We landed today on Jet Blue . The terminal facility is not being used so we deplaned via a ramp and bussed to a tent/building to clear customs and claim our baggage. It all worked fine. We picked up our rental car and went to get some groceries at CareFour (sp) near Cupecoy. We then made the trek to Orient Bay to our rental. The apartment is very clean and efficient and is 60 meters from Orient Beach. Valerie and her husband greeted us. The Unit is called Birdie 2 and can be rented through VRBO. Prior to getting you our destination we recognized Mimi from the Club O Boutique walking. We stopped and had a nice conversation. We then toured the beach. It was after 4 pm so it was deserted. Until you reach the Club O property I would recommend sandals. Perhaps not if you are walking shoreline but if you are up above there is still debris including tile and glass pieces. The devastation to the Island cannot be underestimated. These people need help in restoration. If you have ever been to Orient Village the water surge went up to the second roundabout. We went to the unit that we normally stay in at Club O. It is a concrete building. It is still standing but nothing is left in the interior. Club O has a huge job to restore the entire property to the way we all knew it. We walked to the village from Club O and had a couple of beers and ordered pizza to go from Bo’s Pizza. Very Good and very reasonably priced. I will update more observations tomorrow once we have spent a full day.
My thought is if you can make the trip please do. They will only recover through tourism dollars and they so appreciate every patron who deplanes to visit the Island we all love.
The posted pictures are great but really don’t reflect the enormity of the devastation.
carib cheers from St. Martin
doctorj
Festivities in full swing by Sunday!