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!

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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!

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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. 😉

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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.