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Since we couldn't see much from our balcony last night when we arrived, it was pretty nice to wake up and see the wonderful view we had!
The plan for today was to drive around the island and get our bearings. We drove from the airport last night and it was so dark that we couldn’t make out anything. We felt fortunate to have found the condo. Susan and I got up early and went to the French bakery “Bread and Butter'' which is adjacent to the Oasis Restaurant. It’s not a big place but they do have a good assortment of baked goods and wines among other things. What else do you really need? We picked up a variety of great-looking pastries. We brought them back and, paired with strong coffee, made a nice breakfast. Now fortified, we set out to explore.
Our first stop was at Captain Alan’s snorkel shop. We are all going out with his crew tomorrow for a snorkel trip on the east side of the island and wanted to figure out where it was. It was so close that we could have almost walked there. There was a herd of friendly young Dutch people there and ready to go. We continued north along the coast, first coming to Baie de L’Embouchure. It’s a beautiful crescent-shaped bay and a wildlife sanctuary. There were several small boats anchored offshore. There was a para-sailor out in the water flying with the strong winds. I should mention here that the wind blows constantly. It’s just a matter of how hard. The temperature is almost monotonously consistent. The entire time that we were there it was a high of 81 and a low of 78.
Next stop up the road was Orient Bay. The commercial and residential area is known as the New Orleans Quarter. Lots of tiny bars, restaurants, businesses and homes. We understand that there is a beautiful beach there but the road took us away from the shore so we never got to see it. That will be on our itinerary for another time. The roads are very narrow, just barely big enough for two cars to pass. Oncoming cars take as much room as they like and a decent driver swerves to avoid collisions. There are no sidewalks and no shoulders so people walk in the road which adds another level of difficulty. There are feral, but lazy dogs on every corner. If they have the inclination, they seem to be able to negotiate the traffic just fine. On top of that, motorcycles pass slow traffic by driving right down the dividing line on the road dodging oncoming traffic. It keeps you on your toes. Out of the New Orleans Quarter we gained altitude. It wasn’t long until we came upon the small airport and into Grand Case.
We had heard a lot about the row of little restaurants that line the Main Street in Grand Case. The collective name for the restaurants is “The Lolos”. We found a place to park and as luck would have it, we were almost right in front of Cynthia’s, a restaurant that we had heard about on the Traveling Island Girl YouTube channel. She had insisted that you had to have the crab back dish, a specialty of the area. Jean and I had the crab back which is small crab shells scooped out and filled with a seasoned crab mixture. I also had red beans and rice. Clay had a green salad and grilled chicken, Susan had a chayote squash stuffed with crab mix. Cynthia’s is right on the water.
After eating, Clay and I went snorkeling under the adjacent pier. When we first arrived before eating we had walked out on the pier where people were snorkeling with turtles. By the time we got in the water, the turtles were long gone. I did manage to spot two Lionfish just off the tip of the pier. There were also schools of Sergeant Majors around the pilings. Not much else… Still, it was good to get wet and have a brief shakedown before our snorkeling expedition the next day.
Afterward, we went scouting for the road to Pic Paradis, the highest point on the island. We found the Pic Paradis Road and followed it until the pavement got so bad we had to turn back. Feels like we’ll have to park there when we decide to actually make the climb and walk to the top.
Susan’s Comment: We had no food at our condo so we needed the essentials. We decided to stop for groceries. Jean and I went into a very small local market that was stuffed floor to ceiling plus it was pretty dark in there as well so it was hard to make out items on the shelves. The locals who ran the store were all drinking Heineken beer from small bottles, were very welcoming and helpful and spoke great English. They asked us if we were Canadian and I told them they were close — not Canada but Minnesota. We limited our purchase to the necessities: a bottle of wine and breakfast for the next morning: eggs, milk, cheese, syrup.
*A couple of random observations:
- While superficially Saint Martin resembles other Caribbean islands that we have visited, I have been pleasantly surprised at how well it is kept. The most noticeable thing to me has been how clean it is. Unlike Mexico, you don’t see a lot of trash on the roads and almost no trash on the beaches. The infrastructure is good. You can flush toilet paper. You can drink water out of the tap.
- There is a wide deployment of solar panels. As I look over the railing on our porch down to the roof of a huge condo complex next door, the entire roof is covered with solar panels.
- People are relaxed, helpful, and friendly. It’s the little things that make a pleasant stay.
- The weather is relentlessly nice. High of 81 every day, low of 78. There is a constant wind that blows from the east making it very pleasant. When we checked into our place, the A/C was set to 57 degrees! WTF? There are no screens on any doors so that means closed doors and windows and constant A/C. It’s pretty much perfect for a Minnesota boy.
- The ups and downs of the roads put a constant strain on my poor underpowered Nissan Versa. One of two things could easily happen: either I burn up the brakes or the car overheats as we struggle up yet another impossibly vertical climb. Just pray that we can make it a few more days.
Interestingly, there is such an American presence here. The stores are full of American products. Most everybody speaks English. They take American money. Right now below us someone in the distance is singing the top 40 American songs from the past 20 years, one after the other almost on key. The current selection is “Sweet Caroline” and no, I did not sing along.
In our search for a grocery store today we kept passing “supermarkets”. Lest you think that they sell food there, there are usually several huge liquor bottle decals that decorate the exterior of the building of the products that apparently line the shelves.
Went to dinner at Mama’s, a pizza place just up the road. It’s a fun, loud, open-air place with energetic cooks and staff and a charismatic owner who runs the show with a mix of humor, patience and paternal pride. It’s a local hot spot for the snowbirds that winter here. We sat with a long-retired couple from suburban Boston who have been coming to St. Martin for two weeks a year for the past 20 years. His best line was that they take a “Seinfeld” vacation: they do the same things every day- eat in the same restaurants, go to the same beaches, sit in the same beach chairs, etc. He says unsurprisingly, that after two weeks they are ready to come home. We had a nice chat while waiting for our food. That’s another thing about eating out here. Island time. You cannot be in a hurry. It’s not unusual for dinner to take two hours. The pizzas were very tasty. We washed them down with a couple of cold beers and then topped it all off with very nice Crème Brûlées.
The nights in St. Martin are black as ink. We decided to see if we could see some stars so we drove up the road to the overlook that we had visited the day before. The moon was trying to rise but couldn’t clear the clouds on the horizon. We could pick out several constellations and stars but there was just enough haze in the air to keep it from being a brilliant viewing. Still, the temperature was perfect and the breezes cool and refreshing. It was a great way to top off the day.