The Journey 2009
Click on hyperlink for '09 Pix
Day 1
Saturday, Oct 31, 2009
I gotta go to ST Somewhere!!
Left for our yearly island visit Halloween morning on an 8AM flight from MCI (Kansas City) bound for Dallas and then Miami with final destination being our very own paradise of ST Maarten. All flights were on time and there were no issues with 90 minutes in each airport and all gated fairly close together so at the prescribed time we touched down for our island escape. My one disappointment with our trip then occurred. I have always enjoyed landing at PJIA and rolling up on the tarmac then having the door(s) of the plane open and smell the sweet, sweet smell of the tropics mixed with a bit of spent jet fuel….ahhh we are back. This year we got to use the jetway instead of the tarmac. No biggie as that is the price we pay for advancement in the world and the beautiful still new airport.
We were second in line to the immigrations agent…got the first of many ST Maarten stamps in our brand new passports and headed for the luggage claim. We truly believe that there is a luggage demon that sits at the end of the carousel and holds our bags till everyone else gets theirs but alas this year we tricked him with new bag tags and he missed us. Our bags came out within the first 20 or so. Picked ‘em up and smiled that big smile that hides a little voice in our heads that screams “We are on vacation” and headed out the door looking for AAA car rental. We were a bit early so had to wait a few minutes but as always they were there shortly and whisked us away to pick up our rental car. It was a slightly beaten up Toyota Celica….couldn’t have asked for better. I went to do the walk around to check the damage and Alain joked…please no worries, just bring it back with the steering wheel and all will be fine. I will have you know, I brought back the entire car including the steering wheel!
Next stop was the Flamingo Beach resort for our check in. Went quite well but they make me wonder…why a hotel/resort builds a five story building and the elevator only goes to the fourth floor. I know in reality that there are two public elevators that take you to rooms and one is out of commission…that one goes to the fifth floor. Oh well no big deal after all that little voice was not only screaming “we’re on vacation” but was now jumping up and down on the bed too so walking one flight of stairs in the open air…worth while!
We dropped our bags, bumped the thermostat to cool the room a bit more then made a B-Line directly to the Lady C for the Halloween party. We had friends to meet and rum to consume and nothing was going to stand in our proverbial way!!! We entered the bar and there were actually two sets of friends there. We hung with one for a while and had a bit to drink then went over to see the others. We had dinner with them and I have to say I was either incredibly hungry or the pizza from the galley was simply outstanding…I devoured slice after slice as if I hadn’t had pizza (one of my favorite foods) for years.
Our friends invited us to Baie Rouge to see them the next day. They were staying in a new villa that they wanted us to see. We cut out about 11 as it had been a very long day and we were getting pretty tired but when our heads hit our pillows we had no idea as to just what the marrow was to bring.
Day 2
Sunday, November 1st, 2009
Errands and a Villa visit….insert jaw dropping in awe here.
There are a pair of routines that we went thru that I will describe here and can be applied to each and every day we were on island.
Routine #1 Each morning before we left the room we showered and then applied lotion to our entire bodies, not knowing which beach we would be at or shooting at for the day but didn’t want to get too much sun so lotion went everywhere.
Routine # 2 First stop after driving the speed bump filled Billy Foley road was to stop at Zee Best for a double Espresso and on some days chocolate croissants.
We then headed to
Ricks Placefor breakfast with a friend that was leaving the island later in the day. Had Caribbean French toast…wow! Mary had an omelet. We said our good byes to our friend and went off to grocery shop for the week. Found our way to the Grand Marche in the Cole Bay area and forgot that everything was priced in Guilders at the market so at check out I was a bit surprised until the conversion was made…laughed and paid the lady at the register.
Dropped off the groceries and headed off to pick up a cell phone from the Queen of ST Maarten Sharon. What a great deal she runs and I felt good about having an emergency number for the kids to reach us at just in case.
Next stop is Baie Rouge to meet our friends. We were a bit late but they patiently waited, then took us to their villa….Ok, now I am living large!! This place sits on the side of the cliff overlooking Baie Rouge. It is simply incredible. Looks like Ralph Lauren worked his best magic on this place. It took our breath away. Only issue is today is overcast and rainy. We swam, sat in the Jacuzzi and caught up on a couple of years with our friends. Only to stop for lunch from Lido’s. We all love their ribs. Was sad to say good bye but they invited us back for another day of lying out and enjoying their incredible company. We told them that the next day would be a short one as I needed to get some photography work done and we needed to visit front street in Philipsburg to get a watch fixed. We left for the evening after the sun went down and enjoyed dinner in our room and then fast to sleep.
