Gumbo Cottage Guest Book

January 8 - 15, 2005

On my last morning I watched the sun rise thru the dining room French doors. It is going to be another beautiful day. It has been a wonderful week. Highlights included snorkeling on the reefs off the beach as well as the day we spent kayaking from the Leeward Marina. There is a lot of sea life and wildlife to enjoy. The villa is very comfortable and beautifully decorated. Providenciales is a great island and I look forward to visiting again in the future.

C. D. — Charlotte, NC

January 23, 2005

Dear Dinah & Henry

Just wanted you to know how much I've enjoyed my visit to this beautiful island. The people are a joy to meet and the accommodations are five star plus. Thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful hospitality.

D. H. — Mooresville, NC

February 12, 2005

Henry - We had a wonderful time. Such nice accommodations. The island has wonderful restaurants. We didn't have a bad meal all week. We took lots of walks on the beaches and the boys had some great diving. Thanks again,

The W party — North Ogden, UT

Feb 19, 2005

We had a wonderful time during our week here. Only God Himself could have created this beautiful aquamarine water. We boated, snorkeled, shelled, rode horses, found sand dollars, worshipped at Bethany Baptist, used the pool everyday, ate curry lime chicken (Hey Jose's), ate conch chowder, relaxed and read at sunrise, swam with a turtle, and walked the uncrowded beaches for miles. Thank you for a wonderful home to relax in. God bless you and those who stay here.

The W. Family — Fayetteville, GA

Feb 26, 2005

We had a great week at Villa Gumbo - enjoying the ocean view, the refreshing pool, and the comfortable surroundings. We are already planning our next vacation to Turks & Caicos with plans for another walk down the beach at Grace Bay, dinner at Sharkbite & the Tiki Hut here in Turtle Cove and scuba from the Leeward Marina. What a fantastic way to vacation!

Steve & Kristen H., Marcus & Carrie W., Kevin & Jen Mc. — Bellevue, WA

March 2005

The house, porches, and pool are wonderful. We have enjoyed the view, breeze and tranquility. As the roads improve you will have a truly desirable spot for anyone wanting the island experience. We would have loved to stay another month!

Dan & Linda, T, Rich & Ricky — Charlotte, MI

Ps. Ricky who is almost two summarizes his experience by pointing his finger and saying "POOL"

Mar 12-19, 2005

Here at Gumbo, the water was amazing! We went snorkeling and saw the most remarkable fish ever! We recommend the Shark Bite and the Tiki Hut. We never had a bad dinner, lunch or breakfast. The cottage is perfect, and the little town - Ports of Call in Grace Bay was so cute! Mamma's has such cool souvenirs! Giggles is small, but has good ice cream. You don't need anything more than what's outside your front door! We will never forget our stay here at Gumbo, and we hope to come back! Our advice is to take a lot of pictures so your stay will be unforgettable too!

The S party — Wilton, CT

April 2-9, 2005

This is a wonderful place to stay. You'll be happy you chose it over one of the resorts down the beach. More privacy, more flexibility. As for restaurants, Tiki Hut and Shark Bite are within walking distance. We preferred the former. Hemmingway's (at the Sands) is nice. The Sail Provo 10 to 2 trip is fantastic. 52' catamaran; stops at Iguana Island, the reef for snorkeling, lunch near a remote beach. Beware of maps, especially if you try to go to Malcolm's Rd Beach. Many of the magazine maps are old. The road to the public dump goes thru. Ports of Call has good souvenir shopping. Local art can be found at Bamboo Gallery and Greensleeves. Ask Villa Mgmt for another tank of propane for the grill. It's very low. Enjoy your stay. This is a special place - lots of amenities but with an out-of-the-way feel.

