May 18 - 20, 2011 - Rain Rain Go Away!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011:

It rained off and on all night.  At one point it was coming in the bedroom window and raining on us in the bed, so I had to shut the windows.  This morning, we had a few minutes of sun peak between the clouds. Then we watched a wall of rain come our way, and it rained for almost 4 hours…and rained hard! We ran around shutting windows and doors! It was almost raining sideways!

I put a beef steak in the crock for Gerald…so we got supper planned.  I love cooking in the crock-pot.  It smells up the apartment…and it’s making me hungry!

The rain stopped for a while, and there was a break in the clouds.  The yards around us are absolutely flooded…and the pool behind us is filling up again! And they pumped it out yesterday too!

**

…and here is the pool after the rain stopped! It’s up about a foot! 

We decided to get out and drive a bit, and headed over to Simpson Bay to go to the pharmacy and pick up some more Sudafed.  Then we stopped at the grocery store to get water (and tater chips).  Traffic coming back was awful! Don’t know why, but it was bad.  There was no good reason for it, except they have closed down what was originally a detour road and tore it up, so now you go straight instead of turn off, but I guess people were gawking as they drove by…just like home!

I did notice that the island is starting to turn green.  A lovely, beautiful, new, spring green. The flamboyant trees are blooming their bright orange red blossoms and it’s just a wonderful sight.

**

I’ve never seen it like this in years…like the first year we were here!  I don’t know if it’s the rain or what!

We made it back to the apartment and I finished dinner.  The weather has turned out decent this afternoon, but around 8:30 it started raining again! ….wow!  Thunder and lightning too! Instead of taking a plane home, we may be arriving in an Ark!

Thursday, May 19, 2011:

Rain, rain, rain…all night, and all morning.  It finally stopped a little at about 10:30, but it’s still cloudy.  We were hoping that the sun would come out today and we could head to the beach and see if we could say goodbye to Sarah and Tony (they have to leave tomorrow).

We went ahead and went out to the beach anyway, just to be outside.  The rain had stopped for the time being, but the clouds were thick and low.  It looked like rain was coming over the mountains again, so we didn’t take our chairs to the beach, but decided we would sit at The Perch Bar and get a sandwich and a drink.  Gerald ordered a burger and fries, and we got some drinks.  We sat and talked to Willie until it was time for her to start getting ready for the 2:30 happy hour rush.  Pretty soon the line started to form and even though there weren’t very many people at the beach, all of them were in line at The Perch! 

The sun actually came out for about 15-30 minutes! We sat and watched Willie do her magic! She is something else! She has it all down to a science and makes those drinks like a well oiled machine.  And she makes the best ones too!

While we were admiring Willie doing her thing, a couple came by and sat next to us. Dawn and Eugene.  We introduced ourselves and started talking and ended up yacking till 4:30! They have a condo here and come about 2-3 times a year for a week at a time. They usually come at the end of March, during our normal time, so hopefully we will see them again next year!

We left the bar and headed to the car, just in time for the rain to start in again! Cheeze and crackers! My skin is starting to get water logged! 

We made it home, at leftovers and that was it for the night!

Friday, May 20, 2011:

Guess what it did last night?  That’s right.  It rained.

Guess what it did this morning?  That’s right.  It rained.

Guess what it did this afternoon?  That’s right.  It rained.
Guess what it’s supposed to do tonight?  That’s right.  Rain.

Ugh!!!! Everything is wet and damp…including everything in the apartment!  In fact, the paper said that St. Martin remains in a “Yellow” alert for heavy rains and flash flooding.  I hope we get a few days of sun before we come home!

We were bored, so we got in the car this afternoon and drove (windows rolled up) around the island looking for a hole in the clouds that we might find some sun, but when we went around the mountain and saw the rest of what covered the island…there is not a spec to be found!  The streets are flooded and we didn’t dare roll the windows down. The clouds are hanging so low, that you can’t see the mountain tops!  

We thought while we were out, we would stop by Scarlet in Simpson Bay to tell them when to turn off my internet, then take a look at a few local art shops.  Got the internet taken care of but the art shop next to Scarlet was closed.  Then we went to the Rent 4 Less car rental place and made arrangements for our departure (I know…it hurts just to think about it!).  After that we took off toward Marigot to see if we could find anything at the flea market, but the market was closed! I’ve never seen it “closed”! I guess no one wanted to stand there in the rain.  Then…we went to a shop on the other side of Grand Case that someone recommended for local art, but it was closed too!  Guess everyone is home napping through this nasty weather! 

This is generally not the time for the rainy season – although there is always the possibility of showers (it’s the Caribbean!).  That usually starts in July with the hurricane season.  I will say that the island is turning a wonderful green though, due to all the rain.  I remember the first time we came here on our cruise (in early January) it was so beautifully green and flowering everywhere.  But by the end of March (when we usually come), you’ve hit the dry season and everything is kind of deadish.  I don’t like days and days of rain, but I like the green results!

After Grand Case, we headed around to the French Quarter and stopped at the Paradise View restaurant.  They have a little market there too, but they didn’t have much.  That is also the place where you can get local spices and the locally made MaDouDou Rum.  I’ve never tasted it before, although I have a bottle of it at home that I use for decoration. They take old bottles, clean them, paint the bottles really pretty and then put the rum in it, decorate it and then sell it.  But first we went to the Paradise View restaurant.  We’ve heard pretty good things about the restaurant, but I don’t think we have ever eaten there.  We took a seat where we could see the rain coming and clouds covering the island mountains and ordered a coffee.  The coffee was good! Then we decided to eat a lunch and Gerald ordered a chicken club sandwich and I ordered a crepe with artichoke hearts, goat cheese and cream.  OMG!  It was SOOOOO good! I love the crepes at The Creperie House in Clayton, but this one was better! The artichoke hearts were about ½ in thick and had to be 3” wide! Not what I expected at all! And it was DEEE-licious! I couldn’t eat it all and neither could Gerald, so we got it wrapped to eat for dinner.  We also got a desert crepe too because they looked so good! They normally come with ice cream, but we just got a chocolate, banana and chocolate crepe and decided we would put ice cream on it when we got home.  My gawd it smelled so good! When we left, the rum and spice shop was closed (go figure!) and so we (meaning “I”) decided we would come back to take pictures when the weather was better and get some rum on another day.  

Our bellies were full and with the rain it made us sleeeeepppyy…so we came back to the apartment to take a nap! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz   I only got a few minutes in because in between the downpours, some kids were playing in the pool…and you know kids can’t be quiet at the pool!

So, we hear that doomsday is tomorrow.  Hmmm…I should have gone to the jewelry stores today!  So, I guess if it’s all over tomorrow, I’m not going to have to pay the credit card bill! Ha!  =)