Back to St. Maarten

[roz]

Oh, do I need a vacation! I don't care what the weather is. I need to be away from work! And DH needs to put on some pounds--he's starting to look like our patients.

I'll be back on the 15th unless my boss allows me to stay in FLL for my employee's Naturalization ceremony on the 15th. It's a really big thing. She applied two years ago when eligible and was told she needed to wait another two years. The problem was that her husband was finishing up his masters in engineering and only had one year of training time on his Visa. So, last Sept, he had to leave the USA and go back to England. As soon as she is a citizen, she can bring him over with his own green (which is not green) card.

[spotty4]

Have a great trip. Go unwind!

My husband got his time off for early November. We'll head down to St Maarten then for a belated honeymoon. Now we just need to get on the ball and start making arrangements!

[CLErocks]

Have fun!!

[Brenda]

Hope you have fun!!!! Eat and relax!

[Kristie]

Have a great time!!!!

btw, where are you two staying at? do you always stay at the same location?

[roz]

We're staying in the Simpson Bay area at the Flamingo Beach--in the villas. It's convenient in Simpson Bay--scuba dive shop is right there and there are lots of good places to eat. My favorite jeweler is right there too!

[Kristie]

that sounds LOVELY!!

and charlie can do all the diving he wants which i know he loves....will you go diving with him?

[AnnaRose]

Roz- Be sure to take the ferry over to Anguilla. The beach was so beautiful. It was extremely private, they set up cabanas for you and you can snorkel right off of the beach. This beach was voted #1 by Travel Channel in 2005. Anyway, we went 2 years ago and had a great time. Enjoy!!

[spotty4]

My husband and I took the plunge and made our belated honeymoon arrangements. We'll be heading to St. Maarten in early November. That's right at the tail end of hurricane season. I work for NOAA w/ a bunch of other meteorologists, so believe me, I will be keeping a watchful eye over the Carribbean this hurricane season. We hope the island stays pretty and intact for our visit. *fingers crossed*

But in the mean time, its tough to sit back and wait wait wait, knowing we've already dropped the money. We booked confirmed seats -- a honeymoon is too important to gamble w/ nonreving.

We don't have any major events planned. We really just hope to do absolutely nothing -- no schedules, no rushing, just relaxing. But 4 days of nothing may get boring. So if you know of anything that you think is a must do, by all means, I'd love to hear about it.

Oh, and currency ... the French side uses the Euro and the Dutch side uses the Guilder? Should we exchange our dollars for the local currency? Will they take dollars? Should we just use credit cards?

[roz]

Hi,

You will have fun. The Dutch side takes the US dollar for everything. You can pay with dollars or charge it. The French side is Euros, but most merchants take credit cards or traveler's cheques.

Where are you staying?

If you want a fabulous day, sail on the Random Wind. Random Wind / A Caribbean Sailboat on the island St. Maarten My DH is on picture 12 and 13 from June 9th helping a 75 year old Psychiatrist who had a hip replacement two weeks prior jump off the ship! We had such fun that day! It's a great day--you get breakfast at Ric's, lunch and snacks on the boat and all you can drink. You get a great sail and two snorkeling stops. And the company is the best!

My two favorite restaurants in Simpson Bay are Halsey's and Saratoga. All the restaurants add in the tip, so you don't have to add on. Skipjacks is also good.
Halsey's Restaurant Splash Page (Simpson Bay, St Maarten), call 599 544-2882
Saratoga Restaurant - Home
SkipJack's - Fresh seafood on the lagoon in Simpson Bay, St Maarten: Splash Page
This is also nice and there is a Red Piano Bar a few steps away to extend the night: Hideaway Bar and Restaurant Website

We tend to cook a lot too as we have a full apartment where we stay. So we go grocery shopping at the Grand Marche.

A lot of places are closed on Sunday--including the Grand Marche! If you get stuck there is a store right by Maho Beach at the end of the runway that is open on Sunday. But, again, I don't know where you are staying to direct you.

Things to explore:

http://www.geographia.com/st-martin/smpnt01.htm I climbed it--I'm told you can't any longer.

http://www.fodors.com/world/caribbea...iew-94700.html The Loterie Farm is nice for lunch!

http://www.roughguides.com/website/t...353417440_0525

http://www.stmartin-sxm.com/sxm/pages/pic-paradis.php

And, if you're an airplane geek, you can get a drink at Maho Beach and watch the planes land and take off.

I don't know if you dive or not. The best dive shop is Ocean Explorers out of Simpson Bay.