Day 1-3: I arrived in St Maarten and was surprised to see Customs and Immigration went much faster than I remember. Was picked up by my friend that I would be staying with for the next two days. Went to his house to unpack. After awhile, we left for Oyster Bay Resort to have dinner at Beau Beau’s where he tends bar during the day. Found the restaurant really puts on a good dinner show Thursday night. Although the restaurant is located in the resort, it is open to the public. I highly recommend the food and atmosphere. Friday, my friend had to work at the resort so I spent the afternoon on the beach at the resort. Around 3pm, we leave to do some shopping in Philipsburg before he has to go to his second job as Night Manager at the Greenhouse. I leave my friend to his work duties as I wander down the boardwalk along the beach. Stop in at the Get Wet bar to see the owner, Phil. Hang out for a bit, and then head on back down to the Greenhouse where I eat dinner. Something to remember that I had forgotten about, the meal portions in St Maarten are huge, making it very easy to share. Saturday morning we hang out and watch movies until time for me to pickup my mom from the airport. It looks like her flight is going to be late and the bridge is going up at 2:30pm – making traffic horrendous – so I tell my friend to go on so he won’t be late to work. Finally, my mom arrives and we head over to the French side for 7 nights at an all-inclusive.

Day 3: My mom and I, along with 6 of her friends, were originally scheduled to sail on Windjammer’s ship, Polynesia, but when all the problems began, I told her not to make final payment (she still hasn’t received the deposit back). Since my mom is a travel agent, she began looking for a Plan B. She ended up booking Apple Vacations, which turned out to be a very good deal. With the cruise being off, only 2 of her friends backed out, leaving just 6 of us. We took the shuttle from the airport to Le Flamboyant, which is a couple miles from Marigot. An absolutely beautiful resort, one that I highly recommend. They offer 3 plans at the hotel. One - just the room; Two – Room, plus breakfast and dinner; and Three – All-inclusive. We did the all-inclusive and it was well-worth it. Unlike other all-inclusive resorts where it seems the drinks are watered down, the bartenders at this resort put so much liquor in we ended up asking for more of whatever the mixer was so we could drink them. The rooms were gigantic with a large balcony and kitchenette outside, and we even had the lowest priced rooms.

Entertainment was planned during dinner every night by the resort. On Saturday, it was bingo. Oddly enough, it was fun. The resort had to have another key made for me so about 10pm, I tucked my mom in and went back down to the bar. I started talking to some people that had been there for a week already, along with the bingo caller, Serge (he was on the entertainment staff). They told me the resort had a nightclub that was only open on Saturday night and asked me to accompany them. When we got there, no one was dancing. So Serge and I took the lead and soon had everyone up and enjoying themselves. I finally made it back to my room about 4am.


Day 4: Sunday, we hung out at the beach and the pool. The resort has 2 pools, but we opted to use the one right next to the bar. The beach was okay, but nothing to write home about. The weather was very strange while we were there. Usually, it does not rain in January, but we ended up having rain every day of our trip, but we still had lots of sunshine. Sunday night had live entertainment during dinner. Afterwards, my mom and her friends got most of the other guests up dancing, so of course I had to join them. We all ended up going to bed around 2pm.

Day 5: My mom’s friends did an Island Tour while we opted to hang out on the beach. Monday night, more live music, but we decided to call it an early night and were in bed by midnight.

Day 6: We found the hotels offer shuttle services to other beaches and shopping excursions, which on the all-inclusive plan are free. Very nice perk. Tuesday, we spent the day on Friar’s Bay, which is a very beautiful beach. We had great a time especially with the songs provided by Jabba (sp?). There was more entertainment on Tuesday night. The resort had a convention for Bayer International and I ended up hanging out with that group for the night. Although, I only speak a little French and they spoke only a little English, we still had a great time.

Day 7: My Mom and I went with another couple (who had rented a car) to the market in Marigot. Bought 2 bottles of rum that is handmade by a man that always has a booth setup. It’s banana-vanilla sipping rum that is out-of-this-world. We came back to the hotel and spent the afternoon at the pool. Went to bed early as we were heading out in the morning for a Catamaran ride to Anguilla.

Day 8: Arrived at the pier for the Catamaran ride with Bluebeard's Charter company, only to learn our driver had taken us to the wrong place. We hopped aboard a skiff and were taken to the correct location. The ride going was a little rough, but lots of fun. We left the clouds behind and sailed into sunny, blue skies. We had a wet landing, and then boarded a shuttle bus, which took us to Shoal Bay. Lunch was included on the beach and many people spent the time sunning, snorkeling or just walking along the shore. After 4 hours, we boarded the shuttle again to take us back to the Catamaran. It was a great sail back. Thankfully, our driver was waiting for us at the right location. We got back to the hotel with just enough time to shower & change for dinner. More live entertainment and many of the people we met really began to loosen up. Considering how early we had gotten up, we still stayed up until 1am before finally calling it a night.

Day 9: Our last full day at the resort, we took a shuttle to Baie Rouge, a small beach a short distance away. The surf was up making it impossible to swim so we spent our time wandering along the shore and sitting out in the sun. We decided to walk back since it was only a mile away and still had a couple of hours to sit outside at the pool. Friday night the entertainment wasn’t that great and we ended up going to bed around midnight.

Day 10: We wake up to rain, which it kept up most of the day. We said goodbye to the folks that we had met. My mom’s friends headed to the airport, while my mom and I went to Philipsburg where we would spend our last 2 nights.

Once in Philipsburg, we checked into our hotel (the Sea View), which was the only place we could book for less than 3 nights. The room was small and plain, but very clean. We did a little shopping along Front Street, and then stopped at the St Rose Café where Jack Sheppard was playing his guitar. He was the Scot that provided Friday night entertainment on the Polynesia. Now, he has a regular gig at the café. Spent a couple of hours talking to his wife, Nilsia, before we headed on down to the Greenhouse for dinner and for my mom to meet my friend. It was 2-4-1 when we arrived, but ended up buying nothing as other patrons in the bar kept buying us drinks. After dinner, I walked my mom to the hotel (she was feeling no pain by this time), then I showered and changed and went back to the Greenhouse to wait for my friend to get off from work. We went to a jump-up for a couple hours then back to his house to watch movies.

Day 11: My mom and I rented a couple of chairs on the beach in front of the Holland House. Met up with a few other Windjammers who were also supposed to be on the cruise. Had dinner at Mangos Toulalosa’s. Very good food! My mom went back to the hotel and I headed to the Greenhouse to watch the playoffs. Met the owner of the Lucky Shamrock Irish Pub (situated behind the Greenhouse). Very enjoyable last night. Spent the last night with my friend and got back to the hotel in time to checkout and do some last minute shopping along Back Street before heading to the airport.

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