Beach bars, Star Wars and rum…life as a tourist on Sint Maarten has a been a great week! We started the week in Phillipsburg which is on the Dutch side of the island. During non-Stupid times, it is a haven for cruise ships so it has just about every tourist shop available. There is Front Street, Back Street and Old Street. No frills by the Dutch people but at least they make it easy to navigate! There is also a boardwalk that runs along the beach on Great Bay. Now, on boardwalk, there seems to be something lost in translation because there is no boardwalk. It is a beautiful, cement Malecon that stretches the length of the beach with bars and restaurants everywhere. Many of the shops and restaurants were still closed due to no tourists but they all seemed optimistic that good times are coming soon. We have really enjoyed that nowhere on the island has any plexiglass dividers. At restaurants, you just eat. At bars, you just drink. At the casino, you just gamble. The majority of people also do not wear masks unless their job requires it. I am guessing that a nation that survives several hurricanes yearly really does not think a mask or plexiglass is going to save them from harm. So, enjoying our mask-less freedom, we wandered around town waiting for the Yoda Guy Museum to open. The Yoda guy is Nick Maley. He was a special effects designer in Hollywood for years and designed the character of Yoda. He also worked on many other films such as Terminator, Highlander and Superman. In all, he worked on 53 movies over the years. He decided one day that he needed a change so he bought a sailboat and cruised to the Caribbean where he and his wife settled in Sint Maarten and opened the Yoda Guy Museum. He had a lot of very interesting items in the museum including a collection of face molds that were used as base models for special effects makeup. He had Sean Connery, Johnny Depp, Michael Jackson and dozens more. He had even collected an original cast of Abraham Lincoln that was done a few months before his assassination. Overall, the tour was very interesting and if you are a Star Wars geek, you could probably spend hours in the museum. I think Nick was surprised when we did not have a lot of geeked out questions for him about Star Wars. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I was a Trekkie so we just moved on.
We had lunch at a place called the Blue Bitch beach bar whose theme was “A fun place to chill when you’re in heat” which we found quite clever. As we were eating, we asked one of the employees if there was anywhere in the vicinity to park because we had to leave our car in the grocery store parking lot several blocks from the hotel. In true island fashion, his response was “Give me a minute, mon. I will take care of you!” So, we sat back down and waited the usual island minute (aka 10 minutes). He returned and walked us to a parking spot and told us that we could use his spot overnight. He asked for nothing in return except that we enjoy our stay on the island and return to meet him again in the future. We celebrated our parking spot by sitting in his beach chairs and drinking a bucket of beer so we felt that we had definitely come out on the winning side of the deal! The next day, we continued our tour in Orient Beach which was on the French side of the island. As we crossed over the French/Dutch border, there was a sign that simply read “Welcome to French St. Maarten.” The humor in that statement is that no one is allowed to enter the French side of the island via boat. However, once we were checked in on the Dutch side, we were allowed to drive across this imaginary line with no issues at all. So, new conclusion, the Stupid only lives on boats that check into the island on the Dutch side….never in cars that drive to the French side. We enjoyed our day on the beach with another bucket of beer (Bill is enjoying this island!) and a pizza. We planned to grab dinner on the way back to our Airbnb which had a lovely ocean front balcony. Much to our surprise, all of the kitchens in the beach bars closed at 4pm. Evidently, during the times when cruise ships are here, all passengers must be back on board at 4pm so everything on land closes at that time….that gives you a great indication of how much their economy relies on the ships. One shop owner told us that his sales were down 90% from 2019 and that at least 80 shops had closed during 2020. Let the ships sail! It rained the next day so instead of snorkeling, we went sheet shopping. Sheet shopping does not sound like a daunting task, but if you have never been sheet shopping in a French speaking country, be prepared. I walked into the store (without a mask which was a delight!) and made my way over to the sheet section. Most people we have met on the island speak English so I was surprised when my sales clerk only spoke French. Most of the time, I try to speak a country’s language but let’s face it, French is hard and makes no sense! So, besides the usual polite phrases such as thank you and please, I have no French. So, looking at the sheets, I could not locate the familiar “Q” or “K” on the package. I asked the clerk, “Which sheets are queen sized?” Clerk looks confused and responds, “French, French, French, French” and points to a couple of things on the package. I stare at her like she is Charlie Brown’s teacher and respond, “English, English, English, english” to which she just shrugs. I finally went back out to the car and grabbed my phone to discover a chart on google that told me which sheets in Europe match a Queen size American measurement. The clerk and I celebrated our success together (French, French, French, French, English, English, English….universal high five!) So, if you must shop in France, remember to take your phone! We concluded the week with a tour of the Topper’s Rhum Factory. When we were researching it online, we discovered that it cost $25.00 each which we thought was a little pricey since most of the factory tours are usually free. With a little more research, we found out that this tour included at least 25 rum samples so Bill signed us up! The factory was a small mom and pop place with only a couple of rooms. They still bottle all of the rum by hand and somehow manage to bottle enough to sell to worldwide suppliers. There were at least 40 different flavors of rum and there were only a few that I had to hand off to Bill because they were too strong. I did take care of the rum cake all by myself, though! As you can see, it was a great week on a great island! Until next week, may the force be with you….unless you are in the cool kid bunch of geeks and in that case, live long and prosper! ****More pics on the pictures tab
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We started the journey to Sint Maarten with a day stop at Buck Island which is just across the bay from St. Croix. Buck Island is a national park and is known for its coral reef so we thought it would be a good place to snorkel and test out the new dinghy. There’s only one problem with testing new items….I am generally going to fail the test. Since we were not allowed to anchor Galt in the coral reef area, we anchored off the beach and hopped into the new dinghy. Bill has already named it Harry the Second because it did not take long for it to figure out how to escape the shackles like Harry Houdinghy the First had. We puttered our way over to the lagoon comparing the differences between the dinghies along the way. I decided that Harry the First was a Lincoln Continental….big, heavy, indestructible and a smooth ride. Harry the Second is a Prius….light, rough ride and could pop at any time. However, the ease of Harry the Prius far outweighs its limitations and we happily bumped along over to the reef. Getting out of the new dinghy was very easy and we jumped overboard to encounter a reef system that had tons of fish and huge coral structures. I was thoroughly enjoying myself until I looked up and saw two barracudas were floating right in front of me giving me the eye. Bill claimed they were just curious but they certainly looked hungry for a Sally snack to me! As we made our way back over to the dinghy, I began to realize that getting back into the dinghy was going to be a challenge. Bill went first and while he was not graceful in any way, shape or form, he managed to kick his way over the side of the dinghy and landed successfully with a thump. My turn….reach, jump, kick, push, pull, splash….repeat. No matter how hard Bill pulled, I could not get into the dinghy. I looked over to another dinghy and they were having the same issue so that made me feel a little less like an idiot. After about 10 tries and multiple bruises on my arms and ego, we were ready to give up and Bill was going to tow me behind the dinghy over to the beach so I could get in. Just then, a very nice couple on a small fishing boat yelled over that I could swim over to their boat and climb up their ladder in order to get into the dinghy. When I arrived, I grumbled, “new dinghy” as I pulled myself out of the water and the man said, “No way were we going to laugh…not on the outside anyway.” After a firm punch from his wife, we all had a good laugh and I stepped easily into the dinghy. So, first purchase at the next marine store will most certainly be a dinghy ladder!
