The Perch

Most every day we were at the Perch for happy hour. Two for one drinks and a great bar tender in Willie make this time of day something to look forward to. This was our first time closer to high season and we got to experience the line of, mostly nude, people waiting for their beverage of choice. It does get very hot standing there in the sun but the wait is worth the reward. Near the end of our trip I happened to get in line with only two guys ahead of me. I just caught the tail end of his request to Willie to “show me your breasts”. She did not oblige him and I felt she kept good humor about her despite the rudeness of her patron. The guy didn’t even seem drunk and certainly does not represent the kind of people we run into 99% of the time (I mean the rude part, not the drunk part

As I mentioned, our last couple days turned rainy and the first of those days was more steady rain than the occasional shower. As the rain fell, we parked ourselves uncharacteristically early at the Perch bar, as did several others, and ordered bloody marys. They were exceptionally good and while enjoying them two gals from a cruise ship sat next to us. They were very friendly and we talked for a good couple hours. I told them it was a shame that they were not seeing Orient Beach at its best. However, they did not seem to mind and mentioned that they were just glad to be there whatever the weather.

There was virtually no one on the beach as the rain brought a cooler wind than you want on a beach day, but we were enjoying our late morning time at the Perch. We continued to talk with the gals from the cruise ship when we were suddenly interrupted by two more cruise ship visitors that wandered into the bar. These two guys seemed to wander down from Papagayos and were three sheets to the wind…possibly four. They seemed harmless enough, though loud, and never did purchase anything even after shouting aloud how they loved happy hour. They began to chide the nudity they had hoped to see along the beach but said they could do it in a pinch. One of the girls challenged them to ditch their swim trunks, but they did not take the bait, thankfully. Eventually, they drunkenly wandered off and back down the beach to catch a cab or to hop in their car. Hopefully the former. The girls had rented a car, which I felt adventurous for cruise shippers. We always hailed a cab to orient in those days. Now that we’ve tasted staying on the island, I don’t think we’ll ever cruise again.


Tiko Tiko

On Thursday we got up early and walked to Baywatch for breakfast. Today would be our opportunity to enjoy the Tiko Tiko cruise to Tintamarre island. We had made our reservations the day after we arrived at Club Orient as we know reservations for this popular excursion fill up quickly. Today would be a capacity trip of twelve passengers and of course Phillipe and Melanie. They are very sweet people and go way out of their way to make your day memorable.

We arrived at Papagayos around 9:10am and soon Melanie came in to accept payment from those of us going out that day. This is also a time to chat with others who will spend the day on the catamaran with you. We eventually made our way out to the beach where Philippe waited to shuttle passengers, four at a time, out to the Tiko Tiko on his dingy. We brought one beach bag, which held our towels, sun lotion, eye goggles, a swim suite for me and a wrap for her (we usually wear these over on the dingy and then pack them away for the rest of the trip), and provision to pay for the trip (credit card) and cash to tip our hosts. Their efforts during the day deserve a nice tip, so if you go be sure to remember to bring some cash. Our bag was placed with others in a plastic basket and stowed on board the dingy and then onto the catamaran.

The day was beautiful with bright sun and very few clouds in the sky. On the way over to our destination, most everyone sat out toward the front while we chose to sit under the canopy in the rear of the catamaran. We knew we would be getting a lot of sun today and were already a bit sun burned from the previous day on the beach. One other passenger sat with us and we had a very interesting conversation with him. He was a resident of St. Martin and talked with us about the various sailing vessels he owned, his family now living on St. Barts and comparisons between St. Martin and St. Thomas. I was interested in how someone makes a living on an island and asked him such. He was ready to answer and explained he had done a number of things through the years but was now in the landscaping business. It was an engaging discussion that we had but we were drawing near to Tintamarre and I wanted to be up on deck as we approached.

There were a few other vessels already anchored near the beach. We were the only nude excursion, from what I could tell, but I did not notice gawking as on previous Tiko Tiko trips. Once at the island, floats are thrown into the water and you either step down the ladder on dive into the water and swim to shore, two to a float. Phillipe and Melanie bring all the bags over to the island and place them under umbrellas they set up on the beach. They also deliver a large cooler filled with water, rum punch and several brands of beer all packed in ice. We enjoy a rum punch while drifting together in the water on our float. Most of our fellow passengers initially made their way to the beach but some wandered into the water to join us on floats. There is something very soothing about floating, sipping a rum punch and taking in the view of St. Martin in the distance, the deep blue sky, puffy white clouds and the varying blue waters of the Caribbean.

