only suitcase that had gone through. To this I replied, “His went through right after mine”, and I pointed to John. Sure enough, there it was in John’s bag. Argggg!  John laughed, I did not…..

Ebag packing cubes are a wonderful packing tool. Had I had them back in 2010 it would have saved a lot of time and headache. I found eBags when I was doing some online Christmas shopping in November. An add popped up and I decided to look at it. There is a little video that showed how you could pack your clothes in the bags and it made your suitcase neater and packing more efficient. They were having a Christmas special and also free shipping. I never pass up free shipping so I ordered a set for John since he travels so much for work. Also, we were going to Curacao the day after Christmas and I thought they might be nice to have. They aren’t just nice, they are great! If I had just had them back in 2010 each separate bag could have been put through the x-ray and there would not have been dirty clothes all over the place! Plus it would have taken way less time.

When we got home I ordered myself a set and our daughter Liza a set for her birthday. Liza admitted she was a bit skeptical of them at first, but she now loves them. Check them out at ebags.com.  Let me know what you think.

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Ocean Club Resort, Turks and Caicos, Grace Bay

For my birthday in December 2013 my husband John and I went to the island of Provinciales, Turks and Caicos. We stayed on Grace Bay at the Ocean Club resort. I cannot say enough about both the island and the resort. We loved everything about both. Ocean club had a sister resort Ocean Club West which is a 15 minute walk via the beach. There is also a shuttle bus that takes you back and forth between the two. This was very convenient if you wanted to go to the shopping are which was closer to Ocean Club West.

Ocean club is a smaller resort with rooms from studio suites to 3 bedroom condos. We stayed in a studio deluxe suite with a king sized bed and screened porch. It was great. We had a full size refrigerator, microwave, stove, dishwasher, washer dryer. We were in the back of the resort and our screened porch overlooked one of the pools. There was always something to watch such as one of the workers harvesting coconuts for people or people learning to scuba in the pool. When I say the back of the resort we were a very short walk to the ocean. *This resort fills fast and we waited to long to get an ocean front room. Service was great and the staff was very friendly and helpful.

Our favorite part of Ocean Club was it’s location. To the right was one other small resort and then 2 miles of beautiful white beach that you could walk and find large shells and coral. Also, beach lounge chairs were abundant and you did not have to get up at the crack of dawn to claim one. Any time of day you could walk right out to the beach and find a chair. 

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To the left were the other resorts, some very large, which you could walk past, stop and have a drink or a bite to eat at their various beach restaurants.

Ocean Club has two restaurants. The Cabana Bar and Grill and the Opus wine bar. We enjoyed both. The Cabana Bar and Grill is right on the beach and has lighter fare. One of our favorites was the Grouper Sliders. The Opus wine bar is a bar and restaurant that is on the street side of the resort. John’s favorite part of this restaurant were the rum flights that you could get to try different rums. The food here is delicious. John enjoyed the red snapper and I loved their lobster fettuccine.

Don’t be fooled by the unimpressive lobby when you arrive. The resort more than makes up for that first impression.

 

Journal Entry Dec. 30, 2013

At 1:00 we came back in from the beach and got bikes (furnished free of charge from resort) to ride to the commercial area. I shopped while John had an “epic” bike ride to “Discount Liquors”. Fifteen miles later John, after biking up hills, pedaling on a major 4 lane highway, and being chased by wild dogs returned with 2 bottles of Mount Gay 1703 rum. He was spent. I, however, was quite comfortable at the Dive Bar enjoying a refreshing Hurricane. (John would later declare that it was a bonehead idea to try to pedal to the liquor store).

Back to condo, showered and ready for dinner at Coco Bistro. Took the shuttle to Ocean Club West and walked to restaurant from there. Restaurant is outdoor seating in a coconut grove. After a short wait at the bar we were seated and ordered lobster ravioli for an appetizer It was 1 large ravioli, but delicious. John ordered penne pasta with seafood. He declared it his best meal of the trip. I had the pan seared Mahi with potato cake and green beans. It was really good as well. (Very difficult to get reservations, but if you go when they first open for the evening you can get a seat).

Walked back to resort and stopped at Opus for a rum flight before bed. We are now on a first name basis with the bar tender. I skipped the rum and settled for champagne.