Sunday, April 24, 2011: Happy Easter!
We got up, Gerald made breakfast and we went to the beach. Surprisingly, we see lots of grocery stores and the veggie/fruit stands open!? What tha? Oh well. The beach was pretty crowded and hot, even though it was breezy. We saw Lori and Skip and spoke to them a while, then went in the water to cool down. It got really hot and I started to feel a little sick, I walked around, then went to the store to cool off, and nothing made me feel better. Not even talking to Mimi, or buy something! You know I’m not feeling good then. I didn’t want to stay at the beach anymore, so we packed our stuff and headed back to the apartment. We needed to do some laundry and we want to try talk to the grandkids later tonight too.
Back at the apartment I took a cold shower to try to feel better. Not much luck. We get the laundry together and take it down to the laundry room and throw a couple loads in. When we get back…I laid down and took a nap!
**This is me helping Gerald with the laundry! =)
We bought some turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes (my favorite food group) to eat for our Easter dinner. Guess I should have colored some eggs so Gerald and I can hide them and have an Easter egg hunt!
Monday, April 25, 2011:
Today starts Carnival on the Dutch side (they already celebrated on the French side) in St. Maarten. It’s supposed to be one of the biggest in the Caribbean. The parade starts tonight at 8pm (isn’t that late?) and ends at 11:30pm at the Carnival Village which is set up in the salt pond fill island behind Philipsburg. We’ve never seen or been a part of this event, and don’t know if we will. With crime against visitors here increasing, seems it’s a ripe place to be taken advantage of, but we will see. I would love to go see what it’s about, but I’m not willing to throw myself out there like bait for the criminals! (it’s the same way I feel about Mardi Gras in New Orleans!)
I’m still not feeling 100% today, so I don’t want to go to the beach. Guess we will hang around the apartment and see what happens. Mostly watched BBC (especially when Gerald was napping.) William and Kate get married this Friday. Everyone is excited. They are running it live here on the BBC channel. My big dilemma…do I wait up until 3am to watch? …probably not. I wasn’t invited…so I’m snubbing them! I’m sure I can find something on the tele or internet later in the day to let me know how it went!
The neighborhood is noisy today! It’s a holiday so there are lots of people home. There is apparently a Pre-Carnival party across the way. It’s a wonder they can hear anything! The music is blaring! Gawd I’m getting old!
Talked to the grandkids tonight. That’s always fun. As usual, Bradley had no patience to sit and talk and Erica read some of her Diary of a Wimpey Kid book to us. I love to hear her read to me!
Made some tilapia and baked potatoes for supper and that’s about it for today. The neighborhood is quiet now, they are probably over watching the parade. Think I’ll just stay here and enjoy the silence!
Bummers…it’s starting to rain…actually it’s pouring…and at 9:20…right in the middle of the Carnival parade! Hopefully it’s just on this side of the hill…and not in Philipsburg!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011:
It rained off and on all night and it is WINDY too! I don’t know if we want to go to the beach on such a windy day. It just means we will be sand blasted. We decided we would go see how it was at the beach and whether we wanted to hit a beach on the other side of the island to avoid the wind.
We get ready to leave and it starts pouring down again, so we waited until that cloud was past us, then we take off. We see that the entire island looks to be covered with rain clouds! We drove over to the beach and it looked like the clouds and rain had already hit and passed, so we decided we would walk the beach a little to see if anyone was there. If not, and it was too windy, we would head to the other side of the island.
We ran into Skip and Lori and talked with them a while, then decided to get a drink at happy hour up at the Perch. Gerald and I got Margaritas. Willie was tending bar, so the drinks were good. (too good on an empty stomach!)
While we were sitting at the Perch Bar, Skip introduced us to Joann. She is a headhunter. Skip is apparently disturbed that I’m not working and supporting Gerald (as you might imagine - Gerald likes him!) so he introduced me to Joann so she could help get me a job! Thanks Skip…I’ll always remember you for that! =) I may ground Gerald from playing on the beach with Skip…he’s putting bad ideas in his head!
We were invited to Mark’s for dinner with them, so we came back to the apartment and got ready to go meet them. We had the best ribs there last time…so we knew the food was good.
We met them at Marks and had a great evening! Service was a little slow, but the food was good. Eric and Skip got all-you-can-eat ribs. I think they shocked the waitress by how much they ate! But at least they got their monies worth!