Day 3
Monday November 2nd, 2009
Errands and a Villa part two
Repeat of routines one and two. We then head to Philipsburg via the fort at Little Bay. Drove up to the fort…most likely weren’t supposed to but was very early and no one around. Climbed the hill, visited the sites and shot a bunch of pictures from the fort looking towards Philipsburg as well as Little Bay. Headed to
Front Streetbut nothing open yet so went to the Methodist church and shot pictures of it as well as some other landmarks in the front street area and the boardwalk. Headed to Oro De Sol to have my watch looked at. They were closed down. I know there is one in Marigot but don’t want to pay the forty cents on the dollar premium so we start shopping for watches to replace mine. Found a nice replacement but didn’t pull the trigger. Instead decided to go to DK Jems and see what they have…just so happened that our friend Depti was there and took a look at my watch. Her shop could fix it for a nominal fee and they did. Depti spent some time with Mary..and of course there was a nice little bauble for her in our visit. We would have to pick it up the next week as they had to send off for some custom work.
Back to Baie Rouge, we told our friends we would be there just after noon….ok 3PM isn’t just after noon but traffic was awful and our little side visit to DK Jems took u a bit more time than I had scheduled. Enjoyed the company shot some pix and had dinner from Uncle Harrys, and it was good. Decided was again time to leave but our friends invited us back for the following day to enjoy the sun. Who can pass up an offer from special friends and that kind of view. We took their orders for morning pastries and left for the evening. Order of business for the evening was to visit Peg Leg Pub as Shawn was back from his night off so off to see Shawn. We get a greeting from Shawn like no other. Yes he does remember us and sat with us and discussed our last visit. His job is to make guests feel at home and frankly he is perfect for his job. We had a great dinner of Pasta and a bone in rib eye that filled the dinner plate….Rob was both fat and happy tonight!!!
Day 4
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
A fond adieus to a pair of our island friends
Repeat routines one and two as well as picking up a mixed order of croissants for breakfast.
We made a bee line for Baie Rouge, the gate was open for us when we got there. Had a nice breakfast and headed for the patio to soak up the sun. Stayed until our friends told us it was time for them to leave for the airport. We helped them load suitcases and then said our good byes and headed back to our resort for a lazy afternoon. This was the only night that we watched the sun set the entire time we were on island. …
Day 5
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
Soaking up the sun.
Repeat routines one and two. Off to Cupecoy for the day. Met up with a couple we met Halloween night funny how you don’t recognize folks when they are wearing lets just say significantly less than they had on when we were introduced to them just a few evenings prior. Enjoyed lunch from Dany and then went back to room cleaned up and off to Peg Leg, yet again, to spend time with new friends, afterwards to the Greenhouse for a Travel Talk party….we were really late but had some old friends waiting to see us (Ronni & Mike). Spent time with them till it was time to pick up my high school best friend and his wife for a week of fun in the sun (Gary & Sonia)…time to pick up and prepare to sacrifice another pair of Caribbean virgins to the charms that ST Maarten holds, wooo hoo!!
They were almost an hour late getting in. Gathered them up in the car and got them to the Flamingo to register. We made plans for an around the island tour the next day.
Day 6
Thursday, November 5th 2009
Sacrificial Virgins around the island tour.
Repeat routines. Head out with friends for an around the island viewing so they could see it all from the passenger seats and enjoy the view. We stopped at the golf course for a couple of pictures. They insist that they will golf here and I show them where the pro shop is. Next one of the Cupecoy beaches so they can see the beauty of the cliffs. Off to Baie’s Long, Plumb and Rouge. Plumb was the most breath taking and the water was calm so we spend an hour or so bobbing in the water and chatting. While at Rouge we pointed out the villa that we visited and they got to take in the view of the beach. Drove thru Marigot but didn’t stop and then off to Friar’s to view the bay area but we only drove thru here too. Grand Case was next for lunch. We had ribs and fish at Talk of the Town. Lunch for $38. Off to Orient for a couple of hours then completion of the tour with a stop at Rima’s and then dinner at Peg Leg with our buddy Shawn. Shot lots of pictures at each stop.
