While in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I want to revisit our travels to the Turks & Caicos Islands in the Caribbean. This is NOT an informative blog post about clothing; this is a story about travel, relaxation, and paradise.

Our beautiful spring wedding wrapped up and we were hungover and ready to relax. We chose to spend our honeymoon on the island of Providenciales aka Provo in the Turks & Caicos Islands in the Caribbean. What a place! We spent six nights on only one of the islands in the territory and I would love to go back and further explore the natural beauty of this chain of islands at greater length.

Being a British territory, the locals all speak English and many speak other languages from Europe. One of the bartenders at our resort thought I was Spanish because I only spoke Spanish when ordering drinks (that’s my alter ego, Rico coming out.) Everyone seemed genuinely amicable and laidback. The soca, reggae, and other island music we heard was a perfect match for the setting.

The island of Provo is paradise and home to Grace Bay, which is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. The sand is the perfect texture, the color of the water is exotic, and one of the most pristine coral reefs on Earth borders the north side of the island.

We stayed at the Blue Haven Resort just North of Grace Bay in T&C. I would really recommend this resort to anyone. This place offers all the same perks as any of the all-inclusive resorts on Grace Bay with the added benefit of a bit more privacy since it is off the main drag. The resort is smaller, sits next to a yachting community, and faces the Mangrove Cay and the oh-so-turquoise Caribbean Sea. It’s part of the Turks & Caicos Collection of luxury resorts, which means you can go back and forth between the other sister resorts, the more family-oriented Alexandra and the exclusive, adults-only Beach House Resorts.

We met a wild and crazy group of high school spring breakers from South Carolina at the swim-up bar on the first afternoon, who made our vacation much more interesting than it would have been if Rachael and I were just hanging together. They taught us a lot about Gen Z culture, brought us into their circle of teenage drama, and invited us to take many shots together.

They also invited us to go on a private sunset (booze) cruise together which was definitely a highlight of our trip. The driver took us up and down the T&C coast passing Parrot Cay, which is (second or third) home to celebrities and some of the wealthiest people in America, such as the CEO of Capital One and Bruce Willis. The Weeknd and Bella Hadid we rumored to have been vacationing in the area the week that we visited.

Every Thursday there is a Fish Fry in the center of town on Provo. On this particular Thursday night, there was an amazing sunset on the west side and a full moon rising on the east. I wore my custom Eric Adler resort wear and Rachael wore a casual beach summer night outfit. There was a lot of good music, food, and drinks as Rachael and I wandered our way around the festivities. We danced on stage, ate fried seafood, and drank cocktails out of fresh coconuts.

One unfortunate meal led me to contract a case of the stomach virus, which had me in bed for the rest of the trip. Lucky for Rachael she doesn’t eat meat, but she spent the rest of her honeymoon with a sickly shipmate. Poor thing. The view I had from my bedroom was very pleasant and I still had an amazing trip. I can’t wait to go back and see that beautiful blue water!