I HAVE INTERNET - YAY!!!!! Hopefully updates will begin to post on a regular basis! (I did it for you Bob...)
Thursday, March 31, 2011:
We slept in a little late this morning. We’ve had a few late nights and needed the rest. This morning Gerald and I are sitting out on the deck and enjoying the mostly sunny skies and view. We’ve seen a lizard roaming the garden area here earlier this week. He comes out and forages through the bark mulch for bugs to eat. Probably waiting for Judy’s arrival to make their appearance, as they usually do, and as they did this morning. We’ve naturally not said anything to Judy…otherwise she would never come outside! This morning there are about 4 of them scurrying about. All about 12-14 inches long. I’m sitting here typing this and watching them scurry around and she is reading the paper, eating breakfast, oblivious of what is just a few feet from her. It would not be a good scene if she saw them. And luckily she won’t know until she gets home and reads the blog! Sorry for not telling you Judy…but sometimes it’s best that you don’t know these things (like in St. Thomas!)
Oops! Judy saw one! (but luckily only one) He made too much noise and she looked down! Chaos! And they are not afraid of motion either! I got the big red Skeeter Killing Bat and waived it at him…nothing. I then got a big plastic bag and waived it in the air, making a popping noise…nothing! I guess he thought I was tossing him food. Judy even acted like she was going to throw a chair at them! They barely even flinched! They are obviously being fed by some of the people who stay here (actually, I’m guilty of throwing dropped bacon out there too, but I didn’t tell Judy that!) Ok…enough of the outside breakfast … Judy’s going inside! DO NOT GET IN BETWEEN HER AND THE DOORWAY OR YOU WILL BE RUN DOWN! I’m guessing we won’t be sitting out on the deck anymore! Better just go get ready for the beach!
We got to the beach and were surprised to see everyone there! Even those who drank lots of “Smart Juice!” Not much happened today…we were all well behaved - lamenting the sadness of Tom and Linda Lou being gone. We did have a round of Bushwackers at happy hour in honor of The Lindas … but it wasn’t the same, and we did not go for the 2nd or 3rd one to push us over the edge. Or as Paul would say… taking “The Irresponsible Drink.”
Beach time over, we head home to get ready to go to the Bavaria German Restaurant one last time before Bob and Judy have to go home. Rob and Linda are going to join us tonight too! We got to the restaurant and had to get the skeeter weapons out! Unfortunately I didn’t have my Killing Bat! So we just fumigated ourselves and put the wipes under the table to deter them! The skeeters were fierce tonight at Bavaria! They were swarming above Judy and Rob’s heads! They both wore black, and as I learned in Belize, you don’t wear black because it attracts them! (weird isn’t it!) So just wear white in the evening and look fat…! =) Despite the flying masses of skeeters hovering over us, dinner was yummy as usually. Eventually a little breeze came and must have blown them away just in time to leave! We said our goodbyes and promises to see each other at the beach tomorrow.
For now, we’ll go back to the condo to do some preliminary packing…we definitely want to go to the beach tomorrow and absorb every last ounce of sun before Bob and Judy leave. So we want to get the majority of it done now. Not that it would take very long anyway. We want to move the majority of our stuff to the new place tomorrow, then have the boys take a final trip with the toiletries and electronics Saturday morning, that way we won’t have a car full of luggage, and not be semi-comfortable!
Judy and I pack and organize a little, then it’s time to get some sleep!
Friday, April 01, 2011:
Up early and continue the packing process before we head to the beach. We are meeting the gang at Rancho Del Sol for an anniversary dinner tonight for Rob and Linda (it’s where we had their reception last year after the wedding on the beach!) and we need to leave the beach around 2, so we want to get there early. We also want to take a load of stuff over to the new place on the way to dinner, so that we can get our stuff out of the way when we take Bob and Judy to the airport tomorrow! =(
Judy and I run around getting it all together and I took the opportunity to post on the blog. We’re in good shape – now we are off to the beach! It’s a gorgeous day at the beach to be sure. A great last day for Bob and Judy! There is a cruise ship in town today so the beach is crowded. Unfortunately we didn’t get to stay too long to enjoy the beach frivolities, we had to leave to get ready and take our stuff to the new place and for dinner.
We got back to the condo, took our showers, loaded up the car and headed to Phillipsburg to drop off the first big load before dinner. We take our stuff up to the room (third floor again!) and take a look around. There is a nice view of St. Barth for sure! The apartment is small with a kitchenette type kitchen, but it will serve the purpose. I’ll take pictures later and post for you so you can see. But here are some of the views from our little deck:
St. Barths is in the distance!