Day 7
Friday, November 6th 2009
Good bye SXM hello AXA, but only for the day.
We once again repeat our routines, after all that is what makes them a routine!!
We make at least a yearly day trip to Anguilla and this year would be no exception. EXCEPT!! We found a better way, at least for us, to get to Anguilla from the Dutch side. There is a ferry that runs from just behind Rick’s Café (soon to be Bonita Cantina) it is $60 round trip each and is a smaller boat that is all open air. If the waves aren’t too large, and they weren’t, the ride is just as quick as going by ferry in Marigot and we didn’t have to wait in line. As we were pulling into Blowing Point AXA the big ferry was just a bit ahead of us. I asked the captain if he could beat that ferry to the dock….saving us easily 30 min if not more. Needless to say he goosed the throttle a bit and I saw Mary lift her hands in a cheer as if riding a giant rollercoaster, she later told me she figured I had said something to the captain about beating the big ferry to port. We were in a cab on our way to Anguilla Rums LTD before the others even got to customs. Visited Pyrat rum and as usual stimulated the economy of Anguilla just a bit. Once done there, we were off for our journey to heaven on earth…Gwen’s Reggae Beach Bar. We love it there.
We got to Gwen’s and her husband was there but not another sole was to be found. He set up chairs and the hammocks for us and then went about getting everything opened up for the day. Unfortunately they had experienced another bout of high waves and there was again quite a bit of beach erosion. We snorkeled and enjoyed our day, ate and had a few rum punches. Our bill was $70 for two, this is including chair rental, lunch and drinks.
As always the day must come to an end so we returned to SXM a bit late because our ferry had picked up someone from the airport that may have been going to Anguilla for a month…at least they had that much luggage. Taxi was $40 each way for 4 people. Ferry $60 each, lunch $70 for a couple…..experience PRICELESS as always. We know this is usually the most expensive day of our trip unless we buy jewelry.
Day 8
Saturday, November 7th 2009
Look out ST Bart’s here we come!!
Tonight is the Buffett concert and we can hardly wait…
Click on hyperlink for Jimmy Buffett Concert Pix
Routines complete and we needed the first routine for sure.
Spent the day sitting at Cupecoy soaking up all the rays we could get and enjoying the freedom that a day at Cupecoy beach brings. Left the beach a bit earlier than we would have liked to go get cleaned up so we could sweat with 5K of our closest parrot head friends. Evening came and we headed to the port to ride the fast ferry to ST Bart’s it isn’t cheap but got us there in 45 min and the ride was pretty nice (we sat inside in the air-conditioning) the ride over felt similar to light turbulence on a plane. We had a couple of drinks at the Greenhouse with our friends Jeff & Bonnie) before boarding the ferry.
Exited the Shantiwa at 8PM sharp and could hear the concert starting about a block down the pier. We missed one or two songs but when we got there the place was packed! This courtyard should have held maybe 1500 people on a busy day. We entered a human sauna that looked like an over 40’s maush pit. It was amazing, one side was closed in by a building…stage at one end and some serious yachts along the pier. There were four of the largest party boats I have ever seen. I truly believe that for that specific evening there were Billions of dollars worth of sea faring machines of all types in the Gustavia harbour.
The show was a blast. JB spoke between songs and was mostly in his southeastern US twang but the words were French. I couldn’t believe this was a 62 year old man on stage in front of us. He played and sang using the energy of this small but crazed crowd to energize him thru a two hour set. I shot picture after picture, winding my way from the very back of the courtyard to about half way to the stage. The mass of humanity all swayed as one to the tunes as many of the characters in the crowd were the epitome of JB’s songs and were there to escape reality for a couple of hours. We were close enough to the folks surrounding us to know what they had for dinner, what kind of cigarettes they smoked if it were truly a cigarette or other substance and even what kind of deodorant each person wore…that is for those that chose to wear deodorant…LOL.
The concert ended all too early so we dejectedly wove our way thru the rest of the sweat saturated and odiferous fanatics back dock side for our ferry ride back to ST Maarten. Ride back was quite calm as many of us old folks were tired…the party crew was outside finishing up all of the liquor that they hadn’t consumed while on Barts. Hit port, went thru immigration yet again and headed back to our room to shower and pass out.
