March 13 - A Sunny Day in St. Maarten

This morning we arrived at  Philipsburg, St. Maarten.  Until a few years ago the Dutch side of the island was a territory of the Netherlands Antilles, but in October 2010 it became an independent constituent country of the Netherlands.  The other, slightly larger side of the island (St. Martin), remains a department of France.

I was anticipating large crowds in town today because there were 4 other ships there in addition to ours.  As it turns out it wasn’t too bad.  Two of the ships were small ones anchored near Marigot on the French side, and many passengers on our side must have gone to beaches.

We took the boat across the harbor to the downtown area and did a walkaround.  There are the usual jewelry, camera and trash and trinkets stores.  Katie picked up a few things while I just wandered.  Along the sea walk by the beach there were a lot of little cafes and restaurants, but it was too early for lunch so we just walked by.  There were a few rough looking little boats beached and with for sale signs.  One caught my eye with its  “Heaven is My Way” slogan painted on the side.

After walking the length of the main street we decided to head back to the ship and spend the afternoon relaxing.  We went up to our chairs at the Sanctuary.  By the time we came down to our cabin, the sun was getting ready to set and we got this lovely photo of the sun just sinking past the horizon.