Sunday

Margie's travel delays made for a lot of uncertainty. What I did do was rent some fins and snorkel at La Vista. Not the best snorkeling, but pretty darned good for free and right outside my window. The fins stayed with me for the week.

After Margie finally arrived, we went to the hotel for her to clean up and chill out. The Hideaway was closed for the night, so we went to The Boathouse. It was listed as a fun, party kind of place that's very popular, but you couldn't tell by the night we were there. Maybe we were just late. Only a few other tables were occupied. We had seats right by the window with a view of the water. We also had a visitor, a very sweet little kitten. My sauteed shrimp, scallops, and calamari was done well, but the bernaise sauce I got on the side seemed to be missing a little something: tarragon.

Home Base

We stayed at La Vista Beach Resort. It's actually a time-share, which means it's roomy and has a full kitchen. It also means that the office has limited hours and there's little service. With two bedrooms and two bathrooms, it was perfect for us.

As you can tell, the view was wonderful. Better still, we could always hear the waves lapping the beach. The location was good in that we were about half way between the airport and anywhere else on the island.

The restaurant, The Hideaway, was excellent. My first night, I had Chicken Forestiere which was wonderful and came with beautifully done sides of steamed veggies, pasta salad, and herbed mashed potatoes. The service was just the right blend of friendly and formal.

A Kleine Bit Netherlands/A Petite Bit Francais

St. Maarten/St. Martin combines two cultures I know well. Having lived in The Netherlands and studied French, it's an interesting place to me. Opposite of the island's geographic split, my trip was 2/3 Dutch and 1/3 French, excluding food.

Getting there took forever and almost cost a fortune. After leaving slightly later tha planned, I got half way to the LA airport before realizing that I'd left my passport at home. On the way back for it, I found out it would cost over $600 to take the only flight from San Diego that would get me to LA in time. Fingers crossed for a flight delay, I zipped back up the freeway and made it just in time. Thank goodness I'd cashed in enough miles to be flying first class. Quick check in and a shorter security line got me to the gate with time to spare, especially given that the wished-for delay did happen. My connection from Miami to San Juan ran a little late, but still left time for an easy final connection.

Margie's trip was not so easy. Weather delayed her at Dulles and she ended up stuck there overnight. Then her morning arrival changed to afternoon. She didn't arrive until 24 hours after I did.