Today was our day in St. Maarten. We were supposed to be in port from 9am until 6. However, we arrived at 9:30 due to some horribly choppy seas last night (It never woke me up.) slowing us down. They extended our departure time until 6:30 so it was all good.
I put an order on my door last night for room service. It arrived promptly this morning at the appointed time. Unfortunately, my stomach was not ready to eat. I normally eat my breakfast at work around 930 or 10am but I am up at 5:30am. I did make myself eat ½ of a bagel though.
We were greeted by Steel Drums as we walked from the ship
We got the OK to debark and that went smoothly. Not much of a wait. We walked over to the Hertz Car Rental office to pick up our car for the day. There are several other ‘no brand name’ rental companies there, but I chose Hertz thinking a better product. HA Not only were they less efficient in getting people on their way, the car we were given was….well, let’s just say it ran and the AC worked. I have never seen such a filthy rental car and I’m pretty sure the muffler was about to fall off the thing. I honestly didn’t think to take a picture and I should have. It was not even a current model—although the model was one I had never heard of.
But, we were our way and promptly got lost and had to circle back and try again. We were told the island is one main road the whole way around. Uh huh. But they failed to mention the roundabouts and lack of signage. What it is about these that other countries love so much? Do they work better than a 4 way stop or a traffic light? I have no clue but they are slightly frightening.
One thing I will say though is the people here are so friendly. No road rage, people letting other people out in the heavy traffic areas. Everyone beeps a thank you. Even the people we met when we stopped for directions (multiple times) were so nice to us. One guy offered us a map and showed me where we were and gave me exact directions back to the port—or we would still be driving around, I think.
A random shot on our way to Orient Beach
A random shot on our way to Orient Beach
We started on the Dutch side of the island and drove to the French side looking for Orient Beach
One problem was my ‘navigator’ is no navigator. He kept looking at the map saying, I have no idea where we are. LOL! So, we kept driving looking for obscure signs for Orient Beach. We found the place without too much difficulty and parked. We walked down the beach about a mile looking for the Discovery Beach Bar. We never did find it, but we ate at a place right on the beach called La String. No, I am not making that up. We had excellent food, very strong drinks and after we ate they brought us out an aperitif to help with digestion. It was very good and very alcoholic. Ours were lemony.
Our Apertif and those delicious Cherry Cigars--Hand rolled!
We struck up a conversation with the people at the next table-Jeff and Vicki from central Illinois. They vacation here every year and they told us we had to go here and there and we HAD to go to the airport to see the planes. Super nice people—I wish we could have talked to them for longer. They left us with a pack of little cherry cigars and instructions on where to get a custom made bathing suit and where to buy more cigars from “Joe” who would hook us up if we said Jeff and Vicki sent us. Ok, I confess, I smoked a cigar. It was very nice and went perfectly with my boozy buzz. Totally different than a cigarette.
A couple of shots from Orient Beach. The day stayed partly cloudy and the water was quite choppy. It was very warm though. It felt very commercialized there. Nice but not what I was expecting for some reason
A couple of shots from Orient Beach. The day stayed partly cloudy and the water was quite choppy. It was very warm though. It felt very commercialized there. Nice but not what I was expecting for some reason
That water though--the blues of the Caribbean get me every time!
We sat in the restaurant’s lounge chairs under an umbrella for a while. The locals were parading up and down the beach selling their wares and offering braiding and massages. Kolton or Betzi must have made eye contact because next thing I know there are two women there asking the kids if they want a massage. They said no but then the women offered a free foot massage. They were hooked. In the end, they got a decently long foot and calf massage with aloe vera. The woman said $35 each and I said offer $20 but he settled at $30 each and said it was worth it.
We continued to lounge and enjoy the sound of the surf and the perfect breeze blowing across us. The sun was in and out behind the clouds and the temperature was perfect. I did not want to leave that chair—ever. But, leave I did and we traipsed back up the beach to where we parked the car.
A huge tour bus had us parked in but luckily the driver was right there so after some fancy maneuvering on both our parts, we squeezed by the big bus and off we went to Maho Beach and the airport. After driving through horrible traffic and up and down mountains, we decided to just head back to the ship. Because once again, my navigator and the lack of signs left us hopelessly lost and no clue even which side of the island we were on.
So, on we drove hoping to see something familiar—my passenger was worried we were going to miss the ship and be lost forever. And BAM, there was the airport. So we found a place to park and walked over to the bar where I had the best drink of the trip so far. No, I have no idea what was in it but it was called a BBC. A frozen cup of alcoholic deliciousness is the most I can say. And we saw two planes land and a couple of small planes take off before we decided we’d better get on the road and get back to the car rental place. The bar has a monitor showing arrivals and departures and the time—so you know.
Kolton and Betzi
We asked directions from one of the many cab drivers here and he said, it’s one road, turn right here and keep going and you will see the port. OK Easy Peasy!
As we’re driving parallel to the airport a huge plane takes off right over the road we were on and it was more amazing than watching the planes land. Wow, right over the freakin’ cars. Of course, no photo of that. Sigh
Back to driving. We drove and drove and drove some more. One road and keep going my ass. What about these roundabouts and random yield looking signs with curvy arrows on them—what should I do there? OMG We are lost again. This time, my passenger was looking somewhat sick and quite worried so I start taking random roads figuring we will hit the main road at some point. I drive and drive and finally decide to stop and ask someone. This was the nice man that gave me a map and explicit directions regarding what to do at the roundabouts.
All right, we are back in business and we were on the right road. HA! Aaaaaaaaaand now the traffic is stopped again and a giant drawbridge goes up. Oh goody. The man 2 cars in front of us gets out of his vehicle and walks off down the street. WTF? Then the yacht parade begins. They sail majestically past the cars heading for open seas. Pretty sure there were 11 of them. I see the bridge start to lower and the man still isn’t back to his car. Huh. Oh wait, here he comes, running down the street with his 6-pack of beer. Priorities people—keep them straight. ;-)
Finally, we are on our way again and we travel up and down mountains and yes, there in the distance in the familiar funnel! We are going to make-it AND on time to return the rental. YAY us!
Back on board now, and only slightly burned from our day today! A nice hot shower and I am ready for dinner, but it appears my dinner companions are not feeling it. Hmmm. Not sure what I will do.
I have to say I love the showers and the water pressure. So refreshing and those big, fluffy towels to dry off with. Cabin cleaned up for me every day. I totally love the Carnival beds and that duvet is the perfect cover—just the right weight. I could live like this forever. Someday, I hope to at least live like this for a couple of months!
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