Trip Report, April 2010, long, part three, conclusion
Daily Diary style
[color:"red"]Restaurants[/color] in [color:"red"]Red[/color]
[color:"blue"]Beaches[/color] in [color:"blue"]Blue[/color]
People in fantastic
Pics at
http://s126.photobucket.com/albums/p97/kubotaman/St%20Maarten%202010/Day 9I’m writing this listening to a French music radio station, understanding very little. It doesn’t matter, though, because it seems so logical to listen to this language here and doing so takes me so much further away from home. And, on this vacation, St. Martin and far from home is exactly where we need to be.
Cindy is still not feeling well, suffering from headaches, bloating, and unexplained side pain for the several consecutive days. We weigh whether or not to find a physician, but she ultimately decides that [color:"blue"]Orient[/color] is still the best medicine. And, being in the figurative middle of so many different social interactions is exactly what she needs. We reconnect with many of our friends from last year: Chuck and Connie, Beth and Russ, Tracey and Charlie, and new friends Mark and Cheryl.
We choose [color:"red"]Aloha[/color] again for lunch, the third time for us since arrival, and Chuck joins us absent Connie because of a toothache. Cindy has a simple (but great) chicken burger and fries while Chuck and I both have salmon papilotte. We are certainly sold on this place and will come again next year.
Six of us went to dinner at [color:"red"]Mama’s Pizza[/color] across Oyster Pond for some of the best pizza ever. Tracey and Charlie, Cheryl and Mark (who are all from Connecticut) and Cindy and I had a blast and the pie was great. The food was topped by hilarious conversation, highlighted by Charlie’s quotation, “Did you walk to work or bring a lunch?” I’ve no idea what it is supposed to mean, other than to conclude that people from Connecticut are just naturally funny!
Oh, and yes, we had been drinking, a bit.
Later, we went to check out the Westin Hotel and it was dead. Last year, Cindy and I had an exceptional dinner in the [color:"red"]Aura Restaurant[/color], but tonight there was only one couple dining there. We wandered back to the jacuzzi area behind the pool and seriously considered some skinny-dipping because the hotel occupancy was so low. Really, who would have cared? However, one person in our group was still moderately sober and prevented what could have been an interesting conversation with hotel security. Too bad—it would have been a blast!
By the way, Cheryl is hilarious and should consider a career as a stand-up. The printable witticisms included, “she looks like an adult cabbage patch doll,” when referring to a woman with pigtails and plaid swimsuit. And, when talking about the brand of Cindy’s brassiere, Wacoal, Cheryl starting singing the song “Ricolla”, but changing the key word to “Wacoal-a”. Finally, she suggested a campaign slogan for a budding politician on the beach: “walk softly but carry a big stick.”
OK, I guess you had to be there.
[b[Day 10[/b]
According to my wife, it was a day ending in “y” which made it a perfect day for shopping in Marigot. It’s hard for me to say this, but the shopping experience was memorable!
We started off at a liquor/import store that also sells clothes. Because they didn’t have a fitting room, Cindy took a new top off the rack and tried it on next to the liqueurs! My conservative wife! I couldn’t believe it, and she bought it. It looks good on her, too. We also bought a cheap umbrella for seven dollars because it started raining outside, and just poured for about twenty minutes.
After the rain shower, we ducked into [color:"red"]Sarafina[/color] for pastries and coffee. While there we ran into Natalie and Christophe from the [color:"red"]Aloha[/color] restaurant on [color:"blue"]Orient[/color] and had a pleasant conversation. Of course, we told them how much we enjoyed their restaurant.
Later, we wandered over to a small air-conditioned mall. In the mall, Cindy bought some European design workout gear from the Adidas shop, and some beautiful designer tops and dresses from a specialty dress shop called Donna Bella. The service was incredible and she looks great in everything she purchased.
On this board, from several members, we have heard about [color:"red"]La Vie En Rose[/color] and wanted to give it a try. We had a very nice lunch there on the sidewalk consisting of a simple ham and cheese sandwich. Who knew something so basic could taste so good? The lunch menu is simplified compared to their fabulous dinner menu, but the meal and service were still first class. We look forward to going back so we can sample their dinner items on our next trip.
After lunch, and waiting the obligatory 45 minutes, we met our Connecticut friends at [color:"blue"]Happy Bay[/color]. We all played in the surf like little kids; can life be any better than this?
Dinner was Italian at [color:"red"]Daniel’s[/color]. Cindy still wasn’t feeling 100%, but five of us overachieved on veal picatta, veal marsala, and rigatoni bolognaise. Afterwards, we went back to the OBBR bar for some impromptu dance lessons that topped off the evening. Impromptu really is a synonym for drunk dancing with no music. At least the bartender moved the tables so we could have a larger dance floor, and we laughed a lot entertaining the other patrons as much as we entertained ourselves.
Day 11Our last full day on the island, and there is no better way to spend it than on TikoTiko. Our group is seven couples who all have incredible senses of humor, and who are obviously “comfortable in their own skin.” When we anchor, most of us swim ashore to [color:"blue"]Tintamarre[/color] except for Cindy who is still bothered slightly be a side-ache and a bandaged finger that she cut on a can lid in the garbage before we left home. She rode the skiff with Phillipe from the boat to the shore. All of us played on the beach, walked to the other side of the island, and then went back to the boat for lunch. It was gourmet quality, and the companionship would be the envy of the rich and famous.
Speaking of… some rich guy rented a nice yacht for his wife’s 60th birthday party to celebrate will a bunch of her girlfriends. All of our ladies went down the beach to where the anointed group was partying so they could have some girl talk and maybe a free cocktail. Well, they got a party straw but the cocktails were limited to invited guests only. When they returned with nothing more than their party straws, all of us regular (non-rich) guys thought that our wives were better looking than the rich ones, anyway!
This year, there are no officially sanctioned mudbaths on [color:"blue"]Tintamarre[/color] because of official concerns regarding “Stapholococcus Gilds and Pathogenic Bacteria” (whatever the hell “Gilds” are.) It didn’t matter; we had so much fun we forgot about the mud.
The afternoon, however, was not without casualties. Tracey banged her forearm falling off the stern stair, Charlie slipped on the same stair and strained a gastrocnemius, and Chuck tripped, cutting his big toe. However, even if you throw in the usual sunburns and extreme consumption of alcohol, everything turned out OK.
After returning to [color:"blue"]Orient[/color], some of the couples stayed at [color:"red"]Papagayo[/color] to take advantage of two-for-one happy hour. We then all met again at [color:"red"]Mama’s Pizza[/color] so we could have one last, great dinner on the island with a fun and immensely entertaining group of people.
Day 12, OutboundWe checked out and headed to the airport. What a vacation! The whole experience is both natural and surreal on an island that gives everything it has if you are willing to embrace it. The island is so selfless that people become selfless, too. Maybe that’s why it is so easy to see the real person behind the mask we usually wear. We can’t wait to return to see people, and ourselves, as we really are and to be overwhelmed by the joy that lives on St. Martin.
