It doesn’t take visitors very long to realize something during their Turks and Caicos vacations.

This is not just a beautiful place.

It’s also filled with beautiful people.

And we don’t just mean the lovely tanned folks strolling the soft white sand of Grace Bay Beach or enjoying the sunset by the edge of the infinity pool at the Gansevoort, the finest of the Turks and Caicos resorts.

Bewitching too are the permanent residents – known locally as “Belongers” – who radiate a beauty both on the surface and from deep within.

That was very apparent last Friday night when another of the Turks and Caicos resorts on Providenciales Island hosted the Miss TCI Pageant.  The contest wasn’t just about physical loveliness – though there was that in abundance – it was also a window onto the soul of the people who inhabit this island paradise.

As with all beauty contests, the young ladies were asked questions.  But these were not the trite queries one usually hears at such events.  They were tough, meaningful, and dug deep into the hearts and minds of the people who live here.  Upcoming elections, political power and its source, and health care were all directly addressed.

The winner, 19-year-old Easher Parker, elegant in shimmering gold, plans to use her year-long reign to bring greater awareness to the haunting issue of child abuse.

Not your usual beauty pageant fare.  But more beautiful by far.

Turks and Caicos vacations are all about beauty.  Inside and out.

Come and share it with us at the Gansevoort, the most beautiful of the Turks and Caicos resorts.

As Caribbean holidays go, it was rather unorthodox.

The visitor came neither by plane nor by boat.

And he certainly didn’t swim here.

This most-famous-of-Caribbean-holidays started with a splash.  A big one.

The day John Glenn fell from the sky …

… and right into our history books.

It was February 1962, in the middle of yet another perfect afternoon, when the Turks and Caicos Islands played host to the splashdown heard round the world.

Glenn had just become the first American to orbit the globe when he made a dramatic plunge into the sea off Grand Turk Island in his Friendship 7 Capsule.  He was greeted onshore by a throng of residents eager to bear witness to history – their own and the world’s.  One of the most exciting events ever on Turks and Caicos, it is still recalled with exhilaration and pride by many Islanders.

Yes, we remember.

And now, as the fiftieth anniversary approaches, that storied event has been commemorated with a permanent memorial at the Grand Turk Cruise Center.

“Splashdown Grand Turk” is a 3,500-square-foot attraction celebrating Glenn’s seminal spaceflight and its place in the history of these Islands.  The attraction features a replica of the Friendship 7 Capsule, a display delineating the accomplishments of the NASA space program, and the dramatic story behind the 20th-century space race.

It is fascinating … and permanent.  It will be here forever to captivate and enlighten both Islanders and visitors alike.

It serves, too, as a reminder that Turks and Caicos vacations aren’t just about fun in the sun and pleasure by the pool.

Turks and Caicos vacations also offer some stirring cultural opportunities, and our chapter in the space story is just one of them.

JetBlue Airways has confirmed that it will commence flights to Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands from New York and Boston, starting February, 2011.

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