St. Maarten Vacation, Day 8

Well, all good things must come to an end. Today was our final day in St. Maarten with Abigail. She took Susan, Hillary, and me back to the airport in the morning and Suzanna in the afternoon.

But first she took us all to a restaurant called the Réveil Matin (French for "alarm clock") for breakfast. We had delicious crêpes (cue the "This tastes like crêpe!" jokes). And then we headed to the airport to unload our luggage and clutch each other, hugging and crying until we could sense the airport parking monitors coming our way to shoo Abigail out of the drop-off zone.

Susan, Hillary, and I are spending the night in Dallas, Texas, before our morning flight to Bismarck, North Dakota. Suzanna's overnight stay is in Boston, Massachusetts, before she flies from there to Nashville, Tennessee, in the morning. I can hear the New Year's Eve fireworks outside our hotel room window right now. 10, 9, 8, 7 ...

Happy new year to you all!

(Click on any photo to enlarge it.)

Look at those fancy coffees!

After dropping Susan, Hillary, and me off at the airport, Suzanna had a little time before her own flight ... so she enjoyed another French pastry (that Susan and I had ordered but left behind--we were too full) while catching some rays on Abigail's apartment rooftop.

Boston is an hour ahead of Dallas, so Suzanna already rang in the new year. She shared some pics of the fireworks over Boston Harbor.

St. Maarten Vacation, Day 7

Happy birthday to Suzanna! In lieu of a birthday cake, Suzanna had a birthday pastry ... back to Jule's, the French pastry shop near Abigail's apartment.

Then we went to Simpson Bay (the Dutch side of the island) and the Sint Maarten Yacht Club there, where we boarded a boat with Boomerang Boat Charters. From 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., our captain and crew took us into the Caribbean Sea to voyage along the west, north, and east coasts of the main island with a few stops along the way (all on the French side of the island):

• at Creole Rock (a small island) to snorkel and explore the reef
• at Tintamarre Island to snorkel and swim with the green turtles
• at Pinel Island to feed the giant iguanas
• at Long Bay to jump off the roof of the boat and play in the water

Throughout the day, they served us tropical cocktails. Midday they grilled shrimp skewers and chicken kebabs for our meal (and for dessert served birthday brownies!). And we lay out on the front of the boat for the long ride back from Pinel Island to Long Bay, drowsing in the sun and blinking the occasional sprays of salt water out of our eyes. So relaxing!

In the evening, we went into Maho (adjacent to Cupecoy, where Abigail lives on the Dutch side) and had Mexican food for supper at Three Amigos. Then we enjoyed some of the nightlife of that area (albeit a little quieter than usual with the university students out of town for winter break), including drinks at a karaoke place called The Saint Dive Bar and at another place called the Hole in the Wall, where a musician performed an Elton John song and got the girls to join several other women on stage to sing backup!

(Click on any photo to enlarge it.)

A French pastry made by a pastry chef who actually is French? Magnifique!

The girls snorkeling at Creole Rock.

Abigail snorkeling out where we saw green turtles surfacing for air while Suzanna and Hillary hang out with me (a non-swimmer) near the boat.

Suzanna with a bite of her birthday brownie!

The requisite family photo in the elevator at Abigail's apartment. Off to supper!

Tasty food and a cool vibe with the decor ... and a fitting backdrop for these three! 💗💗💗

Suzanna did not actually know the song that the girls were called onstage to help sing ... so note her conferring with her sisters for a crash course on the lyrics!

St. Maarten Vacation, Day 6

Today we spent some time walking around the island's two capital cities. In Marigot, capital of the French side, we had some fresh pastries at a pâtisserie ("pastry shop" looks/sounds fancier in French), explored some shops, and wandered through the food stands set up in the market on the waterfront.

Outside Philipsburg, capital of the Dutch side, we spent more time than anticipated at Parotte Ville, a bird sanctuary where we got to observe and feed--and get perched upon (and pooped on) by--many exotic breeds of tropical birds, including varieties of parakeets, cockatiels, and parrots. We didn't want to leave because it was fun to coax the birds to come and eat out of our hands and to watch them interact with each other.