Late in the afternoon, we left for our 18 hour trek across to Sint Maarten. It was a great ride with the exception of two hours of rain but luckily the rain occurred during daylight hours and let’s face it….Galt can always use a bath. Prior to leaving, Bill hired a guy to clean the bottom of the boat so Galt was feeling sassy and quick. Well, six miles per hour quick which is sassy for Galt! With the wind on our beam (aka coming in on the side of the boat which is the sweet spot for filling the sails), we made the 18 hour trip in only 15 hours. Bill even had to slow down the last hour to make sure we arrived after daylight. That’s a rarity! After arriving, we slept for a couple of hours and then headed over to Customs and Immigration to check into the country. Prior to arrival, we had to gather a list of required forms and items which I had emailed over to their customs agent prior to leaving St. Croix. Knowing how well Customs usually works, we took hard copies with us as well. Once we arrived, they looked at me like I was crazy when I told them they had all of the items in email. They started searching and finally located all that they needed. While checking in took an hour and a half for a process that should have taken fifteen minutes, I can say that the agents were friendly, helpful and had a good sense of humor. Plus, after watching our friend who arrived a day after us take two days to check in, we felt good about our hour and half! After check in, we raced back to the boat to prepare for the 11:30 bridge opening. In Simpson Bay, you can either anchor out in the harbor (which was very rough the day we arrived) or you can move into the inner lagoon which is as smooth as a lake. Needless to say, we voted for the lagoon. To get into the lagoon, we had to wait for the drawbridge which only opens 4 times a day so timing is crucial. We have not encountered a drawbridge since we left the Intercoastal Waterway in the States so I was nervous. As we approached the bridge, Bill called on the radio to the bridge tender and the tender said he would open in a few minutes. So, we waited in the harbor for the opening. All at once, the tender came on the radio and he began singing…..”The bridge is opening, come on through”….he was the first singing tender we ever had! Bill began our slow crawl toward the bridge and we evidently were not moving fast enough for Mr. Tender because he began singing on the radio again, “Move it, Captain, Move it. All gonna be okay!” which gave us a good chuckle…as if Galt could go any faster! After successfully clearing the bridge, we anchored in the lagoon and decided that Sint Maarten feels very different from the other islands we have visited so far. Because it is Dutch and French, the island has a very European feel to it and we imagine it is what the Mediterranean would feel like. There are bars along the lagoon that cater to boaters and we have really enjoyed the $1 beers which we have not seen since leaving the Dominican Republic! There are also tons of ethnic restaurants which is welcome given that we have had nothing but pizza and fried food in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Our first night, we went to a restaurant called, “Little Bethlehem” and had an amazing meal for only $8.00! We have also eaten at Dinghy’s which had great burgers and Lagoonies which had casual French food. We were worried that we would be gaining weight while here but that concern left quickly when we had to walk 1 ½ miles one way to the grocery store! No worries about getting enough exercise! The grocery store was well worth the walk as they had a cheese department and meat department like none we have seen. Just for the record, if you ever come to Sint Maarten, the grocery store register rings up the price in Dutch Gilders which are about 1.8 Gilders per US dollar….so when the register says your groceries are $365.00, don’t faint! I almost had a heart attack until we realized it was Gilders and not dollars! The main funny on the island so far is that while we are in a Dutch country, we have only met one person that speaks Dutch….and she just moved here from Holland four years ago. The story is that school is conducted in Dutch but the kids all speak English at home and in the community so while most people understand Dutch, they do not speak it. We have heard a lot of French and Spanish as well so it is really a melting pot of languages. This coming week we have rented a car for a few days and are looking forward to exploring the Dutch side of the island. How can you not look forward to an island whose most famous museum is called, “The Yoda Guy Museum!” Have a wonderful week and in the words of singing Mr. Tender, I hope “All gonna be okay!” A week of successes and some not so successes. Early in the week, we moved from Honeymoon Beach over to Christmas Bay so that we could fulfill another bucket list item….the Pizza Boat! On the way, we parked in Brenden’s Bay and hopped in Harry Houdinghy to go over to the marine shop to pick up our new inflatable dinghy. We had ordered it a few weeks ago and the store shipped it in from St. Maarten so we were definitely ready to get it. When we arrived, they stated that the dinghy had arrived but they needed us to approve the charge. When I pulled up my credit card app, the charge was several hundred dollars more than we expected. With some research, we found out they had sent the wrong dinghy. After some discussion, we decided that we would take the dinghy that had been sent because it would work for us and we did not want to wait for another one to ship. Plus, the guy who was buying Harry had been super patient and offered us full asking price so we did not want to lose that sale. The store had inflated the dinghy and it was up to Bill and the sixty-five year old employee to get the dinghy into the water. Luckily, the new dinghy only weighs 125lbs so no heart attacks occurred during the transfer. We then used Harry to tow the new dinghy back out to Galt and hoisted both dinghies on the boat to be able to make our way to Christmas Bay. By this time, we had earned our Pizza Boat adventure! After we had anchored, we pulled up the Pizza Pi menu and while the dinghy carrying did not give anyone a heart attack, the price of a boat pizza did! But, we figured it was a once in a lifetime event so we would splurge for the $33.00 pizza (without delivery tip added!). We wanted to experience picking up the pizza at the pizza boat but alas, the new dinghy gas connector piece did not fit and dinghies do not run well without fuel…so delivery it was! The girl brought the pizza in her dinghy, tied up to the side of Galt and handed me the pizza. We had to admit that it was very good pizza and the fun of the delivery was worth the cost. That afternoon, we sadly said goodbye to Harry as his new owner towed him away and we got the new dinghy settled onto the back of the boat. We both had to admit that while we would miss Harry, the new dinghy was so easy to hoist onto the boat that we probably would not miss Harry and his 300lb weight for very long.
