Santa and Mrs. Claus love to take adventures each year when they go on vacation. This year they spent some time down in the Caribbean and one of the islands that they toured was Grand Turk. Mrs. Claus sent back some pictures and some note about their tour and wanted the information posted to her website, somewhat like a scrapbook page.
Most people arrive to the island on cruise ships, but while most are just floating in the water and enjoying the sun at the beach, there is some interesting history to be learned about the island. There is an excursion that you can go on that will take you on the tour of the islands where you can learn about some hidden gems.
One of the things that Santa got a chuckle out of was the free-roaming burrows (or donkeys) that are all over the island. You are not permitted to feed these animals unless you agree to take them home and take care of them. We decided we have the reindeer so... no feeding the burrows.
The water around the island is so clear and warm. Santa admits that if he is running a bit ahead of schedule on Christmas Eve, he will take a break and a quick dip on the waters just off of this beach to get refreshed and relaxed. These are only quick dips though due to time constraints. He has to get dried off, get suited up and back on his delivery schedule not long after he gets there. Seeing it during the day, it was all that Mrs. Claus could do to keep him out of the water.
Another stop on the tour was to the Grand Turk Salt Salinas. Considered to be one of the world's largest producers of Salt, this salt farm works year round to produce salt and salt products that are exported around the world. It is a very simple process. As the tide comes in and fills the fields, the salt is left behind when the tide goes back out again. After some salt is built up, it is then chipped away and processed.
Grand Turk is famous for a very special event in American history. The splash down of Astronaut John Glenn just off the coast of the island. There is an exhibit called "Splashdown Grand Turk†which is a 3,500-square-foot attraction celebrating the unique relationship of the American human spaceflight mission and its importance to Grand Turk’s history. Located on the south side of the Grand Turk Cruise Center, the free exhibit features amazing replicas unique to the Mercury space program, including a scaled 20-foot-tall Atlas rocket and a full-size, three-dimensional replica of astronaut John Glenn in spacesuit, and, of course, a detailed replica of the Friendship 7 capsule, which splashed into the Atlantic in 1962, a few short miles from the island of Grand Turk. Storyboards at the exhibit depict the accomplishments of the NASA space program and detail the differences in space equipment of yesterday and today while offering an overview of the current space program and future plans. You can also see other information about this event and the island at the Grand Turk National Museum which is also quite interesting.
I know this is more than a postcard, but I thought you might enjoy hearing a little about our trip.
Hugs,
Mrs.C.