The L. Family — Eden Prairie, MN

April 29, 2005

WE LOVE IT HERE! Arrived on Wed and drove East yesterday and decided that we like Turtle Cove more because it is quieter and relaxing. Glad that we are planning to bring the entire family to Gumbo in June. Ate dinner at Baci's on Wed. and lunch yesterday at Sharkbite very good also,. My husband, Geb is getting SCUBA certified today and I may go out on the larger boat tomorrow just to snorkel. Trade winds are great to cool the house. We purchased a small noisy fan at IGA to drown out the bulldozer noise in the early a.m. Hope it is still here when we return. 5/2 Yesterday we went snorkeling with Sail Provo - recommend doing snorkeling safari trip instead of half day because you will get more time in the water. Today, we saw a turtle from Sharkbite Restaurant at lunch. After lunch saw a huge grouper out front on the reef. We've named him Henry's Grouper.

5/3 My husband went bonefishing with Arthur Dean (out of Leeward) Silver Deep 946-5612. They also do excursion trips - snorkeling etc. We saw 2 turtles at the Marina today while eating lunch at Sharkbite. My husband swam with a turtle out front later in the day. The closeness of the reef is great for novice snorkeling. I am slowly getting braver to swim further out each day.

5/4 I finally swam out far enough to actually swim with the turtle today! I will never forget it - I hope that my sons will be able to swim with the turtles in June. My husband saw three in the same area before I snorkeled out. Dinner at Coyaba excellent but very expensive. We loved Aqua for dinner, - lunch okay but dinner much better. We had dinner at Baci but have ordered Pizza twice and brought it back to Gumbo with a bottle of red wine from Tipsy Turtle liquor store.

Geb's View - This has been by far the best vacation I have ever had. I cannot wait to bring the rest of our family back in a month. I would be totally depressed if I were not returning so soon. This island is my place! I love it here and I love the location and accommodations at Gumbo. I saw nine sunrises without lifting my head off the pillow. Imagine that. Look toward the "resort mecca" at Grace Bay and let your day begin in God's glory. The snorkeling is as good as anywhere I have ever been. Right out front. There are three spectacular reefs. 1.) Smith Reef - about a half mile up to the left. Cross over the rocks and keep walking. Saw spotted Eagle Rays, large barracuda and every other tropical fish in the book 2.) Great place right out front, just left of the buoys, lots of fish and beautiful coral life. 3.) quarter mile to the right - best of all. Resident turtles are spectacular, baby tiger barracuda on first clump of coral is very cute. Fish and coral were spectacular. Amazing display of colors and marine life.

So glad we elected to stay here instead of resort. Other than my lovely wife who I had the best time with, there were three other people who made this vacation so special for me. First, Andy Matthews (Caicos Adventures) was my dive instructor who dove with me on my four special dives in West Caicos. This was the ultimate experience and I could not begin to list all of the amazing things I saw. Andy made it great for me as he taught me so much mainly to lose all my apprehension behind and enjoy the beauty below.

Captain Arthur Dean (Silver Deep) is definitely the unofficial "Mayor" of Provo. Great guy, very engaging and entertaining with so many stories. We sped across from Leeward to North Caicos into a beautiful flat in North Caicos where the bonefish roamed trying to evade the lemon Sharks and barracudas. Nature was boundless and in its purest form in the mangroves. I caught my first three bonefish and fulfilled my life long goal. Pound for pound the most awesome fighting fish I have ever caught. 3 lbs fights like 100! I loved being with Arthur and can't wait to take my sons fishing with him in June.

Also, kudos to Keith who is the bartender at Sharkbite. What a great ambassador! He always had my Turks Head Amber Draft waiting for me and Conch Burger right behind. Such hospitality! Great spot. All in all the best place to relax and let your mind rest. I hope you love it as much as I did. See you in June. Thanks for everything Henry. We will be counting the days until we return!

