TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin A perfect Mullet Sunday - almost.......

Sunday was a beautiful day..........

We awoke fairly early and decided to get an early start on the day since this was going to definitely be a French side beach day - the decision being which one.

In gazing out on Mullet from our perch high up at the Towers, we could see the bands of icky red tide loaded with seaweed and pools of reddish hues seaweed further out in the water, and we could also see the waves crashing onto the beach and the rocky point down at the end of the beach so Mullet is already ruled out.

After a light breakfast and showers we headed off with Friars as our ultimate destination. There was virtually no traffic through the Lowlands and Sandy Ground and driving through Marigot was like driving through a ghost town and while there were a few patrons at the pastry shop getting their morning Joe, that was about it, and again we had clear sailing all the way to Friars. We took the farthest route that brings us into the entrance right at the wooden sidewalk entrance to Friars Bay Beach Cafe, and FYI, once you turn onto the dirt road it is a rutty mess with potholes equal to small valleys in the road and big enough to swallow some of the smaller cars, I'm thinking. But if you drive slowly and take your time, it's no problem, Mon! We were very careful, Lesley.

We settled in at Friars, still free chairs and umbrellas with meals and the padded mattresses for the chairs are three dollars each.

Now here's the best part - there's not a blade of seaweed to be seen. Anywhere. Zilch. Nada. None! The water feels delightfully warm but sadly, right at the point you step down into the swimmable depth of water, there is a pebbly swath about two feet wide that you have to get through. I think this is the first time in ALL our many SXM trips I truly wished I had water shoes. But it was just a minor glitch and it's often said that life is full of trade-offs and this one was acceptable given everything else that was so good.

And for those who might wonder, there was no foul odor in the air at all by Friars, at least NOT by FBBC. The other beach operation - used to be and probably still is called Kali's - now has yellow umbrellas and they also appeared to be up and running and fairly busy.

Around 12:30 DH's tummy started grumbling, and since that's about the only time he ever does, we headed inside for lunch. We each had full meals - a "Farm(ers?) Salad" which was huge and filled with ham, cheese and all kinds of other goodies and what we might typically call a Chef's Salad but with much more to it, and a "Mixed Grill" plate which was comprised of a piece of grilled 'something' pork that I've never had before, three skewered sausages - two mild and one spicey, the latter of which I didn't care for..... - and a grilled lamb chop and finished with a mound of delicious frites. Both meals were delicious and we shared a little back and forth, each of us enjoying both choices. We also had a shared dessert, two glasses of wine and two glasses of Perrier all of which came to approximately $58.00 U.S. It's a joy not to have to deal with the escalated Euro this trip for sure.

Back to the beach for a bit but the sun just got to be too hot to handle so we decided to call it a day and head home, and take a refreshing dip in the pool before drinks on the balcony. The pool was again like bath water and the only refreshing part was the quick pool shower to rinse the sand off our feet and legs first, but it was all good.

We enjoyed a very light dinner in - after all that lunch who could eat anymore? So while we had hoped for snacks on the porch, there wasn't as much as a light breeze out there and we ended up snacking in the suite.

All in all, today was an almost a PERFECT MULLET KIND OF DAY, but spent at Friars instead.

Another good day, thanks for taking us along.

I love FBBC, but we haven't been there in a couple of years. My feet are so tender that those pebbles are always a problem for me.

We almost went there!
We ended up back at Orient and it was beautiful there, too.

Thanks for bringing us along! Hope the seaweed on Mullet calms down for you, so you can enjoy your favorite beach!

We love Friar's bay. I always use water shoes so the pebbles are not an issue for me! And lunch at FBBC is ALWAYS good....

Just to clarify the seaweed thing, there was no sign of it the first week we were here though it was prevalent in other areas, and my understanding is 'they' try to rake the beach and get rid if it, though I'm not sure who 'they' is or how good a job 'they' do. The strong rollers and breakers are far more of an issue to me since I find it hard to spend a day at the beach where I'm not comfortably able to enjoy the water. Many other younger, stronger and more water confident beach goers than I are enjoying these days. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

Good to be flexible. Thanks for the report.

Enjoying your daily reports Pat. Does FBBC have restroom facilities?

Thanks for the Friars report; I can't wait to visit again in June. I'll take my water shoes for sure, although I haven't needed them there in the past; perhaps I don't go out far enough. Glad you enjoyed your day at my second-favorite beach. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

my 2nd favourite too-glad to hear that the conditions were so good-well except for the pebbles-will bring water shoes next year.

Okay, so today, while out in the pool, we got to chatting with Barbara and John (?) who have been following our antics, such as they've been, and she asked about Friars Bay and our day there, and most particularly, she shared her experience of a few days prior to ours. She spoke of a 'herd' of horned cattle that greeted them as they got out of their car and also of the terrible odor there and couldn't believe we hadn't experienced it, too.

I blithely told her no, we experienced no odor in the air at all, and my husband laughed out loud.

Who knew?! It seems there was a heavy noxious odor in the air, strongest closest to Kali's but still lingering heavily in the FBBC area when the prevailing breezes blew in the right direction.

Trouble is, I have heavy allergies which the Sahara sand haze is really raising havoc with, and that same Sahara sand thing seems to be totally exacerbating my already poor sense of smell. But it seems the combination may actually be a good thing in my case.

So yes, my friends, there clearly was an odor but I am just well blessed in having a severely limited sense of smell, which I guess explains exactly the 'why' as to why I've never noticed that odor so many speak of.

I never much thought about it one way or the other before, but I guess in this case, that particular short-coming is actually a blessing in disguise, and that's a good thing, right? <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />

So I offer my most sincere apologies to those I may have either mislead or questioned regarding this in the past. It would seem, yes, pat there really can be and often is a noxious odor there. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

Pat--too funny!! Eric smokes, and I don't, as many here know. Many times, I comment on a smell and he has no idea what I'm talking about! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" />

We were at Friars on two separate days and no odor, but I grew up next to a farm so... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> I just caught up on your reports Pat, awesome! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

Every time we have been to Friars there has been an odor. We no longer take that chance.

Pat, we do not go to Friars Bay very often now as we have noticed that odour in the past and it was unpleasant.I always thought you were very lucky not to have experienced it. Now, I understand the reason. Now, why is John not smelling it?