We didn’t leave there until after 10! That’s late for us! So it didn’t take us long to get to sleep!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011:
The waters are really rough today! Wind like you wouldn’t believe howled all night and big rain walls passed over the island this morning. No beach for sure again today. I don’t want to be miserable out there! I’ve read that none of the beaches are good today – everyone is complaining about the wind, and having to run from the rain. Of course, if this was my last day or my only week…I’d be out there anyway! But it’s not, and I don’t want to suffer, so we’re staying in and doing something else. The whitecaps out there on the water are big. I was watching a small sail boat rocking back and forth and I got nauseous just watching it!
We got a call from Skip and Lori – they couldn’t take the beach anymore today either. They came over here a while, we visited and then we went over to Toppers for and early dinner. While we were there we saw Joann and Eric and talked with them a while. The evening ended and we got home a little after 8pm. I hope the weather gets better!
Thursday, April 28, 2011:
This howling wind is about to drive me crazy! I like a little breeze, but the gusts are powerful! Guess we’ll check out the beach a little later and see how it is. We want to say goodbye to the people we have met, so at a minimum, we’ll go to the Perch for happy hour and have a goodbye drink!
We went to the Perch and met up with Skip and Lori for a drink. They leave tomorrow. =( We then walked down and talked with Joann and Eric for a while too (they leave on Saturday). We finally left the beach at about 5pm and went home to have leftovers.
Friday, April 29, 2011:
I didn’t get up at 3 to watch the Royal Wedding of William and Kate. I did watch some reruns for a little while. It was still pretty windy, but we wanted to go out to say goodbye to Joann and Eric, and see if Judy and Jamie would be there as well. We sat near Joann and Eric, and visited for the day, but never did see Judy and Jamie. We hope everyone has safe trips home!
It’s really windy out on the beach. Sand is blowing everywhere. I’m sure I have some in the back of my eyes! The seas have been rough all week and in fact, I’m betting at least 15-20 foot of beach has eroded since we have been here. It’s always changing. I just hope it puts it back on before we get here next year!
We brushed off the sand and said good bye to our new friends and came back to the apartment to make a simple dinner. I fought Gerald for the remote to watch the rest of the Royal Wedding. I’m fascinating that “Mr. Bean” was invited to the wedding! HA!
It started raining bad again tonight. The poor Carnival has had really bad luck this year with weather! There are supposed to be several parades this weekend…I hope they make it through!
Saturday, April 30, 2011:
Too windy to go to the beach again today. But I have been talking with Bonnie and we are going to go over to pick up the grill they left at the resort last year. The resort apparently wanted them to get the stuff out of their storage, probably since they didn’t stay there this year. Hopefully we can find storage for all our stuff, or the people here are going to get REAL lucky with the things we are leaving! Plus Gerald wanted to get a haircut today, we need to see if a pharmacy is open to get some ibuprophen and shaving cream for him too. It will be a good day for a drive.
We took off around 2pm and headed to the Simpson Bay area since they have a good pharmacy over there, but were stopped on the other side of Philipsburg. The big parade started at 10am this morning so we thought we would be ok at 2, but it was just starting through Philipsburg and they had the road blocked off on the West side of Philipsburg. We could see people hanging around in droves on the sides of the road down on our side of Philipsburg too. Well, so much for that idea. We immediately turned around to so the other way. We figured we would now first go to the resort to pick up the grill, then come back through Marigot and Cole Bay so Gerald could stop and get a haircut. It would also let us stop for the other stuff too. Plus, since I’ve been hungry for pizza, we may stop at Pizza Hut for dinner. We probably needed to kill a few hours for the parade to finish anyway.
We turned around and headed to the resort to pick up the grill. The beaches were pretty empty. Most of the locals were probably at the parade, and there was only 1 cruise ship in anyway. We got the grill loaded in the car and off through the French side. We went through Grand Case, then Marigot without any issue. We didn’t see any pharmacies open at all. They were closed today for the holiday. Oh well. We were trying to find a barber, but the ones we saw were closed too. We stopped at the Garden Market and picked up some stuff to make salads and some sweets. Tonight for dinner we would make salad and have pizza.
Done in this area, we headed back towards Philipsburg and figured we would stop at Pizza Hut, which is up the main road on the way, to get our pizza. However, just before we got there, Gerald spotted an open barber shop and we pulled in. Gerald doesn’t get his hair styled mind you, simply a #2 and a few strokes with the clippers, so it shouldn’t take but a few minutes. I could have gotten a set of small clippers at the Xperts Salon, but he didn’t want to spend the money…so… 45 minutes later I’m sweating myself silly waiting in the car for him to get done.
Ok. Gerald’s finally got his hair done, so now we can get something to eat and go back to the apartment. It’s about 4pm and I’m starving! We head up the road and go into the Pizza Hut and order a pepperoni lovers, ½ with mushroom and garlic cheese bread. Yum! I could hardly wait! Ok I didn’t…I ate a piece of the cheese bread … mmmmm it was so good! And it was made out of real baguette bread…not pizza dough! I was surprised!
