Rosemary,

Memories, memories. So many memories.......

We never paid that much attention to Pinocchios until we brought our two daughters for the first time in 1983. They fell in love with the freshly baked warm croissants there when we'd make the big trip into Philipsberg for our souvenir hunts.

And as early as our first trip, we loved to walk the Mullet Bay Golf Course in the evenings after dinner but just so you know, lots of people still play Mullet on a regular basis and even though it's not what most are used to back home, they still find it challenging, picturesque and fun.

We fell in love with Antoine's on that very first trip and we've been returning every year since. We fondly remember the Captain and Madame, at a time when the current owner was but a young waiter there. Today I can say he and we have watched each other's children and in our case our grandchildren grow up.

One of the things we loved to do in the evenings with our daughters was take the walk from our friends MB villa along the golf course and out past the entranceway to the beach at Maho to watch the last big plane of the day come in. There was no Royal Islander, no Boat Bar and no Sunset Beach Bar in those days and it used to be a spot where the romantic young island lovers used to exchange a few kisses as they, too, watched the planes' lights glisten on the waters at Maho Bay as they came in for their landing. No street lights and not much vehicle traffic back then but it was a wonderful spot to savor the beauty that was St. Maarten.

Most of my earliest island memories are primarily centered on Mullet Bay because back in those days, even though we rented cars, we were very content to spend the vast majority of our island time right there. And why wouldn't we since it boasted two swimming pools, never less than five dinner venues, two or three breakfast and lunch spots, a few very upscale shops, an icecream shop called The Sweet Tooth that both my dear husband and two daughters loved. And then there was the beach - that beautiful island beach - we used to get to the beach most mornings before the beach attendants and we'd hang there all day till they just about tossed us off the beach.

All those wonderful memories...........TY, Rosemary, for starting this thread.