St. Maarten
In July, our Wanita group organized a trip down to St. Maarten.
I went first to Washington DC to meet up with Ross, Kari, and Richard and stayed with Ms. Rhonda for the 4th of July, then travelled out the morning of the 5th for SXM.
In DC I saw Amanda waiting for her flight and in Charlotte, I saw the entire Soule` croud who were on the same flight with me!
Ms. Rhonda travelled down earlier that day as well as Ms. Hummer. When we arrived at the airport, Liz and Judy were there to meet us all!
They had already picked up Rhonda and Lowell and taken them to the resort.
We had 12 people to somehow get to the resort with their luggage. Bob and Andy went to rent a car.
Trish, Jess, Helen, Nicki, Matt, and Judy all piled into Judy's car and headed back.
Liz, Steve, and I went up to the bar to wait on Amanda to get through customs.
It was a great vantage point to see as she came out and we called out her name a few times - with good fun - until she found us!
We were able to play the same game with Andy when he got back!
Very strategically, we were all able to load into the car with Amanda and Liz in the front passenger seat and Steve, Andy and I in the back! Bob is a great island driver and we were able to spot Judy on her way back and wave her down so that she knew we had everyone!
We all made it back to the resort and what beautiful rooms!
We spent the first day exploring the area and getting settled into the rooms. Judy made dinner for us all and it was great to have everyone together!
Total, we had 15 people in our group split up between 3 condos.
Our activity itinerary looked something like this:
Sat. arrival
Sun. shopping Phillipsburg
Mon. we went down to Sunset bar to see the flights coming in
Tues. we went on another shopping adventure to the French side while the boys went on a deep sea fishing adventure
That night Amanda, Liz, Jess, and Bob went horseback riding for the sunset while I did the photographic hike
Wed. morning Amanda, Trish, Matt and Jess went scuba diving and they went to another place for dinner near the airport.
Thurs. we went back to Phillipsburg for a farewell dinner - what a great looking group we had, take our word, none of us took a picture.
Fri. Andy, Nicki, Trish, Steve, Matt, and Jess left
Sat. we all had to go back home again
Our second day, Sunday, we set out to do grocery shopping in the morning and then on an adventure to see Phillipsburg and see some shops that afternoon.
At the grocery store, Amanda really enjoyed the cheese section and I especially like the fruit juice area - with things like Lychee nectar and yummy juices to mix with the rum, we made some great fruity drinks!
A disclaimer should be entered at this point that Jessica did help with taking some of the pictures, especially from the car, in the Phillipsburg market and then again at the Sunset beach bar!
Thank you Jessica!
Even the drive back to the resort was a scenic one!
Monday we loaded everyone up for a trip to the Sunset bar along the beach at Maho bay for the sunset and to see the planes landing. We all had fun watching the planes come in and Andy was our token sacrifice to stand behind a jet taking off to inhale the jet exhaust and experience the sandblast!
Princess Juliana Airport
Welcome to St. Maarten
Sunset Beach bar
That night, we stayed in Maho for dinner and each group found a different place to experience their evening. Amanda, Ms. Rhonda, Liz, Ms. Hummer and I ended up choosing The Purple French restaurant.
We enjoyed the presentation especially, starting with the French onion soup and complete with our waiter's delivery of the cute dishwasher in the red shirt!
He apparently prefers other boys, but we enjoyed our dessert none the less! What a time we had there laughing and just enjoying ourselves!
On Tuesday, we took another shopping trip to the French side while the boys did their deep sea fishing trip. I especially enjoyed seeing the fresh fruit and spices on display
We enjoyed a great lunch at a little pizzeria with a great view and really delicious food!
Judy had her hair done by the French man and so did most of the rest of us, it was nice to be pampered for a bit, but it definitely made a difference to feel much cooler as we headed home with our new hairdos.
That night, Amanda, Liz, Jess, and Bob went on a sunset horseback ride complete with a very brief walk in the water, but the path was easy and the view was nice.
The horses were not in the best of health, I think because of the scarcity of grass. It was really amazing to me to see all of the cacti in the area, they were everywhere and I don't usually think of a cactus being a tropical plant.
Before our first half left on Friday, we all got together for a farewell photo on the lawn.
These nighttime photos didn't all turn out the best, but the resort felt very safe at night in the public areas and the lights added a lot to the different plants and palms around.
With Saturday being our last day, I ran around to take some final photos before it was time to check out! The fort located on the property was definitely worth the quick hike up, and Fort Amsterdam information signs were quite interesting and thorough. Again, a lot of cacti present which I think added a lot to the natural defenses of the fort.
The grounds were very nicely maintained with a lot of plants and flowers around.
There were also a few lizards and the pet birds, but no pictures of those.
A lot of stray cats and dogs were present on the island and there were some chickens and roosters at the fort that I think some of the workers doing the renovations have been feeding and the cats have been eating with time.
Fort Amsterdam
With an early check out time from the resort, we ended up with extra time to do some airport shopping.
I enjoyed the chocolate shop with chocolate planes and just beautifully packaged treats!
Farewell to St. Maarten, I definitely would say that it was a most enjoyable trip with our group!
Thanks for visiting!
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