Chapter 3

Monday July 18th
I woke up around 6:45 am and remembered that smaller planes would take off at 7am sharp from the airport behind us. I wondered if it would be the case this year. So as I lay there thinking of what the day held I soon heard a plane zoom above and out to sea. I looked at my watch…7 am.

Being an aircraft advocate, I enjoy watching and even hearing the “show” during the day. I don’t believe most who stay at Mary’s Boon would be annoyed, as there is not a lot of air traffic coming and going compared to a metropolitan area. The planes can be loud though, especially the smaller jets, which seem almost noisier than the larger carriers.

Breakfast at Mary’s Boon this morning consisted of eggs, bacon, coffee and toast for two at a price of $15. I’m not doing caffeine these days but my request for decaf was met with an apology. Later in the week a waiter told us that St. Martin had not received any shipments of decaffeinated coffee and most establishments had run out. Soon I was back to drinking coffee with caffeine but made sure I cut back on the quantity during the day. As we ate, we had a nice view of the beach and ocean and enjoyed a mild breeze coming in through the open dining area that sits like a large porch along the beach and at the back of the building that is Mary’s Boon. One or two morning walkers strolled along the water’s edge, their silhouettes growing smaller as they made their way along the stretch of sand into the distance.

After breakfast we too took a walk along the beach enjoying the grains of white-beige sand sifting through our toes, the warm glow of the sun on our faces and listening to the soothing sound of the surf. The smell of the sea air is very invigorating and we talked about how glad we were to be able to stay for 17 days on this beautiful island. During our walk we noticed new construction along Simpson Bay but no evidence at all of an oil spill that occurred earlier in the summer. The water was clear, very blue and fantastically warm.

The rest of the morning was spent on lounge chairs with an umbrella on the nearly deserted beach. We stayed 3 evenings at Mary’s Boon and only saw a total of 4 other couples. We never shared the beach with more than one other couple at a time and during certain periods of the day we were the only ones on the beach. One couple, on this first morning, was about 15 yards away. The gentleman had a very distinguish head of long white hair pulled into a ponytail at the back and a long white beard to go along with it. He had a broad face and a little round belly that shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly. Actually, he was quite trim and very tanned but I wished I had my camera to photograph “Santa Claus on vacation”.

We lay on the beach in the sun, swam in the water, read our books and listened to iPods. Marilyn decided that we should temper our first attempt at a new tan so we grabbed our towels and beach bag and walked back to our room, showered and decided it was a good day for lunch at Sunset Beach Bar. Mondays are $1 beers, Caribs on this particular day, and ½ price Angus Burgers. We shared a burger and fries and enjoyed two beers each. It was very hot, even under the umbrellas on the deck, and beer and sun tend to make us very sleepy. We decided diet coke was a better way to go while we watched planes land at the airport. I worked our video camera while Marilyn, uncustomarily, took some shots with our still camera. The arrival of Air France is fun to watch and seems to barely miss touching down on the foreheads of those more brave that we standing immediately under the in-coming air traffic. Later in the week we had read that Air France aborted a take off when a light appeared on the instrument panel indicating faulty flap hydraulics. The report said the event was accompanied by the screeching of tires and the noise of reverse thrusters and a good number of nervous passengers. It turned out that it was a false alarm and Air France managed to depart an hour or so later.

We found the service at SSBB to be good and the food even better. It had changed a lot since we were there last year. Most know of the deck expansion below the existing deck. I believe this is called the observation deck at SSBB and gives you a great view of the arriving aircraft. The addition of speakers piping the air traffic transmissions between the tower and the planes was often drowned out by the louder music that filled the air at all times, except when the live music for the day arrived. We enjoyed the entertainment on the few afternoons we stopped by. SSBB was too crowded and noisy for us at night, but those gathered seemed to be having a great time.

Upon returning to Mary’s Boon for an afternoon nap (beers still caught up to us) we found a construction crew was jack hammering below our room. I found out later they were excavating to provide more rooms at the inn. The sound was deafening. Marilyn slept through it, but she can sleep through most anything. I tried to rest too but kept wondering when the racket might stop. It would cease for a few moments and then just when you thought it over, picked right back up. And it was loud! Even so, I thought….”poor me”. We’re in paradise and maybe the pounding would only continue through the afternoon. It did, the whole afternoon! I was going to grin and bear it and see what the day held tomorrow, and then I would talk to the front desk.

I decided to let Marilyn sleep through the construction (how does she do this) and I went down to jog along the beach in the opposite direction from our morning walk. This stretch of beach is completely open with no buildings until you get down to the very end, which butts up to a rock cliff. There is a small hotel at this end of the beach to the right and at the top of the cliff sit what look like several villas. As I jogged down, the sea to the left and the runway beyond a fence to the right, I tried to dodge the waves as they came in by running up along the sand. I remembered these jogs from last year but this year felt a sharp pain in my middle back every time I hit the beach with my feet. A few weeks ago I had been lifting on my Bowflex and unfortunately arched my back, felt something slip and a bit of pain. It grew worse as I jogged so I decided to simply walk swiftly along the beach. It would prove to bother me for the rest of our trip but not enough to spoil a great time. It was, however, painful enough to cause me to walk rather than jog on those few mornings I decided to give it another try during our stay at St. Martin.

