So we did the St. Thomas thing and then we were off to St. Maarten...the most beautiful place I've ever been to..so far!
Terri and I got up and went out early to go across to the town for a little while before I had to be back for my 11:30 AM ATV excursion with Karen and Donna. We took the water taxi over from the dock to the pier and it only took about 5 minutes. The water (as you saw in the pictures) was the clearest water I've ever seen...even on St. Thomas it didn't seem AS clear as it was here at St. Maarten. A hundred or so feet down and you could see right to the bottom. Incredible is all I can think of to say.
We got to the pier and quickly learned that the most important thing you can say to the street vendors is 'Is that the best you can do? It was cheaper over there' as you point in the direction you just came from...doesn't matter what it is you're talking about...chances are they tried to sell it to you a few minutes ago and the price probably WAS cheaper LOL! Everyone was very very friendly even when we said no...47 times!
We walked around the boardwalk (beer was .99 water was $1.99...go figure) and I took too many pictures and then we found a side street with even more street vendors. All my souvenir shopping got done in half an hour (not counting the 96 other things I HAD to have from the gift shop on the ship)...Terri took the rest of the day to finish hers. We wandered around a little bit in the time we had and found a KFC and a Wendy's. Nice little town and even nicer people.
Donna, Karen and I met at the pier to find our ATV excursion guide and there were 3 other people going on the same one (a young couple and a single guy who we found out worked on one of the other ships that was docked) as us. That was very nice because the first ATV tour had 11 people on it and must have been even more slow going than ours was at first. We took a bus to the other side of the island and got out at some guys house and waited for the ATVs to come back from the first trip. As we waited Shirley and Donnie drove up in their rental car which was pretty cool. There are only 2 roads on the island...the front road and the back road...that's it that's all goodnight!
The ATVs were late getting back and they only had 10 people with them instead of 11 and no one would tell us why LOL! Everyone was covered in mud and wet because it had been raining off and on that morning. We get our instructions on how to operate the ATV, we get our hairnets and helmets on and we're ready to rock and roll!
There was the ATV tour guy in the front...then the husband and wife then Donna, me, Karen and the other guy, and then the second tour guy with another ATV in a pick up truck at the very end. The very FIRST turn we go around...with almost perfect aim...the wife falls into a ditch. She never even turned the handlebars! The tour guy and her husband were kicking it on up the road so Donna and I pulled over to see if she was ok (I fully expected to see her mangled leg spouting blood from under the ATV) and Karen and the other guy kept going like nothing had happened. I don't think they had seen her fall into...or sticking out of the ditch. She ended up being fine (not even a scratch on the dizzy bitch) but the tour guy made her ride second the rest of the way which made us only go about 20 MPH because she was scared. Stupid girls.
We stopped at 3 different places to take pictures one of which was the dump. We didn't even know we were at the dump until on the way back out of that particular trail and we saw a sign with the rules and regs of what you could put there. We had to line up in the same order the whole way to Orient Beach so sissy girl didn't fall off a cliff or get run over by a goat.
There are goats and horses that run free like we have stray cats and dogs. It was truly the most interesting place I've ever been to. You have little shacks where people live in what seems like squalid conditions...but they happily go about their day doing whatever it is they do to their gardens and out their back doors are the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen. I'd live in a box to have that as my backdrop. The kids walking along the roads all waved and smiled at us as we went by...it was awesome.
We got to Orient Beach a little later than we were supposed to (because the first tour group was late and we had nervous Nelly in our party) but they still gave us 2 hours to wander around. We got something to drink, took a few pictures and then set out to find some souvenirs. As we were all going our separate ways we heard Nelly bitching about the mud on her shoes. I felt sorry for the husband. Donna and I haggled a guy on the beach and got two anklets for the price of one...which was probably the price he paid for a dozen or so of them to begin with. But we felt victorious in our bargaining skills anyway LOL!
Orient Beach is the nude beach but we only saw a couple of topless woman...we weren't looking for any nude people (honest) but I did manage to bust myself in the eye anyway. I was trying not to step on the driftwood and cut my foot and ran right into a wooden sign. There was blood and everything (only a little but hey...it's my wound and my story so there!) but I pressed on through the pain. I was going to go to the gift shop on the ship for a bandage but by the time we got back there was hardly even a red mark. So much for the sympathy play :/
We spent the rest of the time at Orient Beach sitting at the bar where we were supposed to meet to go back drinking water and text messaging Terri with pictures to show her what a good time she missed. Also to let her know we wouldn't be meeting at the designated time and place as we were late. The ATV guys got back and the single guy got back and we all had a nice little chat about putting dumb-ass and her husband at the back of the pack so we could go faster and the guy in the pickup could worry about her. They finally showed up (running so they didn't get left and her bitching about not getting all of the sand out of her hair) and we got back on our ATVs with new hairnets...better than bugs in your hair I suppose.
We tried to get in line the way we had discussed but she jumped in front of Karen and I (her thumb hit the throttle by accident and she lurched forward...whata stupid bitch) so the two of us were left to bring up the rear...only for a minute. The first place that was wide enough for us to go around her...Karen and I blew passed her and the dutiful husband and got in the front of the line right behind Donna and the tour guy (whose name escapes me) and it was a much more exciting ride back...but way too short. I would HIGHLY recommend the ATV tour!!
We took the taxi back to the shops...all 3 of us covered in mud, sun/wind burned and exhausted but man was it fun!! They had to finish their shopping and I sat on the pier in a little grass hut and waited for Terri to come over again on the water taxi. Thank God for free text messaging...at $4.99 a minute we were not about to call each other. She and I walked around a little while and I told her about the ride and we popped in to one of the casinos (seemed to be one on every corner) where I won $40 and promptly spent it on a baseball cap for myself and stuff for other people. I was too tired to do much wandering and Terri was too since she had shopped all day (OMG what a nightmare shopping ALL DAY?????) so we went back to the ship and rested until dinner.
I have to say that St. Maarten was my favorite place and my favorite time on the whole cruise was spent there (not counting my own little private excursions to the gift shop on the ship hehehehe). The ATV tour allowed us to get off the beaten path a bit and see part of what real life is like on the island and not just the touristy stuff they want you to see. It was a very laid back and friendly place not to mention one of the most beautiful places I'd ever been. I'd go again in a second!
The rest of the cruise wasn't anything exciting really. We had another whole day at sea which was kind of boring. During the week on the ship we saw BeatleMania and the Ice Skating show...both were really good. There was a jewelery show one of the evenings (I forget when it was) where Terri bought herself an Amber necklace and me a ring. She wanted the earrings to match but thought they were too expensive so I had the girl sneak them to me so I could surprise her at Christmas. That didn't work because since she looked at the sea-pass account every night I had to tell her what the charge was so she didn't go running down there screaming at them. Oh well...that'll teach her to be nosey LOL! On Saturday I ate something at lunch that made me sick so I spent most of the day in bed relaxing and looking out at the sea and sky. I felt a little better in the evening so we went to the last dinner in the dining room and got our picture taken with our favorite people...our wait staff and my little friend from the gift shop were on the list of course!
We were docked Sunday morning when we woke up. We were off the ship around 9:40 and through customs and in the car by 10:30. We left Port Canaveral about 10:45 in the morning and we were home in Maryland at 12:30 am. I was on a mission and wanted to see my pups!
All in all I'd say it was the BEST vacation I've ever had and I'd do it again (without the raging seas and the wind storms please) in a heartbeat.
Woooooweeeeee my little fingers are tired from typing...back to your regularly scheduled programs...I have carpets to shampoo (finally LOL).