Mary & Geb B. — Elersburg, MD

May 28 - June 4

Dear Henry & Staff, Bryce & I can not express to you how much this vacation has meant - fun, sun, beauty & peace. Our over stressed frazzled appearance as we arrived has been replaced by two relaxed, tan & renewed beach bums. The highlight for us was the unbelievable beach & snorkeling. The feeling of safety among the locals was an added plus. This home went far beyond our expectations, not only was the house beautiful the décor is simply lovely! It is with a well rested mind, body and soul that we say TTFN & begin making our plans for next years trip - it will feel like we return to home! Thank you! Most Sincerely

Laurie & Bryce — Port Orange, FL

PS Henry if these homes are any indication of your decorating style I want to visit you in Atlanta when we are up there with our horse trainer at Willowick Farm. My husband says he'll trade you a horse for a couple months stay - ha,ha,ha or Not!

Henry, Thank you for the use of the Gumbo Cottage! We will be back. Thanks.

Kay & Joe V.

July 17-24, 05

Honeymoon Gumbo!

Dear Henry, What can we say...perfect place. Perfect location. Perfect Beaches. Perfect people. A place that has it all. Turks and Caicos was (is) a wonderful honeymoon destination. We really enjoyed our time here. We can't wait to come back for some more R & R. See ya later,

Forrest & Mary Kate DeP. — Eagle Rock, VA - Bridgeton, NJ

Aug 7-14, 2005

What a great place. We were very sad to leave today. Gumbo is the best spot on the island - We went to all other areas on the island and found nothing better. Henry - you have done a great job on this home. This was one of the best vacations we have ever had. Thanks, we will be back!

James A. — Monroe, GA

April 26, 2005

Dear Moog Family, We had a great time!! This is the perfect location in the island with access to all points of interest. I believe the Coral Garden was my favorite place (on Grace Bay) Joy and I went two days in a row to swim with the turtles. Thanks for such a perfect vacation location. We will be back in high season to check out what was closed.

Clayton & Joy L. — Atlanta, GA

Nov 3, 2005

It's been 10 years since we've been back to Provo, and out of all the other islands we've been to, it's our favorite. Certainly a lot has changed in 10 years, but the Moog's quality house, and great service is still the best. This is the first time we've stayed on the north side of the island and I think we enjoyed it even more for the convenience and restaurants. Couple of things we enjoyed

• the reef, turtle, stingrays to the left of the second red buoy
• tiki hut and aqua
• cooking steaks on the grill
• Scooter Bob's rental car
• turkey club sandwich from the salt mills café
• the adventure of getting out to Malcolm beach and the awesome beach there.

Chris & Marg M.

Nov 12, 2005

Overall we had a wonderful time in Provo. The first couple of days were quite windy and we mistakenly tried to walk to the IGA but we quickly settled in with a car and directions to places such as Grace Bay Club and the Palms. The winds died down as weekend approached and we saw turtles and grouper as we snorkeled. The Sharkbite and Tiki Hut are close and very serviceable. Drinks at Parallel32 (Palms) and Anacaona (Grace Bay Club) were magnificent. Go to the Palms and sit by the pool!

Chris & Christy — Winston Salem, NC

Cal & Catherine — Birmingham, AL

Dec 12, 2005

Mr Moog, what a place! We have really enjoyed our stay here. The view is incredible. The water in Grace Bay was a little rough for the early part of the week, making snorkeling a bit of a chore for my seven year old but she did it. My son and I did dives with both Dive Provo and Turtle Divers. Both crews and all service was excellent. Diving was better out at West Caicos. Saw eagle ray all the fish you need and wonderful coral. My daughter attracted the attention of a wonderful local dog (not a stray) named Naisch. My wife is demanding as I write this that we adopt the dog. Lizards were a big attraction for my 11 year old son. Dining was OK at Sharkbite and Tiki Hut, better at Aqua. Snorkeling at Coral Gardens was OK, but we have been around the world so there has been better.