You can look around the corner and see the cruise ships in port!
Back on the road again to Rancho Del Sol for dinner! The gang was there already so we sat down and ordered a drink. We hear stories from the others about the cruise ship people that were in today. I’m disappointed to have missed it! Bonnie makes a toast to old friendships and new friendships – may they last forever – so until we are all together again next year …. BAFOONARIE NOT BABOONARIE ON THE BEACH! CHEERS!
Dinner over, it’s time to leave so we say our goodbyes. Rob, Linda, Bob and Judy will be leaving tomorrow, Tom and Linda Lou left today, so it will just be Gerald, me, Mark, Bonnie, Debbie and Paul on the beach. They have agreed and consented (perhaps reluctantly and by default =) to be our friends until they leave next weekend, so we won’t be lonely! What are friends for! =) But we won’t see them till Sunday since tomorrow we will be taking Bob and Judy to the airport and getting settled in to the new place. Hopefully they won’t hide from us!
We head back to the condo to pack and organize some more before bed. I’m done so I lay down to read a magazine before I fall asleep. While on the beach today, Linda gave me an O magazine she had gotten (…er…found). A few years ago, I gave her a More magazine that I finished reading, and we wrote little notes and messages in it for her to read on the plane when they were flying home. Today was my turn! I didn’t read it right away on the beach, but I did flip through just before I went to bed tonight. I woke Gerald up laughing! Funny guys! Very, very funny!
Off to sleep…tomorrow is going to be a busy and tiring day!
Saturday, April 2, 2011:
Up uber early so that I can get my teeth brushed, face on and get the last minute stuff packed so Bob and Gerald can take a last load to our new place. No breakfast this morning, only coffee. We were going to LaVista for breakfast today so we don’t have dishes to wash, plus all the food was going to the new place. I got all my stuff together and then the Boys took off with the last load, while Judy and I waited for them to return. When they did, we headed to LaVista for breakfast. LaVista is a nice little place, next to Flamingo. They are a timeshare but you can rent like a hotel too. We’ve never stayed there, only eat there every year. The breakfast and lunches are great and the place is kept up very nice. We’ve heard the units are a little dated, but they are clean…and that’s important!
** Here is a view from their restaurant. Nice huh?
Breakfast finished, we got in the car and headed over the bridge. We wanted to get on the other side before the 11pm lift time. Unfortunately, the airport is between two bridges (one on the Dutch side in Simpson Bay and one on the French side in Marigot) that open for boat traffic in and out of the lagoon about 6 times a day. 9am – in, 9:30 – out, 11 – in, 11:30 – out, 4 – in and 4:30 – out. Simpson Bay gets the most of the boat traffic and so the bridge is up longer, which means vehicle traffic can get snarled worse than in St. Louis. One day last week, it was backed up from the bridge in Simpson Bay almost to Phillipsburg. That’s huge here. And you don’t want to get stuck in that so you try to make sure you are on the side that you want to be before the bridge goes up. So we were on a mission to get over the bridge before 11 and drive around a bit to check out the Maho and Cupecoy area and then sit at the Sunset Bar and watch the airplanes come and go until it’s time to leave.
We got in the car and drove over to Cupecoy to see the condition of the beaches over there. We didn’t go there last year because the year before it was so rough and there was no sand. It was a beautiful beach this year! Something to remember if our beach gets too windy or busy (and sometimes it does).
Here is what it looks like this year!
We drove around the new Puerto Cupecoy to check it out. It’s a new development and is supposed to be very upscale. It’s not completed yet, but is definitely nice and pretty much self contained. Looks like they are trying to put in a monster 5 story mall next door too! Hope that goes over well! We headed back through Maho and to the Sunset to watch the planes and wait.
At the Sunset Bar I’m amazed at the transformation of this place over the years. It used to just be this octagon shaped building and now they have built on so much and it is a monster place! Good food and fun. Of course, you don’t see the bras and panties hanging like you used to! So they’ve cleaned up a bit too…which is nice. We have a drink and watch the planes for a while and snap some pictures!
