St. Maarten/St.
Martin / March '05
This was our sixth visit to St. Martin and we took our son with us for
his Spring Break vacation. We had no idea how he would react, not to the
nudity or topless women on the beach, he sees that when we go to Europe, but
to the island in general. We thought we would have to keep him busy 24/7
but even with a twelve year old, sand gravity can set in. We spent the
first two days of the trip in San Juan staying at The
San Juan Marriott Resort and Stellaris Casino which allowed us the
time to go sightseeing Old Town plus relaxing on the beach. This is a Marriott
Resort that could do with a little updating but as usual we were given a very
nice ocean view room on the top floor.
The first morning was spent relaxing on the beach and then we ventured in to
town to look around and climb up to the fort. Cheri had her usual map and was
the tour guide.
We found the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner
We had a little scare at the gate in San Juan as our AA Eagle flight was over
booked to St. Martin but fortunately Tony has a little pull on American still
because of having flown over 1/2 million miles with the airline. We were
OK and landed on time and Michael from Unity Car
Rental was waiting for us with our jeep. Giving him the
windows we were on our way to Oyster Bay Beach Club.
Arriving so early we could not check in and having packed correctly and
without to much hassle we found our beach stuff and settled in for an
afternoon on Dawn Beach.
No rest for long though when you have a 12 year old around
That night as usual for our first night we ate at
Le
Planteur and Gerard was surprised to see us in March. The service,
quality, price and view at this restaurant still ranks it as our #1 place to
dine on St. Martin.
SUNDAY it was off to Orient
Beach and to see our good friend Karl at Kon
Tiki. Despite the bad bad publicity this bar has received on the
internet recently, it is still our favorite place to sit on OB. In our
opinion the bad press is not warranted at all.
Karl takes a breather with Cheri and then Ashton wants a tattoo
Tony and Ken finally hook up after weeks trading emails and if you see this
lady on Orient Beach take a look at her paintings. We buy a couple every visit.
It rained Sunday night and we had to rush to put the top on the jeep before we
headed for an inexpensive meal at the good old Talk of the Town in
Grand Case.
MONDAY was shopping day and to
see the improvements that have been made to Front Street. Mac & Sam
were pleased to see us at AMA and they had
a lot of things for us to choose from. We also had to take Ashton to
The Sunset Beach Bar.
Cheri and Ashton had to go wave to the pilots and say goodbye to Air France..
Cheri's sad as Kris is not here to drink for free with her and she could not
find any new recruits today.
TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY was spent
relaxing on Orient Beach. All the travel and excitement caught up with
us and we just needed a few days of peace and quiet.
One day Cheri "flew" the flag at Kon Tiki. At least nobody cared if
it was upside down!
After eating dinner both nights at
Le Village
in Marigot we livened up a little as Ashton got his energy back on
THURSDAY.
Postcards had to be bought, rules had to be read, life jackets put on and they
were off.
And then Cheri needed a rest
FRIDAY was a great day for
sailing and our friend Captain Sam had offered to take us to Tintamare
Island. As he was coming to pick us up he told us there were whales
swimming north and so we hoped to catch a glimpse of one or two on our
way. Sam explains how to steer the boat and Ashton now has full control.
We made it to "mud island" but Ashton was not to sure about his spa
treatment. For the old folks the mud makes your skin feel so soft but
Ashton did not feel any difference.
SATURDAY was our last day on the
island, we packed up our stuff and set off to do some shopping and say our
goodbyes. First it was to see Sam & Mac at AMA
and the free Carib was waiting for Tony, unfortunately the diamonds were not
free. Cheri had decided that a new wedding ring was needed and there in
the store she asked Tony if he would remarry her. What do you think he
said? Then it was a walk down to The Guavaberry
Factory to pick up our favorite mash and a few bottles of very
cheap beverage from a local liquor store. Three bottles of rum got Tony a free
Guavaberry T-shirt and before our credit cards got anymore hits we set off to
Orient
Beach to say goodbye to Karl and then drove around the island to
spend our last few hours having lunch at The Sunset
Beach Bar.
Cheri cranks up the laptop (free wireless at SSBB), Tony has his last Carib and
Ashton says bye to Heidi.
It was getting late so it was a quick dash to the airport, drop off the wife,
kid and bags and get the jeep back to Michael. No needed to rush, our plane
was two hours late but even sitting around the airport did not seem that bad
but we were glad we were not on this plane.
Another great week on St. Martin, just think
we will be back in 4 months!
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