Sint Maarten is One Giant Dock

posted in: People, St. Martin 0

 

On Tuesday we happily welcomed Greg’s mom Jo Belle and her husband Bill, who will be our guests for three weeks.  The above video was taken of their flight coming in.  We know it was their flight because a planespotter, adorned with no less than 5 cameras, two pairs of binoculars, and a megaphone, announced the airline and flight number as we stood on Maho beach, which happens to be right under the flightpath for arrivals.  We gave him a nod as fellow nerds, our practical sunhats nearly bumping each other.  Do what you love!

Simpson Bay Lagoon looked positively gross watermaker-wise, so to avoid having to clean our filters everyday, we are currently at Porto Cupecoy Marina, which has to be the best marina deal in Sint Maarten.  Access to a pool and grocery store just a five minute walk away?  Oh yeah!

I have to say, Sint Maarten is a complicated place, the French/Dutch split aside.  Supposedly a paradise for boaters, Mel would amend that by calling it a paradise not for sailors but for poweryachters who can afford an $84 USVI courtesy flag at “Budget” Marine.  Sint Maarten gets up to 7 cruise ships a day, which we have learned sucks the life out of a place, so Mel has had to work the hardest here of all of the places they have visited so far at extracting “unique island charm.”

Of course, it would be easier if the Mont Vernon Plantation hadn’t burned down a few years ago, the unfortunate soul who ran Old House hadn’t been shot and killed on the balcony this March, and the museum in Marigot hadn’t disappeared, a la Brigadoon.  Yes, that’s right.  We asked 3 sets of people where the museum was, and all looked at us, confused.  But it’s on the tourist map!  We think we found it, though – see the pic, below.  Dear Fodor’s: Please update your Sint Maarten guide!

In fact, traffic-jammed, noisy, run-down Marigot failed to deliver on the charm it promised until we wandered into the gallery of Sir Roland Richardson, a Gandolfian Dutch knight, finding him teaching some students the elements of his impressionistic painting technique, complete with dramatic glass prism demonstration.  You keep on pulling the painting out of the canvas, Sir Roland!  Sweet, Crazy Old Bat!

We watched the classic movie Captain Ron tonight, which was very inspiring.  Enough of these islands everyone’s heard of!  Let’s go somewhere weird, with a name with indeterminate pronounciation!  Anyone ever heard of Anguilla?

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