People love SXM for a variety of reasons. We love it because it allows us to get away from our usual hubbub and relax on a beach. Thus we do not frequent Phillipsburg, Marigot, or Grand Case. We love the Oyster Pond area and OBBR because it is a bit remote but still has everything we need.

I believe this was our tenth visit, but the first since Covid. We almost postponed again because I have acquired some mobility issues that will require knee replacement surgery early next year, but we decided we had waited long enough. My long-suffering wife’s desire to get back to Orient Beach was greater than the burden of the extra work I would be causing her. I could walk with a cane, but it was slow going.

We were scheduled for an early flight out of CLT on 10/29. Once most of us were boarded, the plane filled with jet fuel fumes. We were forced to deplane and were sent to a gate on the other side of the airport. Once there, we were sent to another gate. We were finally wheels up about 1.25 hours late. The flight was completely full.

The SXM airport is still a mess. I was able to navigate the stairs going down from the plane without much problem, just slowly. Climbing up into the bus was more difficult. But once we arrived at the building everything changed. A wonderful young man saw my situation and pushed a wheelchair toward me. I protested that I was fine, but my wife took control of the situation, thanked the young man, and pushed me down into the wheelchair. I wish I could remember his name as he was a blessing to us both. He took us to the front of the customs line (sorry to everyone we cut in front of), and we took care of business in less than a minute. Then it was off to gather luggage. He patiently waited for ours to appear and then took it, and me, out to meet Leslie. Of course we gave him a generous tip.

As always, Leslie is a joy to work with. This time we got to meet his wife. Boy, did he marry well! Leslie loaded our luggage while I did the paperwork and we were off. The car was an older Corolla and had some rattles and dings, but that is what we wanted. I would not want to be responsible for driving a new car in St. Martin. It had all the power we needed to climb the hills and the A/C worked great.

We like to take the French side route to OBBR, even though I doubt I will ever come to understand the one-way traffic patterns around Marigot. After a leisurely ride across the French side and a stop to investigate Orient beach, we arrived at our resort. Then it was off to Carrefour to stock up on groceries for the week. The resort never looked better. Many impressive upgrades. If they upgraded the Wi-Fi it would be perfect. For the first time, they gave us a unit overlooking the ocean, and the next morning we understood why they named it Dawn Beach!



Every day in St. Martin is the same for us when we visit. I get up early and make a run to Bread and Butter for baguettes, we fix lunch for the beach (most days), and we are off to the beach for the day. There we read our Kindles, talk without being interrupted by phones or texts, and enjoy the freedom that a place like Orient Beach allows. It is all very boring, but we love it.

We got a bad surprise the first time we ventured into the water. HUGE, sharp rocks everywhere! I don’t remember it ever being like this. I will be watching reports about this before our next trip. Because of my issues, I just was not able to get in the water the rest of the week. However, because it is Thanksgiving season, I need to pause and express our thankfulness for Cedrick and his crew. They do a great job of keeping our little piece of paradise in good shape. I always wonder about folk here who complain about spending $25 for chairs and an umbrella. I hope he is getting rich for doing all he does.

On the second day there, we decided to encamp to the left rather than down the beach to the right, as is our habit. We figured this would keep us closer to the car, the restrooms, and the beach bar. We were one of the first couples there, but the beach quickly filled up around us with folk who do not share our idea of a relaxing time on the beach. Everyone seemed to know everyone else, and the day was filled with socializing and flitting from one place to the next. At first, the conversations around us were somewhat entertaining, but as the day wore on we longed for a quieter space around us. The rest of the week we made our way down the beach farther to the right and found our happy place. Everyone around us was friendly and helpful but seemed to share our beach time philosophy.

Our first day there, my wife discovered that she had forgotten to pack her meds that keep her trigeminal neuralgia at bay. It would be a bad week for her without those meds, so I stopped at the Pharmacy in Orleans to see what hoops I would have to jump through to get a prescription from the states. I was helped by a wonderful young lady who was able to communicate well in English. I feared I would have to call our Dr in the states and somehow have the Rx sent to the pharmacy. She simply picked up the phone, had a brief conversation with someone, and told me since it was not a narcotic, she would have the Rx there that afternoon. I did not ask how much as we were willing to pay whatever it took. When I arrived to pick it up, I thought she said sixty. Not bad, I thought. I envisioned it being much more expensive. I pulled out three twenties and she laughed. She repeated “six” and held up six fingers. Six euros!

I don’t know why we are so tired after just lounging on the beach all day, but once we are back to the room, we just don’t feel like going out to eat. So, supper often was a pizza: Oasis, Mama Pizza, or OBBR’s Veranda. All were very good. I liked Oasis best. My wife preferred Mama Pizza. We walked down to Big Fish one night. My wife had the sea bass, which was very good. I had a disappointing steak.

Car drop-off was great. We had left a bag in the back seat (which, for the purpose of this report, I am blaming my wife), and Leslie came racing into the terminal with it to find us. Again we had a helpful young man take responsibility for us and wheeled me to the gate and then waited to wrestle me up the ramps onto the plane.

The airport experience at CLT was not the same. It seems that CLT is in a perennial state of construction and chaos. I commandeered a wheelchair and used it as a walker, loaded our luggage on it, and caught the bus to the parking lot.

Well, I warned you this would be boring. If you are one of the three people who stuck with it to this point, thank you. We are looking forward to next year, when I hope to enjoy better mobility.