GRAND TURK — Where else would you expect to find John Glenn but standing on a beach in the Caribbean? After all, the famous astronaut-cum-senator has put in his time and deserves to be, at 93, where the sun shines and the fresh ocean breeze makes it feel like paradise.
That place is Grand Turk, an island that’s part of Turks and Caicos. John Glenn can be 
found standing in the sand, in full gear, a statue of the astronaut who inadvertently gave this island an identity and, in some ways, an escape from the anonymity which history delivered.
The statue is part of the Grand Turk Cruise Center and is a tribute to American astronauts in general, and Glenn in particular, and it helps when a security officer named Larry Swann 
points you in the right direction. It’s not that the display is hard to find…it’s just a subtle addition to where cruise ships deposit visitors on a regular basis.
Most of the ships are Carnival’s (ours is the Freedom). Other lines in the Carnival family — Holland America, Costa, Princess — also make calls here and they usually come at the rate of seven per week. The 15,000 or so visitors are critical to Grand Turk’s economy, now principally dependent on tourism.
Once, however, it was a different story.
More than 50 years ago, John Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth. He did it three times that day, February 20, and his time in space lasted four hours, 55 minutes, 23 seconds. When his capsule — all six feet by nine feet of Friendship 7, as it was called — landed, it was off shore from Grand Turk, which became the first soil his feet touched after returning from space.
Hence, the reason for the tribute on the sand.
It’s not big, it’s free and it’s well-done. It’s also a mini-history of the beginning of America’s space program, a story that never really gets old to those of us who 
remember the early days. And like all such places, it’s something of an education.
For example, who knew (or remembered):
• That the Mercury 7 space program was so named because it included the nation’s first seven astronauts?
• That the criteria for being an astronaut included a height restriction of 5’11”, an age restriction of 40 and a weight restriction of 180 pounds?
• That one of the seven, Deke Slayton, didn’t fly in the Mercury program because of a medical condition but later went into space with Apollo?
• That Glenn became a national hero accorded a ticker tape parade in New York in which he rode in the seat next to President Kennedy?
• That astronauts who flew in the Space Shuttle each had 10 times the space Glenn had, and that it was said he “wore” his space capsule rather than rode in it?
• That there were no computers on Friendship 7?
• That when Glenn went back to space in 1998, at the age of 77, he sealed his place as the only astronaut ever to fly in the Mercury and Space Shuttle programs?
• That when he went fishing with fellow astronaut Scott Carpenter, who joined him on a Grand Turk “vacation” after the landing, they rescued an unconscious skin diver?
• That Carpenter, the second American to orbit the earth, also splashed down and was taken to Grand Turk?
The island gained an international reputation in those days. The U.S. Air Force base closed with the end of the Cold War and today it’s economy is also built around 
offshore banking and construction. When there is no cruise ship in port, which is most of the time, places on the beach like Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville and assorted other tourist stops and shops, are closed.
Hopefully one day, when the last surviving Mercury astronaut is looking down from another place, his little place in the sand won’t be forgotten.
Today at portsandbows.com: Holland America’s wordly cruises
Caribbean Princess
7 nights
September 6, 2014
Fort Lauderdale (return): Grand Cayman, Roatan, Cozumel, Princess Cays
Inside: $399
Cost per day: $57
www.princess.com