Thanks, first of all, to all of you in this wonderful place who were so patient and understanding with all of my questions.

We landed in Sint Maarten half an hour early, and soon after Kenny arrived with the car. The phone was right in the glove compartment, so all went smoothly with both the car and the phone.

The LaPlage is beautiful, inside and out. The clientele is certainly an older demographic than ourselves, and we noticed that most of the timeshare owners stayed by the pool religiously. We, however, spent most of our trip driving around the island to visit the various beaches and venues.

We enjoyed Maho Village, right near the LaPlage. Cheri's was awesome. The many kittens that populate the Maho area were a sad sight to see, but we fed as many as we could !!! We really wanted to take some home with us !!! We met two couples from TTOL - but their names escape me, other than one of the gentlemen's names, which was Tom.

The people drive like deranged circus clowns around the road that circles the island. Bizarre as all hell, yet oddly invigorating. We took ONE WRONG TURN while on Saint Martin. We drove straight, into a place called "Cripplegate," instead of going left, up the hill, toward Marigot. We drove down through Columbier. BIG MISTAKE. It ended in basically a dead-end, and so we turned around without much room to do so, and headed back onto the correct path.

Marigot was super hot - very little shade anywhere - but worth it. It's a lovely area along the waterfront. The outdoor shops all sold basically the same stuff at each kiosk. I bought the requisite velcro-handed monkey, and shark-tooth necklace. We got some Tagua nuts carved into sea creatures - a seahorse, and a crab, respectively. They looked like ivory carvings.

We also visited Cupecoy, and it definitely had plenty of sun worshipers that played for our team, so to speak. And nude, to boot. Lots of fun there, and beautiful sunsets. We went there twice.

We made our way to Phillipsburg, the long way around, and found it sort of a Disney-fied version of an island port of call. But, still really lovely. Anyone landing there from a cruise ship would certainly not be getting the real feel for Saint Martin, however.

We went up to a lemonade and smoothie stand in Phillipsburg, and the friend of the person who was working the stand asked us if we had any vices. I said sure we did, and laughed. He then proceeded to tell us that he could take care of any vices we might have and that many other people would come up to us, but we should only ask him if we needed anything. We told him we were all set. I think he was definitely barking up the wrong tree. LOL

Anyway, we also went to Happy Bay, where we stumbled upon what I think was a Peggy and Paul boat trip. They invited us to join them in their exfoliation circle where we all rubbed clay on ourselves and then rolled in the beach sand and then washed it off in the ocean. We met a couple from Tennessee there, who weren't part of the boat trip, having come to Happy Bay by themselves. Again, names escape me. But both were very sweet and the husband told us he had read all my questions on TTOL, and had looked forward to each question, curious to see what the heck I would ask next.

Friar's Bay was great, right near Happy Bay. We hiked to Happy Bay from Friar's. By thew way, what's up with all the French women who smoke? Enough, already. Seriously. Enough.
I'm coughing as I write this. LOL

We took the day trip to Pinel, finding our way to Cul de Sac relatively easily. Yellow Beach Restaurant was quite classy, and the host/waiter/lobsterman/boat delivery guy was quite efficient. (Yes, he did all the jobs I just mentioned.) The staff at Yellow Beach made the day so pleasant. Wish their customer service was more prevalent at restaurants where we come from !!!!

Club Orient was relaxing, and the people there were all extremely friendly. No beach on the island was particularly crowded at all, and the same can be said for Orient Beach. Low season is great in that respect.

One final comment about Lesley Bruce. He was very helpful, after we took off the driver's side mirror of his rental car in the super-tight parking garage. He brought us another vehicle the next morning and we continued on our way. Glad we got the insurance !!!

All in all, a spectacular trip that Eddie and I will remember for many years to come. The next Caribbean trip we take, if we take one, may be to a different island - Aruba, perhaps, or Nevis, just for variety, but Saint Martin was a great place to call home for a week. Who knows? We may indeed be back. Next time, with no learning curve !!!