We made it through the sea days – not that we had any fears that we wouldn’t. We still have no idea what we did those 5 days. Didn’t rock climb or play putt putt or anything. Who knows! That’s the beauty of sea days when it’s gorgeous outside (well – gorgeous being relative – it was actually way hot – so hot that a couple days I barely went out in the sun).
We’re on land now, and it’s a ½ and ½ day. Partly cloudy with brief little rain showers and partly sunny. But there is an awesome trade wind that keeps everything cool. We’re taking a tour (horrors!) – it’s a mountain biking tour with a beach stop – we figured – what the heck? We really didn’t want to rent a car again, and couldn’t think of anything else to do. We tried to see if we could rent bikes on our own, but that entailed getting ourselves to Marigot – and that was just too much of a hassle. So, ship’s tour, here we come.
Turned out to be a good decision – we only had 8 on the tour – a nice little group and it was fun. We got a tour of the island on our way to Marigot, then a pretty rugged bike tour. Really mountain biking – off road, through this teeny tiny trail cut through the scrub brush – weeds, grass and brambles swatting your legs and arms. Plus the added adventure of avoiding cow pile hazards everywhere. Man - those things can relieve themselves! Those piles were HUGE. We swore they were elephant dung piles! It really was a fun ride – and it was beautiful up inn the hills overlooking the bays.
Back on the pavement we cycled out toward the old sugar plantations to the base of the tallest mountain on the island. Very peaceful and lush – oh and hot. It’s heating up – when the sun comes out, you truly don’t want to be anywhere around, that’s for sure. We coasted all the way back downhill to Friar’s Bay Beach, where we had a welcome beverage and had ½ hour to swim. We waded around in the water to cool off, but didn’t go all the way in. Wasn’t worth getting wet and trying to dry off or change at that point – we weren’t all that sweaty. Drank our beer in the shade of a huge porch at the Friar’s Bay Beach club bar – really nice little place to relax and stare at the turquoise Caribbean waters.
Hopped back in the bus to go back to the ship. Got the rest of the island tour, past Orient Beach and the salt pond and then to Phillipsburg. We opted to get out in town and wander around. It’s easy to explore Phillipsburg – there are really only 2 main streets: Front street and Back street. That’s it, pretty simple! I like wandering without maps! We hit some of the souvenir shops, tried the Guavaberry liquor, the only thing actually made on St. Maarten, then walked down the beach side promenade for a while. By this time, though, it’s getting brutally hot with the sun out. We decided to duck into a bar for refreshments and chose the Blue Bitch Bar. The t-shirts say it’s “a great place to hang out when you’re in heat”. If they didn’t cost $25, I’d have bought one! Beer was cold, had Nachos to put something in our stomach – they were pretty good (hey, the starvation diet starts on Thursday – so live it up now!).
As the sun started to sneak up on us through the slats in the shutters, we made our way out of the bar and back onto the shady side of Front Street. As we were walking past one of the hundreds of jewelry sotre tha line the street, we saw the remnants of a smash and run! Glass all over the floor, display in shambles and a hammer laying right there on the floor as well. Can’t imagine anyone with enough gonads to do a smash and run right there in broad day light! On such a small island! But – there you have it. Pretty odd.
Had another beer and some water at another little bar on Front Street. It was completely in the shade, which was our criteria! Stocked up our onboard mini-bar and headed back to the ship. It’s really not a bad little walk, maybe 15 minutes on sidewalks. Walked off some of the excesses from the day and hopped back on the ship. It was so hot on the way back that we actually went upstairs and got in the pool! That’s how brutal the day had become! The pool was great – nice and refreshing and not a lot of people up there. A great end to our day!
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