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St. Martin / July 2007 - Week 1

Saturday - Monday

For the first time we decided to take two complete weeks for our vacation on St. Martin this year. As you may have read we "advertised" on our website if anybody wanted to join us for our first week as friends that were joining us had to cancel. After numerous e-mails from all over the world one couple committed to going. Friends and family thought we were a bit crazy for committing to spending a week with people we didn't even know, but it was a risk and one that paid off with friends for life. A few hours at The Sunset Beach Bar after we landed and it was like we had known them for years. It's unbelievable what 7 days in paradise can do. This report we will document our activities each day, just like the "3 days in Wherever" from the United Airlines magazine, but with a different twist; we will show what can be done in 7 days (actually 14) on St. Martin ... day, night, rain or shine.

First we headed to Miami for our usual overnight layover since we can't get to the island in one day. So we had to sample (again) the nightlife along the beach front. After a very nice welcome from the concierge at The Marriott Hotel in South Beach we were out for the night.

Layover in South Beach

A quick first flash and we were all dressed up for a night on the town. Our first stop was The Beacon Hotel if only to cool down and have a martini. After a quick dinner on the front we decided to walk to The Delano Hotel. A big mistake for Cheri in her heels, but at the pool bar you can cool off in the shallow end or put your feet up in a hammock.

We found a great sofa in the lobby.

We were up early as the sun was shining on South Beach and we were soon on our way to the airport. No delays, except through passport control at the new Princess Juliana airport. It's so nice to have air conditioning though!Once we were through passport control we were off to pick up our jeep from Michael at Unity Car Rental. It was our favorite red jeep, only 75,000 km's on it and we think we have driven at least half of those over the years. LOL

The 1st place to go when you land is, of course, The Sunset Beach Bar where guys take off their watches and the girls their tops; it's the quickest way to unwind from your flight and get onto island time.

In all the years we have been coming to SSBB we have never seen a plane take off this way.

Wireless internet is free at The Sunset Beach Bar and Cheri gets spotted on their live webcam.

Day One

We settle in to our rooms with a great view overlooking Dawn Beach. It was in the same building as our very first visit to the island and how the view has changed.

Our first task was to dismantle the Jeep. The windows always gets stored in the room as soon as we arrive and don't get put back on until we leave.

We usually go to Le Planteur our first night, but we needed a casual dinner so Le Village in Marigot was our choice. Everybody there was happy to see us and made us all feel very relaxed as the four of us started to get to know each other. By the time the pizza came and the first bottle of wine was finished, we knew we were in for a great week.

Day Two

A quick breakfast and we were off to Orient Beach, by far the best known beach on the island. As always we head to Kon Tiki and why not? Karl was glad to see us again, he had been told we were coming so the chairs were ready for us and in minutes Cheri was in her favorite spot.

Another favorite spot was the Kon Tiki beach bar where the new bartender, Patrick kept everybody entertained.

It was so nice to be back, the beach was terrific, the sea warm and the sun was hot. Unfortunately it was not to last. We were told a tropical storm was coming in that afternoon so we caught as much sun as we could knowing full well, when it rains on St. Martin, it rains.

One of our favorite things to do is walk on the beach, little did we know we would be running for cover in minutes. The storms can come in that quick.

Cheri becomes the photographer and with the wind getting stronger the wind surfers were in their element.

So what do you do on St. Martin when it rains? Drink and have some fun.

Another way to keep warm is swim out to the "bouncy."

The rain has stopped and it's time to dry off, including the jeep, get "dressed" and clean up for dinner.

Le Planteur was our choice which is up the hill on the French side of Oyster Pond and Gerard was so happy to see us. A lovely table overlooking the "pond", great service and food which gave us a nice ending to a very crazy day.

Day Three

We woke up to a very large tropical storm that had come in thru the night so with all the rain and strong winds we soon realized it was a shopping day. With no cruise ships in Philipsburg it made it even better to walk on Front Street. When the ships are in it's nearly impossible to shop comfortably as they drop 1,000's of people in town. Our advice is always pick up a cruise ship schedule and note the days they are docked.

Nobody on the beach today, but as we headed in to town the rain stopped for a while. Our first visit was to AMA and see our friend Mac who was pleased to see some interested customers come in to the store. We have come to trust AMA and we recommend that all our friends go see them for their jewelry needs.

While our jewelry is being cleaned we walk down to the Guavaberry Store for Cheri's favorite Guavaberry Coloda.

Here they blend and bottle different flavors of local rum, serve a great Guavaberry Colada, and you can spice up your food with Habanero-Lime, Creole Chipotle and Island Jalapeno sauces.

Where better to go to show off your new jewelry and get a good cheap lunch? Naturally the Sunset Beach Bar, at least we save money as Cheri can drink for free and we also have two SSBB discount cards which gives us 25% off all food and paid beverages. We like our photo on our cards along with being Charter Members.

Cheri got caught on the webcam again and then we continued our quest to visit a few other bars as the weather was not getting any better and next on our list was The Cliffhanger.

But to our disappointment it was closed, in fact it was closed for the whole time we were there.

With the bar being closed Cheri took the opportunity to take a look at Cupecoy Beach which was very sparse as you can see.

Since it was Monday, Layla's was closed also so we headed back to Oyster Pond, around Cupecoy, thru the Lowlands, Marigot and Grand Case. We could not believe all the construction around the Cupecoy area! It just proves the tourists $$$'s are really coming to SXM.

Our usual stop on the way "home" was The Dinghy Bar, by far the best Happy Hour on the island. It's pour your own for only $3 between 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm and it's a nice relaxing spot to watch the boats come in or see the pelican's diving for their dinner.

Well after a hectic day driving around the island we decided to stay casual for dinner and go to The Talk of the Town in Grand Case. A very famous street BBQ which is on the strip of many fancy French restaurants. Here you can get great ribs, chicken and snapper, and not put a dent in your pocket book. And the service is good and friendly.

It was getting late but the jeep took a quick left towards Orient Bay and we found only one bar open in Orient Village, The Planet Orient B. It was their opening night and Cheri recognized the owner/manager/bartender. It was Rasheed who served our very first drink on Orient Beach years ago at The Bikini Beach Bar. Well the opening night was something Rasheed and the few patrons will never forget as we decided to help the first night end with something special. A little nude bartending.

Cheri was "crowned" Miss Planet.

Cheri showed that she could mix drinks, entertain the customers and even wash the glasses so Rasheed took a well deserved break.

What a night!! Everybody enjoying themselves. We were having so much fun and a good laugh that nobody wanted to go home.

But we heard the weather was going to be so much better tomorrow and we needed some beach time. Maybe we could have gone straight to Kon Tiki but we thought Karl would not have got the chairs out this early.

Let's see what we can get up to the rest of the week and the next ...

Home Trip Reports Travel Tips St. Martin / Sint Maarten

You will notice that this week’s report is significantly different than was originally posted in August 2007. This is due to the fact that there are people who feel our activities in general, and more specifically with the couple we shared this week with, gives the impression that we are swingers. This assumption (and probably the fact they have way too much time on their hands) has made our friends the target of significant local gossip and ridicule. If you are a frequent visitor to our site and have visited our other reports you will know we are not swingers and our activities are all done for fun and a laugh. But out of respect for our friends we have removed all photos that included them. Unfortunately, when you have so much fun with friends most of the photos are with them; so this report could be significantly lacking in some really good photos Hopefully you will still enjoy the information we provide. It’s too bad that a few town gossips can have such an impact on people’s lives. Maybe they are just jealous that they don’t have the nerve to live their lives with the freedom and fun that we strive for every day. Tony & Cheri