Two names, two distinct personalities, two nationalities, one island: Sint Maarten/Saint Martin. The island was divided in 1648 by the Treaty of Concordia. What a wonderful island it is! Sint Maarten, the Dutch (southern) side, has most of the resorts, pedestrian-friendly walkabouts, and shopping. Saint Martin (the northern side) has the French cuisine and lots of natural, undeveloped beauty. Together, they make for a great leisure experience. We had only ever been here, for a day at a time, on three different cruises. The day trips achieved their purpose of giving us a taste of the island activities, and wanting more. So we have been here for two weeks, taking it all in.
Not surprisingly, most of our photos are of the waters of the Caribbean, along with beaches and boats. Our days of leisure have been taken up with walks, lounging on the beach, scuba diving, and rides around the entire island. Speaking of riding around, we beg to differ with the island’s designation as The Friendly Island. While everyone, indeed, is very welcoming, we have been stuck in loads of traffic, and we have renamed it The Congestion Island. Traffic creeps along on two-lane roads. A three-mile trip can take 30-40 minutes. Somebody told us, “Oh, that is because of the bridge.” There is one road that has a bascule, or moving bridge, over a gap between Simpson Bay Lagoon and Simpson Bay. Seven times a day, it rises to the allow boats to pass through and stops traffic to do so. But traffic is stop-and-go in some areas not really affected by the bridge, so we think the problem is that the roads were never widened once the tourism boom took off. It is agonizing to just sit in traffic. So, we didn’t drive very much, and have just enjoyed the area where our hotel is situated.
Mike went diving on three different days, seeing some gigantic lobsters in shipwrecks as well as scorpion fish. One day, the divers were followed around by 7-8 barracuda. An underwater helicopter wreck (with the blades still intact!) provided an intriguing, and different, site to explore. The water was cool, but warm enough for a “shorty” wetsuit, and visibility was mostly pretty good, even on a day when it rained.
Some of the restaurants we visited were very good, and some not quite so. The one that stands out is Reveil Matin, a breakfast/lunch restaurant owned and managed by an American man, Daniel. He was ever-present whenever we ate there. The interesting and varied menu is one you might expect in Manhattan or Los Angeles, so it was fun to explore different tastes and some out-of-the-box combinations. And, speaking of restaurants, we ran into one very weird thing, the reason for which we can only guess at. The McDonald’s restaurants on the Dutch side were open all day, every day. But while driving on the French side, we wanted to stop for a soda. When we got to McDonald’s – get this – it is closed every – are you ready? – Friday, Saturday, and Sunday! Why? We suspect that it is forced to do so, so as not to compete with the more expensive, locally-owned restaurants during the busiest days.
As you can see from our heading, we are two days away from 3,000 days of homelessness. We are still enjoying our lifestyle tremendously and feel like we are learning so much about the world and its different cultures. It is amazing to have this life, for as long as we can do it. In an article in the New York Times this week, we read an article about people working in Dubai. One interview was with a woman from Kinshasa who received her law degree in Dubai and is employed with a prestigious law firm there. She was unsure whether she would stay there forever. Her quote is one that we love: “Maybe the future is just participation, not belonging. Maybe we are done putting down roots and will just keep moving.” – Laureen Fredah
Another comment on the same subject: we watch a movie on our iPad together almost every night. While we were here, we watched The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952, before either of us was born). We were laughing as the Hemingwayesque character played by Gregory Peck was telling his wife, played by Ava Gardner, that he only wanted to travel, while she just wanted him to be “normal,” like her, and live in one place. We were laughing because we have heard that same discussion from other people, sometimes from friends and family, asking why we didn’t just want to be “normal.” Sometimes we have watched that (somewhat sad) discussion between a couple where, like Gregory and Ava, only one of them wanted to act “normal.” We are lucky that both of us are happily abnormal (notice no quotation marks for that one).
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