Easy Dream Vacations

 Arriving in St Maarten provided us with some beautiful views of the island.  On previous cruises to both St. Thomas and St. Maarten we arrived overnight and did not get a chance to see the islands from sea.  This trip let us see what we had previously missed.  We were arriving on the Dutch side of the island which is called St. Maarten and porting in the town of Philipsburg.  The northern French half of the island is known as St. Martin and has a main town of Marigot. 

   Headed into port we enjoyed the beauty of numerous hills dotted with hillside homes, beautiful beach side resorts and valleys of green. 

  As the ship neared port we noticed a jet helicopter circling and seemed to be looking for a place to land.  What we did not realize is that we would see the helicopter land on the back of a yacht, the most expensive yacht any of us had ever seen. 

 

 Once you get off of the ship they have a beautiful  reception area at the port, there is some construction taking place but it is pretty well hidden behind walls.  What is already there is just beautiful, fresh and well done.  There are shops right off the pier but if you want to do some real shopping head into town. 

To get to town you have choices of taking a water taxi, walking renting a car or taking a taxi.  We chose as many do the water taxi, it costs $5 for as many trips as you want and it takes to you right to the beach and shopping areas.  On our last trip they only had one drop off on the south end of the beach, now they have two docks for the water taxi, one at the south end and one in the center of the beach.

We landed at the center dock and we greeted by van drivers almost immediately.  They were not over powering but very helpful.  This actually worked out great as we were headed to Orient Beach on the French side of the Island.

    Our driver was very helpful and filled us in on some of the local information. 

 We crossed over from the Dutch side to the French side of the island with no stops, our driver pointed it out, otherwise if you didn’t notice the sign you would never know you just went into a different country.  I had asked our driver if he would take us to Andy and Cheryl’s Baywatch Bar, he gladly obliged. 

 Just before we arrived at Orient beach we turned down a narrow road that went between some tall grass fields, it was a very rough road filled with pot holes.  Our driver informed us that the road was torn up from heavy traffic and that there was a plan to build a Hilton Hotel in that area.  Much of the area was previously a lake and had been filled in for the construction.  It is good to see growth but not at the expense of the locals.  He said that the Hilton was trying to take over the beach area and wanted to force out the locals along the beach. 

   On this road we passed the entrance to the famous Club Orient, the nude beach club and resort.

 Once on the beach we arrived right at the Baywatch Bar and Grill, Andy the owner was there working in the kitchen.  I had brought my personalized Wisconsin Firefighter license plate for Andy as he has numerous license plates hung on the rafters, walls and posts in the bar.  

  What I was surprised to see were the numerous items from Bell Ambulance out of Milwaukee.  Evidently the owner of Bell frequents the Island often.  Andy had on a Bell hat, the waiters were using Bell pens, there were a couple of Bell Ambulance license plates on the walls as well as Bell patches.

I met Andy and gave him license plate which has “Capt E” on it as well as the famous “Capt E” t-shirt that I had been awarded by the Chief of the fire department I am a member of.  We took pictures of the plates and proceeded to enjoy the beach.

  

  For $6 we each rented a beach chair that came with one free drink.  Baywatch defiantly served one of the best Pina Colada’s I ever had.

The boys in the group too a walk down the beach towards Club O, gee I wonder why?    In case you are not aware, the beaches on the island are European style, some topless and some clothing optional.  Actually Chad and I were looking for a place to go snorkeling.  I took my gear and checked out the area, there wasn’t much too see a few rocks a grass bed and 2 fish I swam around a bit.  Our driver picked us up at the set time and we were off back to town. Our driver did not collect any money until we arrived back in town.  Much better than the experience some of us had last year in Grand Cayman when our driver failed to show up for the return trip.

  Back in town the shopping began.  St. Maarten offers a variety of shopping from t-shirts at 4 for $10 to the most expensive jewelry you can imagine.  We were sure to shop after 3:00 as we were told that’s when the best deals were available.  

I purchased my wife a tanzanite ring for our 25th anniversary at Diamonds International.  Subrina helped us pick out a beautiful ring and gave us a great deal. 

We made sure to stop by the local fire department,   where besides the local firefighters we met a young lady from one of the other ships in port, she was a firefighter from Utah.    I also stopped by the Firehouse Bar and Grill to purchase a St. Maarten firefighter t-shirt as well as a cold beer.

    On our way back to the ship I ran into Scott, Michelle and Brenda so we had an opportunity for a few photos.    

After shopping we also strolled down the boardwalk and enjoyed the beach in Phillipsburg.