Beauty is everywhere you look in this island paradise.

The sand and the sea, the hills and the flora, the fish on the reef … the list goes on and on.  People enjoying Turks and Caicos vacations confront beauty at every turn.

But it’s not just the place itself.

The Turks and Caicos Islands are also filled with beautiful people.

And we don’t mean only those bewitching vacationers strolling the powder white sand of Grace Bay Beach or sitting poolside enjoying yet another spectacular sunset at La Vista Azul, the newest and hottest of the Turks and Caicos resorts.

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

That was on full display last week when another of the Turks and Caicos resorts on Providenciales Island hosted the Miss TCI Pageant.  The contest wasn’t just about physical beauty – though there was plenty of that – it also offered a window onto the soul of the people who live here.

As with all such contests, the young ladies answered questions.  But these were not of the trite type usually asked at beauty pageants.  These queries were tough and searching, designed to dig deep into the hearts and minds of Belongers.  The reinstatement of elections, the source of political power, and the prickly issue of health care were all touched upon.

The big winner was 19-year-old Easher Parker, dazzling in her shimmering gold dress.  After being crowned, Ms. Parker said she plans to use her reign to bring greater awareness to the haunting issue of child abuse.

Which is not something one usually hears about at a beauty contest.  And that’s what makes it so beautiful.

Turks and Caicos vacations are all about beauty.  Both inside and out.

Come and share that beauty with us at La Vista Azul, more fetching by far than the other Turks and Caicos resorts.

The Turks and Caicos Islands are out of this world, as anyone who has ever been here can tell you.

And on a February day in 1962, a man who had just literally been out of this world decided to drop in for a visit and see what all the fuss was about.

John Glenn had just made history as the first American to orbit the globe when his Friendship 7 Capsule made a dramatic splashdown in the waves off the island of Grand Turk.  When he came ashore, he was greeted by a crowd of eager residents who had turned out to witness history in the making.  It was one of the most exciting events ever to happen on Turks and Caicos, and it is still remembered today by many Islanders with pride and exhilaration.

Glenn had circled the Earth three times during the four-hour-and-56-minute flight before he dropped from the sky into our warm waters.  He stayed for three days and then Vice President Lyndon Johnson flew down from Washington and took the hero home to the inevitable ticker-tape parade.

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

“Splashdown Grand Turk” is a 3,500-square-foot attraction celebrating that vital American spaceflight mission and its importance to the history of the Turks and Caicos Islands.  The attraction’s many cool features include a detailed replica of the Friendship 7 Capsule and storyboards depicting the accomplishments of the NASA space program, the differences between the space equipment of yesterday and today, and the dramatic story behind the 20th-century space race.

It is a fascinating display, and it will be here forever to enthral and enlighten both visitors and Islanders alike.

It is also an important reminder that a Turks and Caicos vacation isn’t just about languorous days of fun in the sun and spicy nights of dining and dancing and whatever the moonlight may bring.

A Turks and Caicos holiday also offers some pretty captivating cultural opportunities, and our chapter in the space story is just one of them.