GOBBLEFEST 2008
ORIENT BEACH ST. MARTIN!
This year was different as I took the relaxing Ferry trip to the city the night before since it was a ZERO-DARK-THIRTY flight time
I had 
& Grilled Scallops at Sinbads right at the Ferry terminal before jumping on the BART.
Then a comfortable night at the El Rancho hotel,
And a Dawn Patrol Shuttle to SFO. I just had to stay awake for the 2 hours before the flight, so I found people to bother until the cattle call came.
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Putting on the brakes over Long Island.
Had a lovely night including dinner at La Cabaņa in honor of my brothers of the 
I don't know what it is about connecting through New York, but for me the Big Apple has generally been uhhhh..... interesting! This time however, I was very lucky @ JFK. Since I only had carry-on and Sally wouldn't get there for an hour, I had lots of extra time. Fortunatelly I dawdled around the stores in the airport.
When I eventually made my leisurely exit, I just happened to walk by carousel 15.
I noticed it had 1 single, lonely, yet FAMILIAR piece circling it.
YEP, IT WAS MINE!!
Although I was sure my luggage was checked through to Sint Maarten,
AA's Baggage claim said they didn't know why the SFO gate agent only checked it to NY.
Next morning I passed over New Jersey and on down the coast to Florida. At the Miami airport I found Penny. Naturally you always find your friends in the beer line or the bar. After a few hours there we rotated out and watched the setting sun pass by.
Princess Juliana Airport has gone through a complete remodel.
No longer is it a dingy little hole in the wall 3rd world airport.
We arrived in Sint Maarten and went to the Joshua Rose Guest house. It was late and although we had no remote for the AC, we adapted. I fixed the windows and we just left them open that night. The fact that I had no blanket was of no consequence as I was already so tired I didn't care.
The Man, the Legend.... JOSHUA ROSE HIMSELF!
By the way there is no bellman and 6 flights of stairs. I was wishing I had a Cabanaboy to tote and carry for ME!
I'm SURE the climb was worth it. After all, we had the deluxe ocean view room.
Reminded me a bit of The Flamboyant on Grenada
I found out what Basic accomodations and "solar heated" water really meant...... NOT.
That night we got the AC remote, and it worked . However we failed to check the settings. About 5:30 I awoke in a small sheet covered ball. I tried to focus 1 shivering eye to calculate what 19C was in California.
19 times 9 divided by 5, then add 32.......
We hung out around Phillipsburgh and reunited with old friends.
As there were no cruise ship in port that night, the streets rolled up and we ended up at the Casino. It was OK though. We drank for about 3 hours but when we asked for the bill, were shocked to be told $10.
Even better, it was TOTALLY safe. The drunks we were drinking with were Freddie and Albert who actually turned out to be real POLICE!
Freddie was quite articulate, and very talkative. He surprised me by being so interested in American politics. Oddly, we spoke to several people on Sint Maarten who were happily relieved about Obama's election. The resounding reasons revolved around the Republicans distrust of the island governments that were leaning towards Socialism. They were truly afraid if they had stayed in power that America would have eventually begun INVADING them!
Kangaroo court was a MUST STOP for me. Had the Goat cheese salad again.MMMmmmmmm GOOD! Naturally I had this photo op to match when I was here in 2003. Shoulda worn the same shirt!
...
Saturday we grabbed a cab back to the airport. Too bad they didn't spend a little more money on the roads. God forbid they would add more lanes or a second entrance road from Marigot. Most drivers have to find back alleys and parking lots to get around. Plus if the bridge is up, "EVERYTING'S NOT GONNA BE ALRIGHT". But we left early enough to meet Lynda and Amanda's flight.
Naturally the lone
grabbed some luggage,
then produced a couple 
and sent them on their way to the hotel as I awaited Sally's arrival.
...
I had time to look around the airport, and to my surprise found that the convenience store not only sold Champagne, but gave away cups too. So I was prepared to properly greet Sally when she arrived on Sint. Maarten.
We moved over to St. Martin's Old Mt. Vernon resort. It's been converted to excellent condominiums right on Orient Beach. Penny had the designated "Party Room" as she had the best view of the beach and wireless service. This photo was taken just outside her door
HOWEVER, without this document I would have NEVER found my way around.
Check-in is at the Grocery/Pizza Place, and you can see how far away our Condo's were. On our way down, we made our 1st landmark that proved to be an invaluable guide later. It was where the roads split between our respective buildings. We called it "Rat corner" so named for the.......
As we were walking past, he popped out of a pipe and fearlessly stood at Sally's feet as if to say,
"WELCOME TO ST. MARTIN, HAVE A NICE DAY!"Considering how many cats were around there, I'm surprised he showed his cute little face.
Truthfully though, this was a wonderful place to stay. Everything was immaculate, with water hot enough to sterilize surgical instruments. They even gave us bottled water. Yeah, right! Like we were gonna drink water on vacation.
...
Just another night of cheese, bread and WINE, WINE, WINE!
During the day, it was Brice's Paradise
We had Thanksgiving dinner at our host Amaury's French Restaurant. These Lobsters had only been harvested a couple hours before on the island of Saba.
After dinner Amaury poured complimentary liquers and toasted with us
One day we walked past Club Orient's nude beach and cautiously went through the bushes full of robbers, to El Galleon where we had been in
2006.
Spent a day shopping and "sampling" in Marigot. It ended with bread, cheese and Caribs. (NO! We did not have Subway sandwiches),
That was followed by a lovely sunset with an even lovelier girl.