The big attraction though is the house itself. It has all the comforts of home, with an ideal location. For me, the best part was being awakened by the morning breeze and sunrise. It has been so easy to get up at six am here. Went to Chalk Sound and Sapodilla Beaches. Really liked that. Lots of construction here! The island seems to have made a decision to build. I hope it doesn't change the character of the island. In any case my family has never enjoyed "resort" living. Gumbo Cottage was perfect!

Elliot and Cindy — Charlotte, NC

Jan, 2006

Happy New Year! We had a wonderful time. Loved the island, the people, and your villa was great. Hope to return

The Zs — Toronto, Canada

Jan 10, 2006

We have had a wonderful week at Gumbo Cottage and are spending our final few minutes enjoying the spectacular view from the balcony. We think this is the perfect location. We enjoyed the Sunset cruise and had several excellent meals. Our favorite was at Coyoba. We hope we can return - and for an even longer stay next time.

The H Family — Lexington, KY

Feb 4, 2006

This is a magical place. If you just take the time to relax (hard to learn!) it's wonderful. The house is perfect. The beaches are too. Sail Provo was a great day! And Aqua & Da Conch Shack were great experiences. Will tell our friends about your great place!

Judy & Dave W. — Grimesland, NC

Feb 4-11, 2006

Another great week at Gumbo is coming to an end. We enjoyed this trip as much and if not more than our visit last year. The weather was great! We enjoyed our days snorkeling from the beach. Big Blue is a great place to rent kayaks. We also enjoyed our time relaxing around the pool and exploring the island. Bella Luna is still our favorite dinner spot but we also enjoyed Sharkbite, Grace Cottage & Aqua (for breakfast). Thanks for providing such a wonderful home for us to enjoy.

Carol, David & Jeff — Charlotte, NC

Feb 4-11, 2006

We "tagged" along with Carol and Jeff on their trip this year. Having never heard of Turks & Caicos before, we didn't know what to expect, but we fell in love with your place. We had great weather, although the water was a little too cold for our Florida blood. Had a great time kayaking and exploring the island. We ate at some wonderful restaurants. But most importantly, we just relaxed, which we never are able to do at home! Thanks for great memories.

Clark & Kaye G. — Gainesville, FL

Feb 2006

It is a wonderful island and the cottage was just as comfortable as we remembered from last year. We enjoy having most of the beach in front of the cottage to ourselves. We had a great time and look forward to future trips.

C.D. & J.H. — Charlotte, NC

Feb 25 - Mar 11, 2006

Villa Gumbo was the perfect spot for our vacation this week. Snorkeling, daily beach walks, naps by the pool and dining at local restaurants. Weather was perfect! Tracy and Thomas were perfect hosts. Thank you for sharing this great home and beautiful island with us.

Mark & Varla, Rick & Betty, Bob & Julie — Moline, IL

April 22, 2006

We had a wonderful time the weather has been just perfect. This was our first time in the Caribbean. We did some of the best diving ever. I highly recommend Provo Turtle Divers they run a 1st class show, very friendly. We brought our own gear from the time we started our 4 days of diving they took care of everything from setting it up changing tanks, to drying it daily, only to return next morning and have everything setup ready to go (they spoiled us). The dive sites they took us for were out of this world! They are loaded at the boat pier a short walk to in the mornings. We also did a night dive again. Words cannot explain. The very best time.

Lue & Rhonda Q. — Newport, VA

April 15-22, 2006

What a beautiful place! This cottage is absolutely wonderful - love the décor! The ocean view and the breeze is wonderful & having a private pool was one of the best parts. The snorkeling at Smith's Reef & in front of Coral Gardens was awesome... I think you could snorkel pretty much anywhere along Grace Bay beach & see all kinds of great sea life! Parasailing was out of this world! Unbelievable views way up there! Great food everywhere we went. We even saw a shark while eating dinner out on the porch at the Sharkbite restaurant - very cool! We will definitely come back! Thank you for such a wonderful vacation - I have never felt more at home! This book is a great idea!

Rick & Robin M. — Barton, VT