Paradise Lost

Well, it's not really lost, we just left it behind on Saturday afternoon. We had an absolutely BLISSFUL, peaceful, WONDERFUL week in St. Maarten. Blessed beyond belief by the accommodations.




What I thought was going to be a hotel room was actually a 1 bedroom, 2 luxurious bathroom, full kitchen, dining room seating 6, 2 pullout sofas with room for 6 total, 2 balconies looking out over the aquamarine sea, washer/dryer extravaganza. The bedroom's bathroom even had a jetted jacuzzi tub for 2. I am not one who is usually impressed by "things", but my mouth dropped when I walked in and saw it wasn't a hotel room and my socks were knocked off. It was probably the size of our first apartment.





I'm just going to go through things, day by day, for the most part.
We arrived late, it was tough getting through immigration. Several flights came in at once and they weren't prepared for all of the people for just 3 immigration officers. By the time we got out of the airport, it was dark. We got a rental car and headed to the hotel (see above jaw dropping moment). We met the hotel cats. 9 of them showed up on our balcony and one of them befriended Hannah (they were all ferral and didn't want to be touched except this one). She looked just like our cat Mini who ran away when we took our first cruise to St. Maarten.


Sunday we went to Philipsburg, which is the capital of the Dutch side and the main shopping area most of the people go to when they get off the cruise ships. Had lunch, looked around a bit, then went back to the hotel, played on the beach, snorkled.














Monday we went to Marigot, the capital of the French side and did a lot of the same. We hiked up one of the "hills"? and visited Fort St. Louis and were treated by gorgeous views in every direction from this old fort. We had dinner in Maho which is closer to the airport and has a casino (didn't go to the casino though).





Tuesday Hannah and I participated in a tree top adventure with an obstacle course of high wires, rope bridges and zip lines in the forest. Keith filmed and snapped pictures safely from the ground below. I definitely got my workout for the week and was aching the next day or two, but was proud of myself for being able to do it all.



Later we let Hannah go for a solo ride on the beach with a guide on horseback. In groups they only let the riders go as much, as fast, etc as the slowest most inexperienced rider, so by doing the solo ride, she was able to canter, gallop, and swim with her horse in the ocean. Keith and I weren't able to keep up on foot to get photos, but the look on her face as she returned to the stable spoke volumes. We had dinner in a very quaint, sweet restaurant in Marigot called La Vie en Rose and it was great. Hannah discovered a new love for chocolate mousse and when she enjoyed that so much, our awesome server presented her with a chocolate crepe (gratis) for her to try as well. She ate almost the whole thing. He told her they make their own chocolate there, not like that Nesquick stuff, all spoken with his lofty French accent, lol.



At our server's recommendation, we headed to the island of Anguilla on a ferry the following day. We were not disappointed, the beach our taxi driver dropped us off at was AMAZING, like something from a post card.
Soft sand beaches and the most clear light aqua colored water I've ever seen. It was overcast and even started to drizzle at some point, but we stayed 3 hours until the taxi driver came back looking for us as he promised. The hotel had crab races at the bar/restaurant that night and Hannah's crab came in 5th. A parrot wandered up and climbed up the back of her chair at dinner, then went on to a railing and drank sips of water from a patron's cup. We fell asleep watching all of the Christmas animated classic kids' shows.

On Christmas day, we had some rain. Keith and Hannah went out to the beach anyway, but returned when thunder and lightning started up. We hung out in the room with Suzie (the name of the cat that looked like Mini) and eventually headed out in search of lunch when the water was turned off to our room because the storm made a pipe burst. Oddly enough, McDonald's was open.
The weather cleared up and gave way to a hike up to Ft. Amsterdam just up the walk from our hotel, more beach time, then Christmas dinner at the hotel restaurant. In the picture of Hannah and Keith in the water at sunset, you can see where our room was. It was the farthest to the right at the point where the little part of the land jutted out over the rocks.


Saturday it was time to go! In one of the shops at the airport, we saw Swarovski being advertised and stopped in. They had a leftover hedgehog from 2005 and we got an awesome price for him. Hannah and I were both so excited. They stopped making them before she started collecting and he was still "brand new" and beautiful. Because of the terrorist attempt on Christmas day, all flights from foreign countries entering the US were subject to heightened security measures and therefore we were stalled almost 2 hours while everyone's carry ons were inspected by hand and everyone was patted down just prior to leaving the gate to board the plane. I was happy to be safe than sorry, but it was hot waiting and poorly organized. One woman behind me just complained and griped the whole time, but I didn't see how that was of any help. The flight itself was smooth and we were home and through customs quite easily.


We ate outdoors almost every meal and were treated to beautiful weather for the most part. The only time that the weather was a deterrent was on Christmas morning, but it wasn't for long.

We let Hannah open her Christmas gifts when we got home Saturday night and she was really excited by the few things she received. A big box of Reese's peanut butter cups, a game for the Wii, a couple of Swarovski pieces for her collection, a flat iron for her hair, and a puzzle type/brain teaser game. After that, we opened the Christmas crackers just for the heck of it and were disappointed by the junk that came in them, lol. I actually just picked some up on sale yesterday and am thinking that we will open them on New Year's Eve just because we all felt so gypped the other day.

I got a new bracelet that has collectible beads on it. I told Keith that I wanted something that I could add to instead of a t shirt or something like that. I got a bead that says St. Maarten on it and two glass ones. We let Hannah pick out two beads to add to the bracelet until I get a few more so it wasn't as naked and told her we'd get her a bracelet later on when she had some more and we could split the beads. I didn't want to buy them all at once, I really want to just do them one at a time for special stuff and they aren't expensive. I guess if I bought a full bracelet, that would be another story, but the beads, one at a time, are about the cost of a t shirt or another souvenir.