Another wonderful 2 weeks on the island!

Flights on United from Portland through DC went smoothly and we arrived on time in St. Martin on Sunday afternoon. Although getting up at 2 a.m. to get our 5:40 a.m. flight was rough! We always book our rental car through Alain Arnell at AAA and Myra was there to greet us at the airport and take us back at the end of our stay. We were on our way in no time with the car, stopped for a few usual staples at 5 Alive and were at Oyster Bay by 4:00. Always nice to be home at Oyster Bay! We love the location of Oyster Bay, it's quiet, pretty and the units have everything we need for our two week stay on the island. Love it there!

We did pretty much everything we wanted to during the two weeks.

Trip to Pinel for the day was great. Had a nice lunch at the Yellow Beach (goat cheese pizza, beef tips and salad special and great drinks, did a little shopping and had a nice chat with Mr. Pinel who has the best job in the world! "Whistle man" was in a good mood today for our boat trip over Next time would rent the chairs closer to the dock as they are cheaper than the other side and include 2 free drinks. We've just been in the habit of going to the other side of the beach when we get off the boat.

Boat trip to Prickly Pear was great, despite a few rain showers right before we took off (the only rain we had during the day for two weeks so can't complain!). The sun came out for our trip on the beach there so that was nice. Crew on the Lombada is always fun and there was alot of rum punch being consummed! Lunch on the island was good, ribs, chicken, fish and lots of sides. Walking to the other end of the beach is just breathtaking. Like being on your own tropical island. Just beautiful. The sugar birds didn't seem to be as interested in the sugar we held in our hands as they have in the past so they must be getting plenty to eat. A fun boat trip again this year.

Spent a day at Orient at Palm Beach. We found the guys there very friendly. We had lunch at the bar and I had the best goat cheese salad ever! Bartender was busy but we had no problems getting drinks and liked it there. Orient is always nice to walk and did some damage to the wallet in Adam & Eve for some cute new clothes.

Went to Marigot for lunch at Tropicana and some shopping. We used to go to Marigot more in the past at night but we were travelling with other couples back then. With just the two of us, we tend to go to Marigot during the day and have lunch and sightsee rather than at night. We haven't experienced any crime but just feel more comfortable doing that during the day these days and there are so many places closer to Oyster Bay to go for dinner. Tropicana was good and always pretty sitting on the boardwalk watching the boats and people walking by. Marigot seemed pretty quiet on the day we visited and alot of shops gone in the mall.

Phillipsburg seems to be thriving and it is fun now to go into town. We had lunch one day at Chesterfields which was very good and dependable and easy parking. Another day went in around 5:00 and had a great tapas for two plate at the Holland House sitting on the lounge couches there watching the cruiseships leave. Excellent way to spend happy hour and probably our favorite thing we did this time! Another day went in on a day with 6 cruiseships and have never seen so many people on the beach on the boardwalk! Crazy but fun people watching.

Spent a Sunday afternoon at Sunset Bar watching the planes come in. Got some great pics. Very crowded but fun. Went over to Mary's Boon afterwards for a Corona beach party they were having that day.

Harmony Night was very crowded the night we went but it was the carnival so they had a bigger parade and lots more vendors than we've seen in the past years. Fun night. Had dinner at Bistrot Caraibes, our annual favorite. Excellent as always and always friendly service. Three other nights went to Grand Case for dinner: Spiga was very good as always; Le Shore has a pretty location, food was OK for us compared to other restaurants; and Piazza Pascale was very good and would go back there again. It was our first time there having read good reviews about it and weren't disappointed. Had the best bruscetta ever for an appetizer, both meals were very good and we shared a great dessert.

Places closer to Oyster Bay that we always enjoy each year: Usually eat one night at Busby's and food is dependable and pretty there at night; Dinghy Dock is always good for a casual lunch or dinner and we usually go a few times during our stay, ribs are excellent there, with a salad and beans, great!; Mama's Pizza, sitting on the bar stools overlooking the marina at night is so pretty, shared a pizza and bottle of wine and always makes for a nice casual night out; and Big Fish which had changed locations to across the street from last year. Very modern and contemporary furnishings and busy the night we went there for dinner. Dinner was good and nice to just walk to dinner for a change. We did not try Floaters where Big Fish used to be but heard it was good and will have to try that next year. Also didn't get to the crepe place. Time goes by too fast to try everything!
Spent alot of time just relaxing at the pool and beach.
The people that work at Oyster Bay are like family to us and always nice to see every year. We had a first floor unit this year overlooking the beach and it was one of the renovated units which was very nice. We prefer the units on the 2nd and 3rd floors so we have a view as we like to sit on the balcony alot but coming in on Sunday leaves little left for the better units we've found.

We did have an incident on Dawn Beach with a dog that was attacked by two pit bulls while we were sitting have lunch at Beau Beau's. The dog, we affectionately named "Buddy", was swimming and having fun on the beach with everyone when two kids came walking down the beach with two pitbulls on leashes. Buddy went up to them with his tail wagging. One of the pitbulls became aggressive and the kid let the leash go and attack Buddy. A huge fight ensued, we all went running to help Buddy. It was a mess. Security from the resort did escort the two kids off the beach with their dogs but Buddy was bleeding badly on his mouth from the attack. Luckily a group of us who love dogs came to his rescue and took him to the vet in Phillipsburg for help. We understand the kids were arrested for assault after punching one of the resort guests. There was no reason for them to be on the beach with two pitbulls other than to intimidate people as they weren't dressed for swimming! I know some people didn't like the fact that Buddy was running around loose but he didn't deserve to be attacked and the whole situation could have been avoided if those kids hadn't let the leashes go so they could attack this dog. Buddy's owner was eventually located because he had a chip in his ear but the owner (someone on the French side of the island) did not want him back (said he runs away too much) and did not pay the vet bills either. A group of us who had been there contributed to his care at the vet's office and went to visit him regularly and take him for walks while he was recovering. He touched all of our hearts and is a very sweet dog. We can't say enough about how great the people at the St. Martin Veterinary Clinic were through all this. Buddy is hoping to go home this week to stay with the woman from the humane society on the island and hopefully will be in a forever home soon.

The island seemed very dry and lots of brown on the hillsides. Traffic on the island is the usual. You just deal with it and avoid the bridge times when you can.
All and all it was another wonderful vacation on St. Martin and we are already booked for our annual two weeks in March again for next year!