We decided to investigate the island a bit and headed off up a path leading into the brush. Once you wander away from the beach, for some reason the sand becomes painfully hot on your feet. We did not have sandals with us so it became a bit testy at times making our way along the sandy trail leading across the island. We noticed tents off to the left. Evidently some were camping on Tintamarre. After only a five-minute walk directly across the island we came to a small beach that was rather rocky. We sat there for awhile and enjoyed the view and then decided it was time to head back. My wife did not seem herself and I attributed that to a few rum punches too many. She complained about not feeling well and decided to lie down under the umbrellas when we arrived back at the beach with the others.

I had a fun game of Frisbee with my friend from St. Thomas and then the bell rang signaling lunch was ready onboard. After swimming back to the catamaran, everyone sits around a table set up under the canopy. The fact that everyone is nude hardly crosses your mind and by now there was much laughter among our new found friends, no doubt a side effect of the rum punch and beers had on the beach. We had ordered the fish, remembering how good it was from our trip last year, and were not disappointed. It is grilled perfectly and was laced with white wine and herbs. A baked potato with sour cream prepared on the grill complimented the fish. We enjoyed a glass of Chardonnay wine with lunch and then decided on the red wine that was available. A dessert of cheesecake with a fruity sauce finished the meal.

My wife decided to stay on board and sleep off her funk while the rest of the gang headed back to the beach. I was a little concerned for her as she was on a loft at the aft of the vessel and I feared she could fall into the water in her sleep. I helped her onto one of the bench areas and made sure she was comfortable. I decided to stay by the catamaran and swam under and about for a while, not wanting to leave her just yet. This became quite boring and after checking her again I headed back to the beach. It was time for the mud baths. Melanie brought a bucket, which contained the clay like soil that when mixed with water turns into a brown-green goop. Several commented on how much this would costs if you went to a spa. I imagined that a spa would not be as much fun as watching a nearly drunk and totally naked group applying mud on a beach. The mud dries and then you wash it off in the ocean and experience a smoothing texture on your skin.

Last year I spent the sail back to Orient Beach face down on the netting in front of the Catamaran. I decided to revisit that experience this time. It is very relaxing and by the time we arrived and anchored I was ready for a nap. We were one of the first couples to disembark and I noticed that my wife had evidently fallen asleep with her behind in the sun. It was beet red and required a bathing suit bottom for the next several days of our vacation. However, she was feeling better and after our early evening nap she was back to herself. That evening we ate at Papagayos again and then retired early for a good night’s sleep.

Restaurants

We did not visit many restaurants this trip. As I mentioned in the first part of our report, we ate at Papagayos several times, as it was convenient with fairly good food. On the two times we drove to other restaurants we went to Grand Case one night for a meal at La California. The meal was good but we went too early. The sun was still high and made the deck area very warm and sun drenched for us to really enjoy the experience. We’ll go back but will arrive later near sunset. The other evening we went to La Main a la Patte in Marigot on the Marina Royale. We had dined there several times last year and a draw for us was a gal named Maude who encourages those walking along the Marina into the restaurant. She really adds to a fun evening, as she is very congenial. Maude wasn’t there when we arrived but we found out from her husband that she was leaving La Main to work at another restaurant during the day in Grand Case full time. She was working double duty for the time being and when she finally arrived she looked exhausted. She did recognize us from our visits last year but was waiting tables this time around and did not have opportunity to chat with us. We are sorry to see her leave but we did enjoy a good meal. In fact it was much better than we remembered and I asked if they had a new chef. They did and my wife was quite impressed that I was aware of that fact.

Sunset Beach Bar

We took a day trip to the Dutch side one day and had lunch at the Sunset Beach Bar. We had a couple beers and shared a burger and fries at the bar. We wanted to watch the planes arrive and decided to sit out on the deck away from the bar mostly due to a putrid smell coming from somewhere around the bar area. I don’t know how the bar tenders could stand working with the stench. On our last day, while waiting for our plane to arrive, we had a couple beers back at SSBB and did not notice any smell. While on the Dutch side we also visited Rema, a tropical clothing and gift outlet. We purchased all of our gifts for family here and picked up a few things for each other.

Bikini Beach Bar

We also ate a couple lunches at Bikini Beach Bar on Orient Beach. This is one of our favorite places and we were not disappointed with our meals. On one particular day we were not that hungry and decided to share nachos and both had a margarita. The margaritas were to die for and after finishing our “first course” we decided we were still hungry and had calamari and two more margaritas. Neither of us remembers the walk back to Club Orient. I just kept thinking, “water on the left, beach on the right”, and we made it.

We so enjoyed our trip that we’re going back again on July 24th. We’ll stay at Club Orient again, though we will go for a less expensive studio. We’ll be there for a week or so. Maybe we’ll run into you if you are there at the same time.

Lancer