In downtown Philipsburg, we ate at Marabou Creole, enjoying a Haitian meal that included an okra and goat stew, fried plantains, and potato salad with beets. Then we walked the boardwalk along the waterfront and soaked in the sun.

In the evening we had appetizers and cocktails at Bamboo House, a restaurant at the top of a hillside in Cole Bay (on the Dutch side). The place is a restored 19th-century colonial sugar mill with reflecting pools, a stage for live music, and dining tables all on an outdoor terrace that overlooks the lagoon in Simpson Bay below. The sun was just setting as we sat by the edge of the terrace, enjoying the views and the warm night.

Then we drove into Simpson Bay to have supper at Skip Jack's, a seafood restaurant on the opposite side of the lagoon from Bamboo House. Another delicious meal in a place set up for open-air dining, as are most places here. Temperatures drop from the mid-80s by day to the upper-70s by night, so it is quite a burden to be outdoors here in the evening. 😉

(Click on any photo to enlarge it.)

We seized a photo opp near the waterfront in Marigot. (SXM is the international airport code for St. Maarten.)

By the way, in that photo of Suzanna, the bird on her hand pecked at the power button on her phone case until it actually removed the button and flew away with it!

Can you spot the goat?

The Bamboo House terrace.

The requisite family photo on the terrace.

Individual portrait poses on the terrace.

St. Maarten Vacation, Day 5

Today was spent mostly in Saint-Martin, the French side of the island. We went to Loterie Farm, a misleadingly named private nature reserve in Rambaud. Loterie Farm offers adventures (like hiking trails and zip lines) and relaxation (like a restaurant and swimming pool). We did a little of each!

First Abigail drove us as close as possible to the top of Pic Paradis (French for "Paradise Peak"), the highest mountain on the island. We hiked the rest of the way up and enjoyed the serene setting and the incredible views, not only of the island but also of the ocean and some neighboring islands in the distance, including Anguilla to the north and Saint-Barthélemy (a.k.a. "St. Barts") to the southeast.

Then we returned to the vehicle and drove onto Loterie Farm's main grounds, where we had a day-long rental of a poolside cabana at their "Jungle Pool" area. We swam, we napped, we read our Christmas Eve books, we ate, we drank champagne ... it was heavenly.

For supper, we picked up takeout from Chef India, an Indian restaurant between Abigail's apartment and the medical school. We got several dishes to share and thought everything was absolutely delicious. We remained at her dining room table to play card games into the night. A great day!

(Click on any photo to enlarge it.)

One view from the top of Pic Paradis.

The requisite family photo from atop Pic Paradis.

The view from inside our private cabana looking out at the Jungle Pool.

The champagne that was the first thing brought to us upon our arrival!

The array of appetizers that we shared for our poolside meal.

The requisite family photo at/in the Jungle Pool.

St. Maarten Vacation, Day 4

Today started with a trip to the beach (of course) but otherwise mostly revolved around food (not surprising for Mobergs).

We ate midday at the Greenhouse Restaurant and Bar in Simpson Bay on the Dutch side of the island. It is right on the beach, so we were in the mood for seafood and had some tasty dishes, like shrimp with bang bang sauce and even Caribbean conch made into spicy fritters.

Not too far from there, we later took a tour of Topper's Rhum Distillery. We sampled many (very tiny portions, actually) of their flavors of rum, made right on site. They also make gelato, which of course we had to sample, too.

Then we stocked up on groceries and enjoyed seeing the tropical fruits and vegetables and unusual meats and other foods available there.

Our evening meal was at Fat Tony's Smokehouse, a restaurant right next to Abigail's apartment in Cupecoy on the Dutch side. There was live music featuring a vocalist and a steel drum player!

(Click on any photo to enlarge it.)

This has been a typical sight for us at the beach near Abigail's apartment: the girls in the water, boats nearby, incoming planes overhead, and lots of sun and blue skies.

Family photo at the Greenhouse. Notice that Hillary and Abigail's chairs are about two feet away from the sand of the beach!

In this room at Topper's, an employee shared with us a history of their business specifically and of the island's rum industry overall. She also told us that we clearly are related to one another!

