Our planning for this trip actually began in April ’09 when we decided that it would be really fun to have family and friends join us in St. Maarten for our 25th Anniversary. Before we knew it we had 15 of them that were ready to join us! We were so happy that all 4 of our kids would get to see the island that we’ve come to love!

Saturday
Our adventure began with a limo ride for 11 of us from CT to JFK at 2am. Things went very smoothly and we were at our gate by 5am, anxiously awaiting our 8am flight. Our daughter and her boyfriend had flown in from LAX on the red eye and met us at the gate. We were all so excited and I’m sure rather loud as some people quietly moved away from us!

Although our AA flight departed a little late we arrived on the island on time. We collected all the luggage and went off to meet Lesley Bruce who had 3 cars ready for us. We managed to shove luggage and carryons for 13 people into the cars and then we headed off to Peg Leg Pub for lunch.

We had a nice lunch at Peg Legs. Everyone loved their food. They were very accommodating for my vegan crowd. Service was slow but Shaun seemed to be the only waiter. He took good care of us and no one seemed to mind. Capt. Neil met us there to discuss the menu for our vow renewal ceremony, which was to be the next day.

We checked into Beachside Villas where we had 5 villas reserved. (Jeff and I had our own villa) Our friend and his family were already there and swimming and it wasn’t long before everyone was in the water. Craig came by to drop off snorkel equipment and umbrellas and stayed for visit. What a nice guy!! I highly recommend his services!!

Sunday
We spent the morning swimming then decided to go watch the planes come in. Some went to Sunset Bar and Grill – service and food was very good and others went to Driftwood- again service and food was very good. The best part was when the group unexpectedly got sand blasted by a Corsair. Not sure what anyone was thinking! They had all seen the You tube videos! But sandals, hats, sunglasses, people ended up getting blown into the water. I’ve never seen anyone get blasted like that before. Jeff said it was very scary. Fortunately my older son grabbed his little 50lb sister before she got blown into the sea.

Our vow ceremony took place on the beach at 5:30. Our friend John acted as minister. The kids made a huge heart in the sand for us to stand in. I surprised my husband with a beautiful new dress. Our oldest children each did a reading. Their BF/GB helped us baptize our rings with ocean water. It was so beautiful that there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. While Neil was cooking we shared a dance and then the partying began! We ate the awesome meal that Neil prepared on the beach after sunset. The night was perfect! We were so happy to share that moment with close family and friends!

Monday
4 members of our group had reserved a fishing charter on Taylor Made. This proved to be a disaster. Although the seas were rough that day what made the group violently ill was the exhaust from the boat. My mechanic husband knew the boat wasn’t running right but by then they were out at sea and it was too late. They ended up asking to be brought back early. They were very disappointed not only with the fact that they didn’t catch any fish but that the crew was seemingly unfriendly. I felt bad, as I was the one who had researched and set them up with the fishing trip. Oh, well, live and learn! Expensive lesson!

Later in the day we went to Phillipsburg to do some jewelry shopping. We headed right for DK Gems where Deepti was waiting to show me a bracelet and my son and his girl engagement rings. Deepti was wonderful with helping to arrange the purchase of the ring as a surprise. Everyone in the store was very friendly and helpful!

Tuesday
We charted the Celine for an all day cruise to Tintamarre. We had a great day. The kids all enjoyed the ride, which was a little rough for me. After putting a life jacket on my little one I went down below. Neil’s crew was outstanding! They spent time with us, got to know us and really become part of our group. The boys especially loved having Dave join them for a game of football on the beach. The lunch was delicious as usual! The kids thoroughly enjoyed the mud bath on Happy Bay. I can’t say enough good things about Neil and his crew!

Later in the evening Mike gave his girl the ring. She was surprised and very happy! I gave her my phone so she could call her parents back home.

Wednesday
We spent the day hanging around on the beach. At some point we went to Karakter for drinks. Service was slower than last year but the drinks hit the spot. We had a nice relaxing day.

In the evening the adults went on the Pub Crawl. Again, Neil and his crew made sure that we had a great time. We were celebrating the engagement, which made the night really special. My 20 year old son was very pleased that he didn’t have to buy any drinks all night! Food at all the stops was very impressive. This progressive dinner was much nicer than the previous crawls that we had been on. Again, the vegans were accommodated on this trip. We started at SkipJacks with an appetizer. went to Uncle Harry’s for the dinner and then to Three Palms for a beautiful dessert.

While the adults were doing this our friend John and his girl friend had taken the 6 kids out for dinner. They ended up at Mary’s Boon. According to later stories from him and the kids they had quite the time trying to get an order of spaghetti and pasta for one of the kids. For some reason it took 7 tries and a trip to the kitchen. Not sure why as one of the other kids had the same meal. The kids also got a kick out of the cats and dogs that were running through the restaurant. They all seemed to have a great time and I guess did enjoy their food.

Thursday
Spent the day hanging out on the beach and once again made a trip into Phillipsburg to shop and go to DK. The kids ate lunch at The Greenhouse and enjoyed the food and service.

In the evening we went to Cheri’s for the show. Just had to bring the kids!! Unfortunately my daughter’s BF didn’t heed my warning about not volunteering and he ended up on stage. The look on my daughter’s face was priceless, as she had actually raised her hand to volunteer her man. Guess she forget about what that meant!! He was a great sport as he strutted on the stage with his wig, skirt etc. Although we cheered extra loud he didn’t win. We had a great time dancing to the band as we celebrated anniversaries and engagements. The service however left much to be desired. We were a group of 17 but only half of the table seemed to get any service. The rest of us ended up going up to the bar to get our own drinks.

Friday
My niece and her group left in the morning for a family reunion in Illinois. The rest of us had an impromptu pool party complete with music. We toasted their plane with drinks as it went by for takeoff. Jeff and I took the little one for a trip to Marigot. She was dying to see the French side. Unfortunately she fell asleep before she got there and once awake wasn’t as excited to be there. We walked around a bit. Bought a couple souvenirs and that was it. I was surprised at how quiet the streets were.
Went to Karakter for tapas, drinks and some music. Again food was good, service extremely slow from what I had remembered last year. I was also surprised to see a guard standing in the back.

We enjoyed a last meal together on the deck at Beachside. As we were finishing up a storm came in. I had never seen anything like it and I was a bit nervous. The wind on the beachside was very strong and blowing some of the deck furniture around. I was a little worried about the kids so I threw a towel on my head and went around to their villa via the street side. They were safe and sound but I found out later that some of the kids thought it would be fun to see if they could become airborne using towels. Glad I didn’t know about that at the time! We all survived the storm though.

Saturday
Last breakfast on the beach. Love eating with my toes in the sand!! Had a last swim. Packed up and checked out by 11am. Checked in for our flights. 9 of us to JFK and 4 to Newark. Bought lunch for the plane. Finished the last few beers from our refrigerators. Went through security. Surprised how easy it was to get through considering it was a Saturday. Flight home went well. Found the limo. Stopped for dinner. Made it home to Granville and in bed by 12:30.

Some additional thoughts
Just have to add that although I had been a little worried about keeping our large group safe, everything went well. I never felt unsafe anywhere.
There was more rain on this trip than in all of our other visits combined. It rained almost every night. There were a few showers during the day but they didn’t last long. In all we had great weather. So glad considering all the people I had to make happy! We all had a great time and everyone thinks we should do this again! Lots of planning from my end. More than anyone will ever know!


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