A great day to do island things that don’t involve Sun, sand, sea or swimming pools. In our case it was a great day to connect with island friends and do some shopping and island errands.

We had a very light breakfast here in our villa as we knew we would eventually be enjoying lunch in Philipsburg. We waited for the taxi driver BSV had ordered for us. They have an arrangement with a driver who regularly works with them and their guests and since we chose not to drive ourselves and deal with parking in town this was perfect. We had a plan B all mapped out but it turned out to be unnecessary.

Our driver was exactly on time and whisked us into town in his chariot. I actually enjoyed having him do the driving leaving DH free to enjoy his surrounds for a change. And no, I still don’t drive here on the island. Never have - never will! I was also surprised at the fare - somehow I thought it would be much higher.

Traffic was relatively light and we got into town just in time to do some serious damage to our Cap One credit card. We first met Manu Budhrani, the owner of Caribbean Gems in 1983, the year he opened his first store on the island, way back when we were all just kids. Over all these many years he’s taken very good care of us and likewise, of all our friends and family we’ve sent him over the years. We’ve been blessed to watch his kids grow up as he has ours and now we can share the joy of seeing his kids enter the next stage of their lives.

Anyhow, purchased the items I was looking for through one of his associates and just as we were completing the transaction, Manu arrived and very shortly we headed to Old Street to have lunch at the French Touch and catch up. Manu’s wife had gone ahead and secured a table and we spent the next couple of hours visiting with each other and all of us with Jean Pierre, the owner of French Touch, as well. We were saddened to learn from him the original owner of Antoine’s had recently passed. There is so much old island history wrapped up there. In any event we had a nice long and leisurely lunch, only wishing the day might have been just a bit slower paced for JP but it’s good to see that his business is good and apparently thriving.

Spent a little time discussing politics, both SXM and USA, and changes in the island, which are monumental for those with island longevity behind them. Interesting to hear the viewpoints of so many who have the perspective of living there as opposed to those of us who come for a few days or weeks and then leave to return again down the road. In general, the consensus seems to be the island economy is getting better having survived all they’ve had to deal with since Irma wreaked her havoc and then, short years later the pandemic hit. Lord knows, the island deserves a break. Let’s just hope it continues along that track.

Anyhoo, our driver picked us up in a timely manner and returned us to BSV where we attempted to connect with our daughter and son in law who had just arrived for a long weekend on the 11:00 am JB flight just as we were leaving to head into town.

They were soon off to Driftwood to meet friends and we were off to Astra for dinner as the spirit moved us. Our dinner was good and the service and setting there is nice enough. We both had steak - nothing extraordinary - but still good.

And here we are, up past our bedtime and soon ready to head in that general direction. Looking forward to breakfast with the kids tomorrow morning.