So last Monday, Mike's parents Brian & Martha arrived on the island. They decided to stay in a hotel rather than stay with us in our small apartment for most of the vacation so while looking for hotels, Martha found a great deal on a GORGEOUS condo in a building called the Cliff that is within walking distance of Mike & I and right on the beach. So when they arrived on Monday we went to the Cliff so they could get settled in and just hung out there for the afternoon. That evening we went to a restaurant right on the ocean called the Greenhouse that Mike & I have been meaning to try. It was great!
On Tuesday, we decided to make our way around the island so Brian & Martha could see as much as possible to get a perspective of the whole island. Our first stop was our favorite little French bakery on the lagoon that we bring everyone to...and as always, it was delicious! Next we made our way around and stopped at a very secluded beach called Guana Bay. It faces the Atlantic side and you can see St. Barth's in the distance. We didn't swim or anything because it is a pretty rough & wavy beach but we took some pretty pictures & got to walk in the sand. The next stop was the now infamous "Spot" that has the view of the ocean that Mike & I love. Next, we went to Orient Beach (which is very interesting for people watching) for the afternoon. On the way back around the island we stopped in the town Grand Case and decided to stay for dinner. This town is known for it's restaurants because they are all open air and sit a level over the beach so they all have amazing views. It was a great dinner and Brian & Martha loved the atmosphere and the view!
Wednesday, we took the ferry to St. Barth's for the day. Mike & I had not been there yet ourselves so we were really excited to go as well. The ferry ride took about 40 min and the water was very choppy so it was an interesting ride over. We were on the top deck of the ferry and we all got saltwater baths on the way over...good thing I had my swimsuit already on because we were all pretty soaked by the end! :) St. Barth's was GREAT! We spent the day in the port town of Gustavia and walked through the town looking at shops (Martha bought me a new pair of sandals to replace my old ratty pair...yay!), we stopped at a few waterfront restaurants to have a drink or an appetizer, and we walked to Shell Beach near Gustavia and it had a really neat beach bar. The ferry ride back was much smoother and we arrived back in St. Maarten just before sunset. That night, we stayed in and made dinner at Martha & Brian's condo and just relaxed for the evening! It is kindof funny because we had decided to make hommade pizza for dinner but pizza dough is nowhere to be found on St. Maarten so we ended up buying the dough all the way over in St. Barth's...haha, quite a ways to go for pizza dough...but the pizza was delicious so it was worth it! :)
On Thursday morning, Brian, Mike, & I went deep sea fishing while Martha hung out back at their place at the Cliffs. Deep sea fishing was GREAT and I would definitely do it again. It was just the three of us and our guide, Rudy, a former Belgian that moved to St. Maarten over 25 years ago! Rudy taught us that in deep sea fishing, the secret is to look for 3 things: 1) floating items in the water because they attract fish, 2) little jumping fish because the big fish come to the surface chasing these fish, & 3) birds because they go after the little fish at the surface. Now when he told us to look for birds, we were thinking he meant like 5-10 birds circling an area. Rudy was using his binoculars and said he spotted birds off in the distance that we couldn't see with our blind eye. So, we slowly approached and once we got close, we could see that it was actually hundreds of birds that we were supposed to be looking for, not just 5-10! Wow, it was such an amazing sight! There were literally hundreds of birds (that Rudy called Boobies and Tuna birds) circling and diving into the water and you could actually SEE the smaller fish jumping out of the water. So, after our first pass through this area, we hooked a big fish! Brian jumped in the chair to reel it in (and he had to work hard b/c the fish was really fighting) and then up came a ~20 lb Skipjack Tuna!! After our first big catch we spent the rest of the morning out on the sea and caught a bunch of Bonito fish that were more moderately sized. The only one that I reeled in came in a little too fast and before I knew it, it started heading under the boat and near the prop...boy did I give Rudy a scare because I almost ruined his motor because of my big muscles that reeled the fish in too fast...oops! :) But Rudy took over and nothing got damaged so it was all good in the end, whew, what a relief!! After that, I left the reeling in to Mike & Brian though! After deep sea fishing we spent the rest of the day relaxing by the pool at the Cliffs and then that night we cooked up a big dinner using our freshly caught tuna and it was SO delicious!! And now from our fishing experience, Mike & I have a freezer full of fresh fish and a supply of tuna chowder made by Martha that will last us for quite a while!!
Friday, we brought Mike's parents into Phillipsburg to see the Front & Back street shopping and the boardwalk. We spent the morning shopping around and everyone bought a little something. Then we had a couple of beers and lunch on the boardwalk and had a beautiful view of Great Bay and the cruise ships. That evening, we brought Marth & Brian to our favorite destination...bingo!! Haha :) We had Martha worried that she was a bad luck charm though because no one was winning, and someone always seems to win when we go, but then Mike came through and won $75...yay! So we decided that she & Brian are NOT bad luck charms :) After bingo, we went to dinner at a seafood place called Skip Jack's and it was great!
Saturday we decided to just relax and enjoy the pool & Cupecoy Beach at Brian & Martha's condo. It was a beautiful day and it was so nice just to swim in the pool & the ocean. And, Martha, who doesn't usually swim in the ocean, was in the ocean all day...woohoo Martha! That night, we went to Bamboo Bernie's, an asian restaurant with great food including sushi, fish, ribs, etc. It was so good!
On Sunday, we just had to bring Mike's parents to the Westin for the amazing champagne brunch. It was so good and I think I seriously went into a food coma afterwards! :) After brunch, we hung out by the pool and enjoyed the perfect weather! That night, even though we had just had a huge brunch in the morning, we still got hungry for some dinner so we went to the Buccaneer Beach Bar to get a pizza and sit by their giant beachside bonfire and have some beers. I think it was a great, relaxing last night for their vacation!
Monday was Brian & Martha's last day so we went to Maho in the morning to do a little souveneir & cigar shopping. Then we went and had a quick lunch at a great little lagoon-side restaurant called Deep Blue right by our house. Then, it was off to the airport to say goodbye! :(
It was so great to have Brian & Martha visit our island! It was a wonderful way to spend my break from school because I felt like I was on vacation too! Now it is back to the real world (well as real as the world can be when you live in St. Maarten!) I started my 3rd semester today so it is back to the school grind for me. Mike already worked a full day yesterday and will be starting a new job at my school this week as the library desk person. He is also anxious to get back on track with his triathalon training because while he trained when we had visitors, he wasn't as strict with his training schedule. Oh and by the way, in addition to his triathalon spandex, he now has triathalon shirts for his biking too. So, he totally looks the part when he goes out but I can't help but laugh because I never would have picked Mike for a spandex biker...especially after how much I hated bikers when I lived in Minneapolis (most of you college folks know what I mean) hahaha :)
Ok, this one is long enough, don't ya think? I better stop writing :) I hope everyone is doing great and we miss you all VERY VERY much!!
Love,
Carly & Mike
**A few pictures from the week are below (remember you can see all of our St. Maarten pics on my picassa page...the link is on the upper right side of this blog)
Brian, Martha, & Mike at Guana Bay
Deep Sea Fishing (birds going after the jumping fish, Brian reeling in the big tuna, & the catches at the end of the day)
Dinner at Grand Case & view from the restaurant
Hanging out at the Cliff & Cupecoy Beach
Love love love LOVE reading your blog. :)
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