Conversation with friends as we were leaving….where you going tomorrow…..Orient….cool we will meet you there, what time? Don’t have a clue, will be there when we get there!! Ok drive safe and good night.
Heads hit the pillow somewhere between one and two AM.
Day 9
Sunday November 8th 2009
All’s quiet on the Orient front.
We got a bit of a late start this morning but once again completed routines one and two. Rob could have used triple espresso this morning but passed on the idea anyway. Some of our friends followed us over to Orient. We got chairs at La String and enjoyed lying there soaking up rays and bobbing in the surf as we watched a very late developing crowd gather at beach bar after beach bar. Did all of the visitors to SXM go to the concert last night? I think most on Orient did as folks were moving kinda slow. We had a few couples come by to hang out with us a bit (Ronni and Mike and Jeff and Bonnie). One even offered to head back to the beach bar for a round or two of drinks…Ti pinch MMMMMMMMM. While there we all tried escargot. I think three of the four of us liked it. Honestly I couldn’t eat an entire plate of it but to share with friends it was pretty good. More Ti punch…mmmmmmm and then a couple of rum concoctions that Jon from La String made up for us. Next stop, my beach chair and I was out like a light for a bit. Tonight for dinner we were to meet Jeff and Bonnie in Grand Case but ended up across island at Halsey’s, don’t ask it just worked that way. Dinner with a cocktail and shared dessert was about $80 a couple. We enjoyed our dinner and retreated to our room for a bit of wine and then off to dream land as tomorrow will be a busy day for Rob.
Day 10
Monday Nov 9th 2009
Around the island and back again
Today I dedicated the entire day to shooting pictures of places we have been and others we haven’t. Strolled the streets of Grand Case (stopped at Sky is the Limit for lunch) and Marigot capturing the architecture. Hiked to FT Louis and even visited some areas we had never visited on island. I now see the entire Eastern side of the island between Orient and Philipsburg in a different light. We saw the new hotels and frankly they have a prison look from the outside but someone on island let them build em so not much to say other than yuck!!
We had a great time and several hundred pictures later (I am so grateful for digital) we headed back to Simpson Bay to pick up our friends Gary and Sonia for dinner at
Marks Place. We have been there before and think it is decent but when you look at the prices it makes ok come out rather good. My only complaint and it is a very small one is I was in the mood for a Carib but they are Presidente folks so no Carib for me…ok then, I will drink the old standby, rum punch! Rob was back to being happy. After dinner with our friends we went back to our room but since we were almost out of time left in our island paradise, we decided to make yet another trip over to see the gang at Peg Leg (it has become our second home on island) and hang with them for a while. We came back to the room and did some organizing and a bit of packing as tomorrow we want to soak up all the sun we can.
Day 11
Tuesday, November 10th 2009
Sparkles and sunshine
Started the morning like every other morning..routines one and two complete means we can head off to first front street to pick up the bauble I purchased for Mary as well as my repaired watch. We got to front street before most of the merchants had opened and were invited into DK Jems before they had a chance to have everything ready. Watch in hand and sparkly new bauble on display and was time to go soak up our last day of rays at Cupecoy yet again….off we went to expose our skin to the last light it may see until…ummm….next time we are on island. We partook in the bronzing all day long, this was the most comfortable yet sad day we spent at the beach this year. Only because we knew we were headed for 8+ hours in three different jet propelled tin cans tomorrow and then back to reality on Thursday but we absolutely made the best of our day. Returned the phone we rented from the Queen of ST Maarten before 5 pm. Cleaned up and headed for our last hurrah at….yes, you guessed it, I know not much imagination here…..Peg Leg Pub!!! This evening we were to meet up with Jeff and Bonnie and enjoy dinner and cocktails. They did make it but were almost an hour late. Seems that a semi overturned at the Cole bay roundabout. The entire Dutch side was in gridlock. We spent 5 hours with our friends and the crew of Peg Leg. Jack the owner of the pub came by about 2 hours into dinner and said his wife left to take care of some business and decided to go thru the lowlands to get home in Simpson bay. She called him and said traffic was at a stand still past the airport. We just did what good tourists do…ordered another round or two and enjoyed each others company. We did finally head home after 10 and by then they had the issue fixed. Finished packing and off to sleep since would be an early morning tomorrow and long sad day.