** Judy can’t help herself to take a final look at jewelry! And you know I was right behind her!
Time passed quickly and it was time to go take Bob and Judy to the airport. Check in was a breeze since we were early, and we sat with them a while. But finally it was time for them to go through security and they walked us to the car, and the tears began to flow. It’s difficult to see them go (even if Bob is a pain in the rear! =). Plus it’s strange that they are leaving and we are not – we normally travel together. Time has passed so quickly, it’s hard to believe 2 weeks have come and gone. Of course, for me, it’s hard to believe 5 months of our adventure are over! Which is another story that I will elaborate on later!
We left the airport and began our trip home, wiping the tears off my cheeks and doing the after-cry-sniffs. We had a few errands to run, so that should take my mind off being alone again with Gerald! =)
Our first stop was to get a few groceries. We needed to have supper and decided we would cook for dinner. We were gong to the big Cost-U-Less, but we didn’t bring the bags and just stopped at the little store in Simpson Bay where we normally go, just to pick up a few things for now. We were going to pick up some fruit at the fruit and veggie stand, but when we got there, they were closed, so we made a note to be sure to pick up fruit and veggies during the week! We took the food back to the condo, then headed out again to Rima’s to get some beach towels since they don’t have any here.
They also don’t have lots of appliances and supplies like an iron, hair dryer (I brought one) crock pot, toaster oven, beach towels or plastic bowls – but at 1/3 the cost of rent as the other places, we can probably afford to buy even a few hundred dollars worth of stuff and still be way ahead! They have the necessities though; stove, fridge, coffee pot & microwave, so we will just have buy the stuff and store or give them away. We need to find storage for our chairs anyway.
We check out Rima’s (shoppers heaven for souvenirs!) and they don’t carry the beach towels anymore.
We probably should have gone to Ace or a home supply store, but it was getting later in the day and they were probably going to close soon, so I had Gerald drop me off at the market in Phillipsburg. They will have them and I can probably get a couple real quick and relatively cheap. He dropped me off and drove around the block a couple times till I could make the acquisition. I got there just in time, as the ladies were starting to pack up. The last cruise ship was getting ready to leave and it was time to go home. I bargained and got them for $7 each and gimped my way back to the road to wait for Gerald to pick me up.
Our next venture was to find Gerald a pair of sunglasses. I brought him 2 clip-ons and a regular pair of sunglasses (he is always forgetting them) and he broke the last clip-ons this morning! So we have to get him something or he will have bad headaches from squinting. I know this will be a chore, because Gerald doesn’t like to spend money and we have to find something that fits right on his glasses. We tried the optical shop that we got his glasses fixed but they were closed. I know of several sunglass stores on Front Street, so we drove around trying to find a parking spot and ended up at the far end of the street! Lots of walking! (ugh!) Up the street we went scouring for sunglass places. We went in about 5-6 stores, but none of them had anything but expensive non-prescription sunglasses. We walked by a jewelry store that had sunglasses in it and we went inside to ask if they had any. The girl said no, but directed us to a place on Old Street that might have them. It’s the most help we have received today! We headed further down Front Street to Old Street and found the optical shop. They do carry clip-ons but are custom made and it takes about an hour. Unfortunately they are $60 and Gerald doesn’t want to spend that. Back to the drawing board!
As destiny would have it, the optical shop is next door to the Belgium Chocolate Shop where we love to get chocolate. We didn’t get a chance earlier in the week when we were in town, but I’ll be darned if I let the opportunity pass again! And it was meant for me to get some chocolate anyway since I have been brought down this street to an optical store right next door! You just can’t deny things like this … or my insatiable urge for chocolate! So I went in (and don’t stand in my way or you will be run down!). The woman that runs the place is a nice lady. We’ve been coming here for years to get chocolates. She is still working by herself – luckily she is young! We had a conversation about business, the cruise ship that was in the day before and how she spent thousands of dollars in advertisement but no one came and bought anything. I finally picked out my chocolates, Gerald got a couple pieces too and choked at the price, then we said our goodbyes and left the store, goodies in hand!
One the way back to the car, we found a little side-hole shop that had sunglasses and in fact had clip-ons too! Unfortunately they didn’t have any that would fit Gerald’s glasses (even though they tried to talk him into buying them anyway!) Defeated again! (I should have gotten more chocolate!). I know there are other places to get them on this island, we just need the time to find them before Gerald has a permanent headache. For now we need to get off Front Street, because the sun is setting and I don’t want to be out here walking after dark, so off we went again, stopping at a liquor store to pick up coconut rum before reaching the store!
