They arrived Saturday evening and Mike & I took them to a yummy restaurant near our house. After dinner Mike took them to the casino to hang out for a bit while I went home to study b/c I had Block Exams on Monday. On Sunday, Mike & my parents hiked to the highest point on the island and then went to the Westin for brunch and they spent the day eating delicious food, drinking champagne, and swimming in the pool. I, unfortunately, had to study all day and I was VERY jealous that they got to have so much fun. They came home for dinner & I took a break to join them and then they all headed out to a beach bar to enjoy a beachside bonfire & some beers while I studied :(
On Monday, I had my 3 block exams in the morning and they actually went pretty good considering we had visitors 2 out of the 3 weeks of this block so I was happy! My parents went to the beach by our house in the morning and then we all went to Bay Rouge in the afternoon and I finally got to have some drinks & hang out with my parents! That night we went to a beachside restaurant called Topper's for dinner and then came back to our apartment to have some drinks & watch the NCAA basketball national championship.
On Tuesday, my parents spent the day at the beach while I went to class all day and Mike worked. That night we had my parents over to our apartment and grilled and made hommade pina coladas and they were delicious!! On Wednesday, Mom & Dad spent the day at the beach again while I had class & Mike worked. That night we went back to the Westin (since I had to miss the big brunch on Sunday) for a "Pirate Buffet". We took our time driving to the Westin and took the long way around the island so my parents could see more sights. The dinner was GREAT and it was a poolside buffet with a live band and rum punch and delicious food. They even had a fire breather as entertainment. Now this may sound cool, but it was more funny than anything. I described him at the time as half stripper, half fire breather because he was a creepy middle aged guy that danced around with his shirt off and kept rubbing his belly and OCCASIONALLY would breath some fire....we were all very entertained by the weirdness of it and my mom & I couldn't stop cracking up. Needless to say, we will never forget it because he was so incredibly weird!! :) Overall, dinner was amazing and the Westin is such a beautiful hotel right on the beach....we loved it! And we have Bestemor to thank because for an Easter present, she paid for dinner that night from all the way back in Duluth....thanks Bestemor!!
On Thursday, we went to Philipsburg which is the Dutch side capital. It is a town located on a huge bay (called Great Bay) and it is where the cruise ships all dock. There is a boardwalk along the beach that has tons of great restaurants & shops. A block back from the boardwalk is Front Street & a block back from that is Back Street (clever names, I know!). Both of these streets have tons of shops on them as well. So we spent the morning walking and stopping in the shops & gift stands. Then we went to lunch on the boardwalk and it was great! There was even a guy with a band playing live music and he was really entertaining and even though he looked like he could barely move (he was a local guy with a big belly wearing shorts & a beater) he had the best dance moves EVER! We all agreed he was better than the fire breather from the night before :) After lunch and a few buckets of beer we walked around more on the boardwalk and stopped in more shops & restaurants & my dad bought a REALLY nice camera and got a great deal on it! We got back pretty late from Philipsburg so that night, we decided to cook in & make more pina coladas since we had been out all day!
Friday was my parents' last full day so we decided to take a trip around the island so they could be sure to see everything. First, for breakfast, we brought them to our favorite little French bakery that is right on the lagoon. After that, we drove to what we now call "The Spot" because it has one of our favorite views on the island. There is a lookout where you can see beautiful blue waters with the high hills of the island in the background. The tide was low that day so we got to walk out to an island about 100 yards out from the mainland and it was really cool! After "The Spot", we made our way to Orient Beach which is usually a very good people watching beach with lots of activities like jetskiing, parasailing, etc. and even a nude beach section...haha! But when we got to the beach it was more crowded than we had ever seen in (since it was Good Friday I think) and it was a little too much so we decided to keep making our way around the island and go to a different beach. So we ended up at the beautiful Bay Rouge again. That night, we had planned on showing my parents the joys of Bingo, but unfortunately they had had a special early session since it was Good Friday so we missed it! So instead we went out to dinner and had pizza at one of our favorite bar/restaurants called Lady C's which is an acutal floating boat bar. After dinner we went back to the casino for some slots and drinks. My parents tried their luck at the poker machines while Mike & I played the penny slots. None of us won big except for Mike, who won $20 on the penny slots! And, we met another lurker who was following Mike around and kept wanting to play his machines. Although this guy wasn't as friendly as the old lady lurker that we had met when Jo & Dane & Jen were here...he was just more creepy & smelled like he had been smoking A LOT haha :)
Saturday was the last day before my parents left so we spent the morning at Mullet Beach right by our house and then brought them to the airport and had to say goodbye :( It was so fun to have them here and it makes me already look forward to the next time I get to see them!
After my parents left, Mike & I spent the rest of the day moving to our new apartment. For those of you who didn't know we are moving (well, now moved in) to an apartment that our friends Micah & Katie used to live in before they left the island. It is a really nice place and we love it here...although the whole move turned out to be way more stressful than we thought it would be because the people who had agreed to sublease our old apartment backed out at the very last minute so it looks like we are going to lose our entire deposit on our old place :( ... so sad but what can ya do?
Now this week we have just been finishing up our move and I have been studying a ton b/c my finals are on Monday & Tuesday next week and Mike has been working and training hard for his triathalon! This morning he went on a 2 hour bike ride at 6am...he is so disciplined! Although I can't help but laugh when I see him head out for his bike ride wearing his triathalon shorts (aka fancy spandex) and his helmet...hehehe :)
After my finals next week, we both have some time off from school/work so that will be really nice. And then Mike's parents are coming to visit the week after that and we can't wait! Wow, so many visitors! :) It has been so wonderful to get to see so many people from home over the last month and I can't wait for more to come!!
Miss you all TONS and I promise to catch up on all my phone calls after my finals are done next week!
Love,
Carly & Mike
View from dinner at Topper's
At the Westin Hotel - Hanging out before dinner
Walking out the the island at "The Spot"
The view from the island once we got there
I love reading your blog.....except for I get a little jeolous that you are in such a warm place :).
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