The employee asked for volunteers to help serve rum and food samples for one stage of the tour ... so we volunteered Abigail.

Hillary and I are pretending to pose for a photo at supper, but really Susan wanted a photo of the steel drum player behind us.

St. Maarten Vacation, Day 3

A few yards away from Abigail's apartment building is a French pastry shop called Jule's, where we had fresh pastries for breakfast. Then she took us on a driving tour of the island. The southern third is Sint Maarten, a Dutch country that is one of four comprising the kingdom of the Netherlands. The northern two-thirds is Saint-Martin, an overseas "collectivity" of the republic of France. They share the same island of Saint Martin. Got that?!

Abigail's apartment, her medical school, and the island's international airport are on the Dutch side. However, traveling to the French side to look around was easy because the border between countries requires no stops or customs check-ins--it is like driving across state borders in the U.S.A. And the entire island is just 34 square miles.

English is widely spoken on both sides of the border. We did overhear some people speaking French in Saint-Martin, but we have heard no Dutch at all spoken in Sint Maarten. Also, although the euro is the official currency of Saint-Martin (and France), and the Netherlands Antilles florin is the official currency of Sint Maarten (whereas the Netherlands itself uses the euro), the American dollar is accepted across the island. In fact, on the Dutch side, businesses list their prices first in the dollar and second in the florin!

(Click on any photo to enlarge it.)

This is Bell's Lookout Point on Cole Bay Hill with a flagpole flying the national flag of Sint Maarten. At the base of the hill is a statue of William Henry Bell, Jr., whose family once owned this plot of land.

A view from atop Cole Bay Hill. By the way, in the center of the photo are two tall apartment buildings that are located near Abigail's medical school and her own apartment.

We toured the ruins of Fort Amsterdam outside Philipsburg, the capital city on the Dutch side. We got rained on a lot, so not many photos of the fort itself ... but the ladies did pose for a pic during a pause in precipitation.

We also toured the ruins of Fort Louis in Marigot, the capital city on the French side.

I won a game of king of the hill, clearly.

We ate at the Sunset Beach Bar on Maho Beach. The restaurant is situated at the end of the airport runway, so it is a prime spot for viewing low-flying incoming planes as they appear to be just a hand's reach overhead!

And, of course, another trip to the beach to frolic in the ocean.

We ended the day with a video call with extended family! My sister Cathy (upper left) was in the Mountain time zone; my sister Sandy and our dad (third row) were in the Central time zone; and the rest of us were in the Atlantic time zone ... three hours later than Cathy. Makes it tricky to schedule a call!

St. Maarten Vacation, Day 2

Merry Christmas from the warm and sunny Caribbean island nation of St. Maarten! It is over 100° warmer here than back home in southwest North Dakota, and we are not sad to be missing out on the typical white Christmas. (Well, the clouds in the clear-blue sky are white. The sand on the beach is white. The foam on the waves in the ocean is white. Our sun-starved Scandinavian skin is white.)

After we had eaten brunch and opened Christmas presents, Abigail took us to her medical school and gave us a tour of some of the buildings and classrooms where she learns. Later we went to the beach (about a five-minute walk from Abigail's apartment) and frolicked in the water and drank margaritas on our beach blanket.

Our family usually makes a Nordic meal for our Christmas Eve supper. However, because yesterday was a travel day for most of us, we delayed that until this evening instead. We were all "cozy" working together in Abigail's apartment-sized kitchen!

(Click on any photo to enlarge it.)

Brunch ... notice the pastry dough laid out in the shape of a Christmas tree!

Family selfie outside Abigail's apartment.

A couple views of what Abigail experiences every day when she goes to class.

Family selfie inside the rotunda of one of the buildings on campus.

Family selfie on Mullet Bay Beach.

Scandinavian supper: Norwegian meatballs and gravy; mashed potatoes and carrots with nutmeg; peas with dill, pimento, and cheese; sliced cucumbers in a lemon/dill sauce with shallots; and wine.

And dessert: "lemon-scented" rice pudding with raspberry sauce.