We got back to the apartment, up the 3 flights of stairs, and are in for the night – finally! Now comes the grueling part! Unpacking! YUCK! At least it will be for 2 months…and not a week! That has been terrible! I don’t know how Tom and Linda Lou do it! And so we began…
**Gerald was helping me unpack again! (just kidding!)
We stopped to take a look around to see what we had and where everything was. Plus I still kept wondering what prank Tom and Linda Lou had left us! (they stayed here before we moved in and Linda Lou had that special shoulder wiggle and sparkle in her eye when she said she would leave something for us! That made me nervous!) I checked the bed and they apparently didn’t pay the cleaning staff enough to short sheet us. So far everything is in order. Only a cute little teddy bear on the desk with a Mapleleafs jersey! It does make me think of Rob & Linda! They even left us some groceries which included beer (unfortunately we don’t drink it), crackers, peanut butter, flour, pickles, eggs, bacon, milk, water, cheese, frozen veggies and about 7 Ziplock bags and bottles of frozen water (thanks guys)! We may not have to go food shopping for a while!
We made dinner, which consisted of ham that Mark had brought me (cause I cried that I wanted leftovers) and some purple, red and white new potatoes salted and nuked. It was really good! We then did the dishes, unpacked the rest of our stuff, put our clothes away, took showers, had our Belgium chocolates and rested a bit before going to bed. I put my foot up … poor little thing was getting puffy again! =(
Sunday, April 03, 2011:
My gawd, if I thought I was rid of the roosters…I was wrong! They are in full force here! And dogs too! I didn’t sleep too good last night, being in a new place with all the new noises. Plus I still kept wondering what prank Tom and Linda had left us! But, nothing happened in the night, besides a few dog fights, and I’m sure I will get used to the surroundings and noises soon.
Gerald made his usual breakfast. It’s early yet, so I’ll work on my blog and we’ll head out to the beach to meet the remaining crew of Mark, Bonnie, Paul & Debbie and see what kind of trouble we can cause today! We haven’t been kicked off the beach yet…so wish us luck!
The beach was quiet today. (Go figure! No Lindas or Bob!) Nothing to do but watch “Ken & Barbie” parade up and down the beach in their matching outfits. (We don’t know their names – we just dubbed them Ken & Barbie because they seem perfect, and perfect for one another!) We’ve watched them for a couple days and they come to the beach with matching swimsuits, then for lunch they change into different matching suits, and later in the day, change again into another set of matching suits! Plus they have hats that match too! You can’t beat beach entertainment. Just like they all watch for us to see what all we bring and to watch Bob and Gerald set up the umbrella! Always a good time!
But the weather was absolutely beautiful and it couldn’t have been any better on the beach! It went by fast and in no time it was 4pm and time to leave. Gerald and I didn’t know what we were going to do for dinner. We had eaten the ham Mark & Bonnie gave us last night for supper, but we didn’t really have anything else but peanut butter! And being a Sunday, finding an open, good grocery store in the location where we are staying is slim to none. Our only alternative is to drive to the Simpson Bay area. We talk about getting a salad at Toppers, or even going as far as Cheri’s to split some fettuccini, but as luck would have it, we drove by a Burger King and I got real hungry for a fish sandwich and fries, like I used to get with the girls at work. Memories prevailed and we pulled in. As bad as it sounds, it tasted really, really good! The locals were looking at us like we were crazy. Why come here on vacation and eat at Burger King! And they are right. Normally you wouldn’t do that because there are so many wonderful places to eat, but not tonight. It was just what I wanted! Plus it was cheap!
Since we were so close, we drove up the hill to Hollywood Casino, dropped off Bob and Judy’s point cards, made our own contributions to the cause and left. Home and to bed is our new goal!
We got back to the apartment and the wind was picking up. It would be a good night to have the screen door open so we could catch the breeze. The problem is that I don’t feel comfortable leaving the door open at night, even on the 3rd floor, for fear that someone might shimmy up the wall and get in. I know … I’m paranoid. But Paul & Debbie woke up with a guy in their room at 3am this morning over in Mt. Vernon (that’s on the French side), and I can’t help but be paranoid! (thankfully they were not hurt and nothing was taken) So Gerald and I go through and measure everything in the apartment to use as a door stop. We took apart the broom to use the handle, but that was too long. We extended my cane, but that was too short. Then finally I thought of my crutches and we took one apart and it was just right! Now mamma bear can be happy! So we scooted chairs in front of the doors (just in case!) and went to bed. The only problem was the wind was gusting at times and every time we heard a noise, we got up to take a look! Oh well…no one got in and I’m very grateful for that!
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