The next morning, we pulled up anchor and made the six hour trek across to the Virgin Island of St. Croix. Marina Sally had been on anchor for about a month and needed some marina pampering so we pulled into Green Cay Marina to find a pool, beach and hot showers! And even more exciting, they had a buy 5 days, get two more days free deal going….Marina Sally was happy! Prior to arriving in St. Croix, we made a list of things we wanted to see and do on the island. There were so many options! A restored sugar cane plantation, a rum distillery tour and several forts. However, our first stop was at the Customs Border Patrol office to get an exit form that was required prior to our jump to St. Maarten. The CBP office was located at the airport which was mid island. The island is only 21 miles long so it doesn’t take long to get anywhere, you just have to watch for huge potholes along the way while driving on the left side of the road. Once we arrived at the airport, we were directed to a tiny office in a hidden corner and a lady came out to inform me that the marina should have given us the necessary forms….when I told her the marina office was the one who directed us to her at the airport, she sighed and began gathering forms, grumbling about how no one ever does what she tells them to do. Ah, a disgruntled US government employee….how I have missed them! Once we gathered our forms, we headed out to begin being true tourists. First, we headed to the Captain Morgan distillery…..gift shop open but no tours available…and the last rum tasting was at 1pm so we had missed it. Not to fear! We would head over to the Cruzan Rum distillery for their tour….nope, closed due to the Stupid. Onward to the Whim Estate sugar cane plantation tour….nope, closed due to the Stupid. Hungry and thirsty, we decided to give up on rum and go to the Leatherback Brewery….open! No tours but we could at least get some cold beer and pizza. After the frustration of the day, we headed out to Udall Point which is the farthest eastern point of the United States. Most people go to the point for sunrise but since there was no way grumpy morning Sally was ever going to make a sunrise, we settled for sunset at the eastern most point of the United States! We finished the night with a trip to the only casino in the Virgin Islands that offers table games as well as slots. Bill managed to win $100 at blackjack and I walked out with a whopping $3.50 after losing my $10.00 of slot money on a single spin of Roulette….damn that red! We found another bucket list item that we did not know existed so get out your pen and paper! As we were wandering the island, everyone we met asked us, “Have you seen the beer drinking pigs? You don’t want to miss the beer drinking pigs!” We decided that we definitely did not want to miss beer drinking pigs. We headed out into the middle of nowhere and came upon a small bar with a sign that stated they were the home of the beer drinking pigs. We found out from the owner that the pigs had begun drinking beer several years earlier when a friend had set his beer on the wall surrounding the pigpen. The pig had reached up and stolen his beer and the rest was history. A small crowd showed up and the owner pulled out some O’Douls (non alcoholic beer) and we all set off to the pigpens. Even before everyone could get into the area, the pigs were standing up with their front hooves on the wall salivating. I had never known that pigs could jones for anything but evidently beer was their uncontrollable vice. The kids were instructed to shake up the beer can and then hold it up to one of the pigs. I had to give the kids credit…I am not sure I would have stuck my hand out there! One of the pigs grabbed the can and chomped on it sending beer foam spraying all over the kids in the front. The other pigs shouted in protest while he tilted his head back and drank that beer faster than a frat boy with a funnel. Then, when he had emptied the can, he spit the can out on the ground and waited for the next one. I must say that it has been awhile since I have seen a crowd so entertained for the cost of only $2.00! So, add beer swilling swine to your bucket list and move on! Our next treat of the week was going over to the Frederiksted pier for a snorkel. This area was by far the best snorkeling we have done. Schools of fish swarmed around us and we even saw a school of cuttlefish which were hilarious looking creatures. The final adventure was another swab shoved up our nose so that we could apply to get into St. Maarten