CARRIBEAN MUSE CHAPTER 5

Last port of call was Grand Turk Island. As it was recently devastated by a hurricane (apparently the flat islands fare worse), there was little to do onshore. They did offer a tour of the "hurricane flattened areas" along with stories from the survivors. Not conducive to a relaxing tour of paradise.

Fortunately there was another heavenly option in the offing which was a full-blown, Jimmy Buffett, pounding DJ's, giant bong-filled alcohol fueled, cheeseburgers in Paradise, Margaritaville! What a gas. We made it that far from the ship and planted anchor for the rest of the day. They had a swim up pool which we left to the younger crowd as it was quite nippy (70's I believe) and stayed with a poolside table where we could watch all the action. There was non-stop music and silly games instigated by the DJ in charge.

There was a memorable beer guzzling competition where we were amply represented by our own Matthew R. who played by the rules and lost! But we were proud to back such a worthy entry into the frothy fray which included some spillage and spitting. This was followed by a hysterical scavenger hunt which had Kristen R. scurrying (they are definitely a party couple as is evidenced by their frantic dance off on board to break the 80's trivia tie).

Highlights included her frantically racing around securing beach towels, clothing, drinks, cell phones and one priceless moment when she had to put the shorts on her own cousin! She lagged considerably behind the rest as they were 1) button fly shorts; 2) belonged to his wife so fit was an issue, and 3) well geez it was her cousin! One gentleman, who I believe was European basically stripped off his trunks to supply one of the contestants which led to a very interesting re-robing as he apparently was wearing nothing underneath and beach towels really don't cover the rear very well! Kristen ended up as one item away from the last showdown which was just as well. The final stunt was selecting a likely male specimen, the woman draping herself completely over her victim and having him perform as many push-ups as possible before collapsing into a heap of squished and exhausted puddle of bodies.

A liberal dose of margarita's, beer, etc. of course added the the frivolity of the occasion, but as no one had been asked to steer the boat, we were all able to stagger back onboard and no harm done. The B man and myself, after a mixture of sun, booze, weird food and hilarity decided to fore go dinner that night in favor of taking turns hanging over the railing. As he basically probably only downed one beer, I guess it was the food. Ah well an early night is not all bad....