It's been a while since the Clark men got together for a dive trip/beach getaway. Well this year we did it. With the economy in the crapper, Dad came to the rescue with his own bailout package. We headed out to Grace Bay on the island of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos. There is not an executive bonus that could match the fun had on this trip. I came in from South Carolina via Charlotte, NC and met the other two members of our party who arrived from DFW via Miami. Five days of alternating between lounging on the beach and diving were just what we needed. I was kinda like we were college roommates since we made our own breakfast, lunch, and some dinners in our condo and came and went at our own pace. We managed to fit in some snorkeling as we explored the island in a rental van. Barry had the pleasure of sleeping on the fold out couch bed, which looked (and felt) more like a Schwinn bicycle that had been hit by a car. Dad and I took the main bedroom where we fashioned a kind of bed "fence" out of pillows so our feet wouldn't accidently touch. . . that would be weird. I managed to get some pretty good sleep despite the occasional territorial growl from the sleeping bear on the other side of the bed. The diving was superb even though the water was a touch cold due to the time of year. We got the chance to smoke some honest-to-God real Cuban cigars and they lived up to billing. The most memorable part of the trip might have been the white knuckle suicide bike ride Barry and I made to the IGA grocery store a couple of miles from the hotel. Cabs were too expensive so we hopped on the hotel bicycles to pick up some needed groceries. After a one and a half hour roundtrip of dodging cars and cycling on a shoulder that was eerily similar to the surface of an asteroid we arrived back at the hotel with groceries intact. Nevermind the bananas had been converted to pudding. I can honestly say returning home was a sad affair for me. I didn't want to part ways with Pops and Boza, nor did I want to leave our little bachelor pad. I will always remember this vacation fondly. Of course it would have been great to have the ladies be there, but sometimes it's fun when you can smoke a cigar and not have to drink the bottle of Listerine.