Day 12
Wednesday, November 11th 2009
Sadness sets upon our storybook couple.
We certainly didn’t need an alarm as we were both in and out of some state of awake starting at 2 AM….by about 4:30 we were up and showered so we could double check our packing and then check out at the front desk by 5:30 and head to the airport with our friends Gary and Sonia for our 8AM flight to San Juan. Today we sadly abandoned routines one and two only to store the rest of the suntan lotion in our baggage for next year. Guess my cup of Espresso would come from either the airport in SXM or SJU guess we shall see.
I decided to make two trips to the airport since all of our luggage and the weight of the four of us would probably high center us on one of the speed mountains along Billy Foley road. It was a wise choice but one that left me a bit frustrated…..zoom to the airport to drop off Gary and Sonia. No traffic today is ST Maarten day!!! Zoom back to the Flamingo to pick up Mary, figuring I would drop her off then go get gas and leave the car at the pre determined spot in the highly secret way that I had worked out with AAA rental…sidebar here…the folks at AAA, Alain and Myra are the best. I can not say enough good about them and how they have treated us thru the years. I will not rent from anyone else on island…end of story and back to our regularly scheduled daily synopsis.
On my way back to the airport with Mary the Simpson bay bridge crew decided it was a good day to get an early start on boat traffic in and out of the lagoon.. We were stuck while 8 boats took turns puttering thru the passageway that was created by the drawbridge. In the mean while, the hero and heroine of the story were stuck behind an old beater car that would have died if not for the owner of said car revving his engine once every ten seconds…..we were getting a bit perturbed with the constant vroom vroom and the wonderful fragrance of burnt oil and gas while precious time was passing….time that we should have been using to check in for our flight. Remember no worries mon!!! The boats owners finally decided that enough had passed and the bridge closed so off we went to catch up with our friends. We did make the flight with no issues and as the wheels lifted off the ground I think a small tear formed in my wife’s eye as well as the strings of my heart pulled a bit telling me we had completed a fantastic vacation and would surely be back again and as soon as we possibly could!!
All other flights were smooth and we arrived home safe and sound right on time….Was nice to see our sons and grandson again that evening but we have finally left a small piece of us in the islands and have already started thinking about our next trip.
Thoughts, highlights and afterthoughts.
I was amazed at the traffic thru Simpson bay…almost always busy and very frequently at a dead stop…..I feel for those that travel this area in high season!!
The weather was incredible and quite cooperative for our trip…I may be becoming a fall travel person.
Our biggest and most expensive surprise was that our lovely jeweler Depti was in her shop when we came by to visit. I thought she was going to be in New York so I thought it was safe to visit…ha!!!! But Mary is very happy with our purchase.
Went to ST Bart’s for the Buffett concert….I would call it a bucket list experience. I am so glad we did it but honestly if he did it again for the 65th birthday celebration of Le Select…we wouldn’t partake. Don’t get me wrong we had a blast but I think concert going has been replaced with a day at the beach with the one I love in scale of vacation importance…
We ran into no crime what so ever, never felt unsafe and were in some areas that we had never been to before.
Reasons I like the fall better than the spring Water temps are warmer and the flora and fauna are much more vibrant in the fall. We had the attack of the butterflies while there…they were everywhere and in swarms/flocks..what ever a large group of butterflies is called.
Halloween was a fun evening, we didn’t dress in costume but had a great time with our friends while hanging out at the Lady C. Hope we get another opportunity to do that again.
We had more friends on island this time than any other visit. We spent time with five different couples from hanging out at their villa to a day at the beach or drinks and dinner, it was wonderful.
Made some business connections while there and saw my buddy Jeff do quite well with his business as well. This encourages me to return as soon as we can.
May be a bit of a broken record here, this trip was better than the previous which was better than the one before it. We are firmly entrenched in our SXM getaways. We were busier than we would have liked and as always spent too much (but no more than planned or budgeted for) but enjoyed the island and all of our friends new and familiar.
As Arnold said in the Terminator movies….I’ll be back!!! We are legitimately discussing ways to make this a twice a year venture.