St. Maarten
Our Posts about St. Maarten
For such a small territory, St. Martin just seems to have it all. There are huge supermarkets stocked to the gills with European food generally found only in Paris, while not even a mile down the road, a typical West Indian fruit stand sporting a wood fame and corrugated aluminum roof does its own brisk business. On the very same street in Grand Case, a hungry traveler can choose between the height of French cuisine paired with a $200 bottle of champagne, or simply saunter into a lolo for rice, peas, macaroni, salad and fish paired with a Presidente.
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I’m going to go out on a limb here and say if you’re currently in the northeast of the United States, you probably wouldn’t mind instantly transporting yourself to the serene locale pictured above. How can I be so sure? I’m one of you! Yes, I’m currently in New York City taking shelter next to a hard-working air conditioner on a day that saw temperatures hovering in the low 90’s… But days where the mercury is expected to top 100º are just around the corner! Forget 96º in the shade, we’re talking triple digits in the shade and otherwise!
It’s times like these when I find myself wondering why life can’t be more like TV.
Just a few minutes, over easy terrain…
The last time I’d told someone we should hike to a beautiful white sand beach and that it would only take us a few minutes to get there over some easy terrain… Well, let’s just say there were some issues. (Sorry, Dave!)
So, when I caught myself on the island of St. Martin a few months ago saying those exact same words to my wife as she carried my then 3 month old son in her arms, I immediately felt a moment of dread. It was one thing to torture Dave in our quest for the one and only white(ish) sand beach on Montserrat.
Picture this: You’ve spent an entire bright, warm and thoroughly happy day at various locations around St. Martin/St. Maarten. Perhaps you spent the morning au naturel at Club Orient. Maybe a few hours blissfully passed with a delicious grilled shrimp caesar salad at Kali’s Beach Bar while sipping on some of his potent infused rums. Since you’re a reader of Uncommon Caribbean, you may have even braved the overcrowded (with bats!!) cave of La Grotte de Puits de Terres Basse on your way to more topless fun in the sun at Baie Rouge.
But however you spent your sun filled hours, the promise of another picture perfect Caribbean sunset would have you making your way back to your pleasantly breezy balcony at L’Esplanade over Grand Case to idly watch the sun dip into the sea—the sound of gently rustling coconut trees and West Indian doves softly announcing the end of another perfect day in paradise as the soundtrack.
On my last two visits to St. Martin, I spent a lot of time on the beach. Whether it was whiling away my birthday in my birthday suit, taking in the sheer scale of Long Bay, or drinking rum infusions at Friar’s Bay, it just seemed like the right thing to do. I mean the island is world renowned for it’s 37 magical beaches—one for each square mile of this dual-state paradise. And when I wasn’t taking it easy on the sand, I was eating my way through some of the Caribbean’s very best cuisine along Restaurant Row in Grand Case.
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Six months ago, I remember sitting on brightly painted benches at Kali’s Beach Bar, pleasantly sipping a rum in the waning hours of another gorgeous day in St. Martin and hearing my wife say “this would be a great beach for kids.” At the time, it was just the two of us, but we knew our time alone was limited due to my wife’s ever-growing belly and the persistent kicking of a new Bennett boy inside.
Last weekend, we went back to Friar’s Bay and Kali’s—this time with a new correspondent in tow: our 3-month-old baby boy on his first trip to the West Indies.
For many years, traveling has been my favorite way to fill my days. Limin’ on some coastline with a rum in my hand, listening to a soundtrack of West Indian music while allowing the sun to dip into the sea. Or tramping through the bush, marveling at the sounds and displays of Caribbean birds while collecting ripe, fallen mangoes on my way to some exotic location. Or countless other adventures varying widely from safe to undeniably ill-advised. This was what I liked to do more than anything.
Then, along came this guy:
The prevailing wisdom said, my life would have to change… And it did.
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