By the time I returned, Marilyn was awake and we talked about our agenda for the evening. Before we left, I had booked online the Pub Crawl. I’ve seen several posts on TTOL commenting about how much fun this excursion is and we were not disappointed. The Pub Crawl takes place on the Celine, a 40 ft. catamaran captained by Neil Roebert. It sets out from the Turtle Pier into Simpson Bay and stops at three restaurants where you sample their food while sipping a free drink. There is also an open bar on board during the cruise providing beer, rum punch, mixed drinks and most anything you’d want.

We pulled into the parking lot at the Turtle Pier on Simpson Bay around 6:00pm, a little early for the suggested 6:45pm arrival time. Venturing back to Turtle Pier Restaurant through a narrow walkway you find a bar and restaurant completely open to the adjoining marina. Boats and catamarans were docked and glowed white in the rapidly setting sun. Realizing we were about to go on a “pub” crawl, we opted for sparkling water and ice, which went down very fast in the warm evening air. The cackling of nearby parrots in their cages broke the comparatively quieter island music emitting from a small boom box on the bar. There is also a lobster pit set down into the water off to the side of the restaurant where future dining companions wait for their number to be called…poor them! A family came in with younger children who were excited to find the lobsters and the parrots. We watched a few other groups come in for dinner and others who sat at the bar. Were these our sailing companions?

The Celine arrived from an earlier cruise and tired looking yet happy passengers in bathing suits, some wrapped in towels, disembarked and walked through the Turtle Beach restaurant to their cars parked out on the lot. It turned out a good number of those who came in and sat at the bar were indeed going on the Pub Crawl too. Soon Captain Neil called us to board the Celine and about 20 of us made our way back to where it was docked along the marina. We met Neil’s first mate, a lovely gal whose name slips me, and she greeted us with a smile. We set out immediately at a nice slow pace and were asked what we wanted to drink.

Our fellow passengers were made up of what seemed to us to be two groups of friends. One group congregated at the rear of the catamaran while the other at the front. This was merely due to an economy of available room on board not because we did not want to be together. We were the first onboard and walked to the front and for the rest of the cruise hung out with that group. Three couples were vacationing together and met the third couple at the resort they were staying at. They all were very friendly and welcomed Marilyn and I into their tribe. The sky was darkening as the sun set to our backs. Storm clouds gathered in the distance ahead of us and behind the island’s rising mountains adding another splash of color to the already beautiful sky. I wondered if we would be rained upon that evening, but it turned out to be a dry cruise…well, at least weather-wise!

We enjoyed drinks and conversation as the Celine crawled (as in Pub Crawl) through the water of Simpson Bay until we arrived at Peg Leg Pub and Steakhouse, our first stop. We docked alongside an outdoor seating area of Peg Leg Pub where the first mate tied up the Celine and Neil advised us to be careful as we disembarked. It seems that one customer had a bit too many drinks one time and stepped off the catamaran and slipped between it and the dock right into the water below. He did not want to see that happen again and offered his hand as each of us stepped off and then walked single file into the restaurant. When we got in we could see that tables had been lined up and prepared for our coming. The waitress was so friendly and really made our time at Peg Leg the highlight of the trip. She took our free drink orders and then others brought out dishes of sirloin and sword fish steak cut into cubes for us to sample. Bread was served and soon our drinks arrived. We had Caribs and it went well with the provided meal.

We were thoroughly enjoying our traveling companions and had opportunity to talk with the other group while seated at the Pub. One of the couples turned out to be TTOL-ers and I exchanged a few comments with the husband who happened to be seated at the end of the table. We lauded the benefits of the TTOL board. There was a lot of laughter and story telling while we ate but it was soon time to depart to our next destination.

We walked out, through the outer deck area, and boarded the Celine. As the first mate untied her, she commented in a matter of fact way that of course we would have to moon the Pub customers on the deck as we departed. I thought to myself, “yeah, right”, just as the young attractive wife of one of our cruise mates commented very dryly, “Oh, OK”. As we pulled away four brave souls, tow guys and two girls, dropped their shorts and we watched as several of the people on the deck drop their jaws in surprise.

On the way to our next stop drinks were served along with more laughter and fun. The sky was dark now and the moon was peaking out behind the clouds along with stars toward the other horizon. A nice breeze accompanied our water path toward Lal’s Indian Cuisine. Marilyn and I hugged, held hands and would glance at one another and without words say, “Isn’t this a good time?” At Lal’s we enjoyed what seemed to be a fritter of some kind filled with meat, potatoes and herbs. It was very good. At one point, the captain came over to our table and announced to what he perceived to be the strongest one of us sitting there, that one of our passengers at the bar couldn’t say his name and would probably need help back on the Celine. It all turned out OK but the guy was indeed having a lot more than the provided free drink.

The last stop was back at the Turtle Pier where we consumed ribs and another drink. We enjoyed this excursion so much and would say that the people we met on the trip really added to making it a wonderful time.

To be continued……