So we headed back toward Philipsburg, and went our usual back way through Belair. We came up through Front Street and it looked like the road may be still blocked off up ahead, so Gerald turned off and we went to the main road. Unfortunately a hundred million other people looked like they were trying to do the same thing. We kept going, but before we got half way we discovered that they had the main road blocked off too and were directing us towards the middle of town – so we followed the traffic – in a big circle.
Our next attempt we figured that we would go around the back side of the Pond Fill and come over on the other side. So off through the traffic we went. We don’t normally go this way, so we had to get the map out. This is not the place you want to be when it’s late. We finally got through that area, came out on the Sucker Garden Road. We drove a little ways and drove right into a million cars on the road. Not sitting there running. Just parked. Apparently they just parked their car and walked to the parade. There’s no way to get through. And it’s starting to get dark. We’ve been driving around for 2 hours! And the parade is still going on? Surely there was a way to get over to the other side? What if there was an emergency?
We headed back around the Pond Fill on the back side, to town again. There was traffic going down Front Street now, so we followed the traffic all the way down to the courthouse, but they still had the road blocked off! You could see hundreds of people still in the street from the courthouse! Still going strong! We could not believe it! No way to get to the other side! We had our dinner and groceries in the back! Plus, since we weren’t planning on doing anything, we didn’t have much money! What were we going to do now?
We turned left and got to a street that we thought would get us through, and we were told to turn around because the road was blocked off. So we did. Which led us in a big circle again. It was useless – we were blocked from getting to the apartment! And this is a BIG party! No telling how long this was going to last!
So, we gave up. We drove back over to the Simpson Bay area and hit the casino. We figured we could get free drinks in the casino! But here is the downside; we didn’t bring a lot of money for the casino. We certainly weren’t dressed for it. Plus, I didn’t bring a jacket and it’s usually freezing in the casinos! Oh well, not much choice. We found a parking spot, sat in the lot and Gerald ate a piece of pizza to stave off the hunger. Then we walked up the hill to the casino. No one was in there! I quickly spent $20 (which is about all I had) and kept the final $10 because I didn’t want to be without any money whatsoever. I was not approached once and offered a drink…a first for me there. We walked around for about an hour and a half, struck up a conversation with the casino guard and told him our adventures. He told us the parade should be done and roads open by now, and we should be ok to get through. I hope he is right, I’m hungry, tired and I want to be sitting in the apartment.
We took his advice and decided to head back. We came down through Belair, and drove up Front Street and they were still partying like crazy at The Holland House. Check it out! Um…but be warned; the following is not for faint of heart!
Here are some more links! Kinda reminds me of the Illinois State Fair! Ahaha!!
You say you didn’t see enough of the parade? Want to see more? Go to You-Tube and look up key words: “Jouvert St. Martin Carnival 2011”. Have fun! Actually, you will probably get to see some of the prettier costumes! The ones you expect to see at a Carnival. =)
So, we drove around with pizza and groceries in the car for about 6 hours. Thankfully they weren’t perishable. This parade thing lasted from 10am to 8:30pm! That’s one heck of a long parade! And you know me…I would have been RIGHT THERE IN THE MIDDLE OF IT! Thank goodness we were in the car and on a mission! =) Besides…Gerald wouldn’t stop!
We did finally get back to the apartment at 8:30pm. I snarfed down some pizza and garlic cheese bread. It was too late to make the salad. I hate eating a late dinner, but not much of a choice under the circumstances. I’m just glad to be back safe and sound! I may never leave again…
Sunday, May 01, 2011:
It’s another holiday today…May day…and then tomorrow is a holiday too. They have more holidays than the US Government!
So here’s the deal. Being successful in life means learning from your mistakes right? Right. MAKES WONDERFUL SENSE. Which is why we are not leaving the apartment today. Nope. Nada. No way. Staying home, watching TV, try to get on the internet to post my blog (after a whole week!), but there is no way you will get me away from here. We (meaning me for sure) are not going to risk getting stuck away from the apartment until 8:30pm again tonight! No thanks!
Besides, it’s windy and has been raining all morning! Wouldn’t be a good beach day anyway.
Monday, May 02, 2011:
Well, no parades today, so guess it will be ok to leave the safety of our apartment! =)
But we didn’t. I’ve got a wicked sinus headache and my eyes hurt to move them! I’m just staying in!
The weather has not improved much either, so we won’t be missing a good day on the beach.
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