First Week in St. Maarten

Time flies...as it usually does when you are having a blast. Our arrival in St. Maarten was uneventful but when we returned to the airport to pick up Clayton and Bryna, I turned into a sobbing mess. It was just overwhelmingly great to see them, to have someone to talk to (other than each other) and to see a couple of very close friends from "home". Any way, once we got them to the villa, the fun began, and it didn't stop for the next 7 days! Here is a synopsis of our week...

Saturday- After settling in, we went to Jimbos for dinner and had a fabulous meal and a few extra delicious Margaretta's!

Sunday- We spent a good part of the day at Baie Longue and Plum Bay swimming and playing in the surf. Dinner was at Pineapple Petes! After dinner we went to a new club in Simpson Bay called Prive and indulged in my first Hooka....awesome!

Monday- Spent the day in Phillipsburg and then had dinner at the villa.

Tuesday- This day was a mess. In the morning we found out someone had stolen the Chelmo's check card number and spent a good part of the morning contacting the bank, the store where we were sure the theft occurred and , finally, the police. In the afternoon, we went to Simpson Bay Beach and tried to relax a while. We returned home to shower and go to Grand case for the Tuesday night parade and street fair, when we discovered an entire bag of Jeff's watches were missing. We assumed they had been stolen but continued with our plans for the night. After getting home, our housekeeper called and informed us she had moved the bag/watches and hidden them "for us". Thanks.

Wednesday- Spent the afternoon in Marigot then returned to Grand Case for dinner on the beach at Calmo Cafe. We then drove back to Simpson Bay and hit up two local beach bars....The Buccaneer and La Bamba.

Thursday- Beach day at Happy Bay, dinner at the villa and Maho for some shopping and cocktails at Sky Beach.

Friday- Sailed the Bluebeard to Anguilla for the day. Dinner at Lee's.

Saturday- Bryna and I did a little more last minute shopping in Marigot and Simpson Bay. Lunch at Topper By The Sea and then we were forced to drop our buddies off at the airport. Jeff and I sat at the Marina Bar so we could see them fly overhead then had a late dinner at Skipjacks.

Today, Jeff and I tried to pretend it was really the first day of our "normal" St. Maarten vacation and spent the morning trying to convince ourselves we had just arrived! We went to Karacter Beach Bar for a Sunday morning beach drink then headed to our fav spot on Simpson Bay Beach for some sun and fun. The waves were quite huge today and with Simpson Bay being all sand (no rocks) we indulged in some great body surfing. After a nap in the sun and a corona, I headed back to the water for one more session. About 10 minutes in, I got hit by the wave of all waves and it face planted me in the sand bottom the ripped me up and over. I must have looked like a pretzel for a moment. All the while, I thought about the fact that I was now going to be a quadriplegic since I heard I big snap in my neck and excruciating pain. I managed to get to my knees (body function...yeah!) and crawl to shore. Not a great experience and really quite scary. That'll teach me!

Tonight we had a great salad at the villa and watched the sun set over Simpson Bay. A night of rest and (for me) recuperation. Tomorrow ????