this week. We knew we were back in that States once we saw the paperwork that we had to fill out…but the test results came in an hour and surprise, surprise….we don’t have Covid…..what a shock. We will be heading over to St. Maarten on Tuesday which is an 18 hour journey so we will be arriving on Wednesday. St. Maarten is an island that is half Dutch and half French so we are looking forward to seeing some new cultures. Stay tuned for new adventures next week but it will certainly be difficult to top beer drinking pigs! Some weeks in paradise are about seeing new places, exploring historical sites and getting to know new people. Some weeks in paradise are about the waiting game. This week has been a waiting game. In memory of Dr. Seuss and his amazing book “Oh, The Places You’ll Go”, here is my summary of the week:
Waiting for the fish to bite, Waiting for the wind to be right. Waiting for the new dinghy to come, Waiting for boys to drink some rum. Waiting for food, waiting for sun, Waiting for turtles, waiting is done! Yes, we are waiting. The main wait for the week has been for the dinghy. The new dinghy had to be shipped from St. Maarten and was supposed to arrive on Thursday. In very un-Caribbean-like fashion, the dinghy DID arrive on Thursday. In very Caribbean-like fashion, it arrived ten minutes prior to closing time on a holiday weekend. So, we will pick up the dinghy on Monday, deliver our old dinghy to the new owner and then be ready to head out on the next adventure. As for waiting places, there are worse places to be than Honeymoon Beach, St. Thomas. There is a fun beach restaurant called “Dinghy’s Beach Bar and Grill” and we have enjoyed hanging out watching the tourists burn to a crisp. We also had time to do some snorkeling and four turtles showed up to entertain us! I am quite puzzled why the turtles choose to eat the few sprigs of sea grass that are in the sandy areas versus feasting in the areas that are full of what is called “turtle grass”. A point to ponder as we wait…. The Covid zombies in St. Thomas have also presented some other mysterious things to ponder. Evidently, the zombies in St. Thomas only congregate on the beach on Saturdays and Sundays after 5pm. Even more puzzling, they only attack you if you are sitting at a table eating and drinking. And only on sand. At Dinghy’s Bar, you can’t sit at the tables on the sand after 5pm on Saturday and Sunday but you can take one step up to the gravel area and stay as long as you like. You can sit on the beach and swim and such as long as you are not at a table. So, make note that you can’t catch the Stupid on gravel. The other mandate seems to be that the zombies don’t know how to use an entrance door, only an exit door. In all stores that have separate exit and entrances, the exit door is locked and you must funnel out of the entrance door as others are coming into the store. If only the store owners realized that if they layered the exit area in gravel we could all come and go as we please. The British Virgin Island Covid zombies are even more slick. They only come into the country on pleasure boats captained by their owners. The airports are open and on April 15th, the ferry boat systems start running again. You can also hire a private captain (not the owner of the boat) to float your private boat into the country while you fly in on a plane (because, of course, a plane has far fewer germs than two people living on a boat). If we were to accidentally cross into their waters on Galt, we could be fined $1000.00 or have our boat confiscated and go to jail. Needless to say, we have voted to skip the BVIs and take our money and smiling faces directly to St. Maarten. How do I keep up with all of these new zombie rules? So much to ponder while waiting! So, on Monday, we will grab the new dinghy, drop the old dinghy and head over to the island of St. Croix. Unlike St. Thomas, St. Croix seems to have several historical sites to visit and some unique things to see so we are looking forward to staying a few days (and we will be in a marina with a pool and a miniature golf course so how bad can that be?!). St. Thomas has some pretty areas but most of the entertainment is water sports…..let’s face it….when you live on a boat, you really want some land activities! I hope that you have a blessed Easter and that the Easter Bunny remembers to use the correct entrance and to hide the eggs only on gravel surfaces! |
AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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