SINT MAARTEN, ST. MARTIN, AND DUCKING AIRPLANES!

MSC Divina / St. Maarten and St. Martin

Thursday

87F, sunny

Since our stateroom is near the thrusters, we feel the port arrivals as the ship is backed into its dock space. That is how we awoke at 6:30 a.m. today. TK likes to head up on deck and check things out and every day he has brought me back coffee and croissants. This ship does not have room service at our level—that is a first for us, but I have TK!

Port of Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles (N.A.)

We walked off the ship about 9:30 a.m. Since St. Maarten is a shopping port, that was my original plan. Since I knew TK wanted to go to the airport and the French side, I found a taxi that would take just the two of us to both for $60, a very reasonable price.  Sammy, our driver, said the French side was devastated even more than the Dutch side of the island during Hurricane Irma. He said that the Dutch side is finally recovering, because the people depend on tourism.  The French side is still suffering because they did not receive much aid from France until recently.

The border between France and Netherlands/Saint Martin and Sint Maarten

As we crossed the border between the two countries (no checkpoint), we started seeing a big difference. Both sides had piles of rubble and houses and apartment buildings with no roofs, but the French side had so much more. We had been to Marigot twice before and I tried to find familiar sights, but much has changed. Huge store fronts were gone and a pile of crushed sail boats rested near the port. There were plenty of people around and Sammy could not find a parking spot. He let us out and returned a short time later.

Marigot, St. Martin

On the sea, Marigot, the worst hit from Hurricane Irma

Last year I did not take photos of the damage, but this  

year I feel compelled to do so, as a witness to history

Since St. Martin (French side) uses euros as its currency and we spent all of ours yesterday, I could not buy anything at the straw market. We walked along for a while and then Sammy picked us up and we headed for the Princess Juliana International Airport on the Dutch side.

TK has wanted to go to this beach for years. This is the one that is within about 25 feet of the airport fence and people stand on the beach near the fence and watch the airplanes fly overhead and land. Depending on the size of the airplane, the jet blast can be quite strong. People are warned that they can be knocked around. A few years ago a tourist was killed as she was thrown upward by the jet blast and she hit her head on a cement wall across the road when she landed. 

Warning!

Twin engine coming in!

TK is living the dream!

Closeup!

Maho Beach across from the airport

Thankfully nothing dramatic happened while we were there, but we saw four different planes land and one take off in the short time we were there. The beach is very narrow with no palm trees/shade, so it would not be enticing except for the spectacle of the planes landing.  TK got some good photo shots and so did I!

Back in Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, we headed for our   favorite, Greenhouse Restaurant, for a burger and a pulled pork sandwich and fries. We needed energy for shopping. I bought TK a super bamboo T-shirt in Cariloha that had an airplane and “St. Maarten” in the design. Perfect!

Beachfront hotel in downtown Philipsburg, St. Maarten

Philipsburg has come a long way   from last year when we were here. Most of the hotels and shops are repaired and the bustle of tourists has returned.

Five behemoths were in port today, plus the black luxury yacht in the foreground

Another luxury yacht with a heliocopter on the heliopad. Count  me in!

This is a lively ship at night, lots of entertainment. We will miss the Frank Sinatra show tonight, but we enjoyed the singer in the Atrium, Latin music, very flavorful. People line the rails overlooking the Atrium on two floors, and the Atrium area itself is packed.

TK’s Takes: The desserts on this ship are better than any other.