SXM Day 4 Wednesday June 7, 2006

We checked off alot of "must do's" on Tuesday, Zee Best, Cliffhanger, SSBB, Pineapple Pete's and took in a great beach at Baie Rouge. The plan for today was breakfast in Marigot, hit Friar's Bay, and then possibly check out the Grand Case Beach Club, where we were to spend our last 3 nights on the French side.

We headed out towards Marigot about 8AM, the road familiar to us in the beggining from our trip to (and originally past) Baie Rouge the day before.We got bogged down in traffic, past a stadium on the right, and drove on through Marigot unwittingly. The road became very hilly with some great vistas to the left. Soon, we saw the sign for Friar's bay - we had missed Marigot! At that point I realized the maps were not to scale and the fact that, hey, it really is a small island. We turned around and followed the signs to Fort Louis and ended up in the heart of Marigot harbour. I deftly parallel parked the Corolla into a space the size of a queen bed at the shore, and we headed out to explore.

We were looking for the quintessential French breakfast, and I had read that there was a marina with some resturants worth note. It was market day in Marigot, and there were lots of vendors hawking their wares, very colorful. We took advantage of the multiple photo ops along the harbour and walked along the water's edge until we saw a row of resturants across the street. Thinking this is the area I had read about, we picked L'Sarafinas (not sure of the spelling, I had to read the name from the picture I took that was partially obscured by palm trees). It was hot. They had multiple small strong fans across the display area that were greatly appreciated. I picked an awesome looking ham and cheese croissant and coffee. Lynn had quiche and OJ. Mine was very good, Lynn's was, well, quiche. The coffee was served in a little mini cup and very strong and flavorful, with a hit of pink sugar that came in little, long packets. With no breeze, it was so hot, I couldn't wait to get moving about, especially with that coffee kicking in!

Our day then became a hunt for a bathing suit for Lynn. We walked along the harbourfront road, past a cemetary, photo ops all along the way, and turned into the streets of Marigot. After some time, it seemed we wouldn't find anything for Lynn, but we found this little bitty shop and bought a bathing suit. Afterwards, we found several shops with bathing suits, but Lynn didn't want to spend the entire day looking for one (nor did I), so we settled early.

Afterwards, we strolled through the streets of Marigot and stumbled onto Grand Marina. This was the place I had read about. The marina was lined with resturants and shops and was very quaint. We took some pictures and decided that we would return here on our relocation trip to Grand Case on the following Monday. There was a place to sign up for the Rapid Explorer for a round trip to St. Barts and we made reservations for Thursday at 9AM. From there, we went to the marketplace, looking for souveniers and a wrap for Lynn. Bought 3 T-shirts for $10 and found a wrap for Lynn.

I had seen many pictures of Marigot from Ft. Louis and I had to go there. We made it back to the car and made the path up the mountain to the fort. It was a single lane road towards the top, and parking was at a premium. The guard at the top of the hill wouldn't let us park in the lot, apparently full. I had to back out a ways and park on the slope leading into the fort entrance, once again, some creative parking. It is a steep climb to the top of the hill, it was very hot and humid, and Lynn decided that she would stay close to the car. I took to the fort and I am so glad that I did - it was a crystal clear day, Marigot below reflecting beautifully below, the vista about 160 degrees. I wish Lynn could've made the hike up, I could've stayed there indefinately............. I met a French-only speaking man at the top, and negotiated a picture of myself with Marigot in the background next to a cannon. I found the French very friendly, and I tried to use my high school French as often as I had the confidence to try. Couldn't connect with Ft. Louis man, though. Lynn saw a couple of large lizards scampering about in the brush while I was away.

At this point, we (I) decided I'd had enough sun the day before and we would head to Grand Case and find the Beach Club. The 10 SPF of the two days before was maybe a little too aggressive on the tanning scale, and I wanted to err on the side of caution so as not to screw up the rest of the trip - been there, done that! We thought we had passed Grand Case, but the best way in is just past the airport, take a left if traveling from the south. We found the GCBC, and got to the gate, where we told the speaker we were there to eat at the Sunset Beach Bar.

We had lunch there, and the initial impression of the Club was great. Beautifully landscaped, a mini topical paradise. Over lunch, we decided that we would circumnavigate the island. We headed north to Anse Marcel passing what looked like a donkey farm with a backdrop of mountains and the view of the beach, the vista, and Anguilla off in the distance was mesmerizing. I wanted to drive down to the beach there, but it was a rocky road and time was becoming an issue.

We came out of there and headed south towards Orient Bay. Our 1st view of Orient Bay was from the north, and I recognized the beach from pictures I had seen from links on TTOL. The sight was very exciting and exhilerating, another "we're really here" moment. Continuing the drive south, we saw the entrances to Orient Bay, and found an elevated photo op on the right side of the road which looked down upon the pastel roofs of the residences of Orient Bay. We stopped and took a ton of pictures, it was an incredibly beautiful vista.

Leaving there, we drove to Phillipsburg to find the place where we would depart for St. Barts the following day. Traffic became an issue, slowing to the point to make us want to finish this tour. We made it to the yellow building we had been told to look for - it was next to the dock where we would catch the Explorer. There is a bar and grill there, Chesterfield's , I think, that I really wanted to hang out at for the view of Phillipsburg bay and the sunset, but we never made it there. We saw 2 cruiseships docked there, and had a brief early afternoon shower. I wanted to find a way to the top of the mountain overlooking the Bay, and took a couple of futile routes until I gave up and headed back to the Flamingo. Lynn was done with driving, and so was I, but we had to get through Phillipsburg at 3:00 in the afternoon. I took a left from the docking area into the city, and hit a cluster**** of an intersection where no one seemed to follow anything resembling normal driving etiquette. I'm a pretty daring driver, and fit right in on the island, but I got turned around and had to resort to the same sort of "me !st" driving that seemed to be the norm at that intersection. We headed down Back Street s l o o o o w l y. We finally got to the turnaround that climbs the hill towards Simpson Bay, and there was an accident, and we had to turn around. Ugh! I follwed traffic back through the area near Grand Marche, and finally made it back. Sorry if the text is tedious, but the drive was very much so.

We had bandied about the idea of going to Mullet Bay for the rest of the afternoon, but time and the fact that we had had our fill of driving dictated that we spend the rest of the day at the Flamingo beach. Lynn took a nap, I hit the beach, laid out in the late afternoon sun, and partook in the Palaypa bar happy hour - I got a big kick out of the countdown to happy hour the guy with the lilting caribbean voice announced over the PA - "when you buy one drink, you will receive too...... when you buy too drinks, you will receive fo!" I had fun imitating him and would join in on the announcements ( was I having fun or what? ). We hit the omnipresent rum punch that morphed throughout our stay in the fridge, took in the sunset, and prepared for dinner at Uncle Harry's.

Uncle Harry's is owned by a Dutch-looking guy from Aruba, who I ran into several times while there, once at the Buccaneer Beach Bar, later opening another business he apparently owns across from Zee Best, The Other Bar. Quite the character, a very good host. Lynn had filet mignon, I had surf and turf, a porterhouse steak and lobster tail. The dinner was great, located on the airport end of Simpson Bay, a nice breeze, very laid back. The kitchen is open to the dining area, and we got a treat when the cook pulled a huge lobster out of the holding tank, which was flapping his tail furiously, thrashing about as if he was going to kick everyone's butt in the resturant. Big Daddy Lobster went out kickin'!