The "Dutch Connection" Story

It was an ordinary day. We were waiting for our friends Jeff and Nancy L. and their daughter Meredith to arrive on "Explorer of the Seas". Jeff and I had taught together for many years and Nancy also worked for the same school district, working in the district office. Meredith had just graduated from nursing school and wanted to take a cruise with her parents. Carol and I were staying in a villa in St. Martin and made arrangements to meet them at the cruise terminal in Philipsburg which is the Dutch capital of St. Martin. We were going to take them to Orient Beach on the side of St. Martin so Meredith could experience a truly beautiful French beach. St. Martin/Sint Maarten is the largest island shared by 2 countries. They were to call us on their cell phone at 9:00 AM and we would pick them up outside the terminal. It was raining heavy as we waited for the call. At about 9:15 I thought I would try his cell number. My cell register "no signal". Now what? Well, we hopped in the car and headed to the terminal. Upon arriving we turned into the gate and were met by security. "What business do you have here?" they asked. We told them that cell phone service was out and we needed to try find our friends. I was given a parking place next to the security house and they confiscated my driver's license. My wife wasn't as lucky. Since she did not have any ID with her, they kept her in the security house. I guess they wanted to make sure I would return! There were 2 ships in this day with about 6,000 passengers expected to disembark and explore the island. What were my chances of finding them? I started at one end of the taxi/bus stand and headed towards the other end. Half-way through I heard my name. Nancy was standing right next to me. They were preparing to get in a taxi, but quickly got out and followed me back to car. At the security house we picked up Carol and my license. Back to the villa to wait out the rain. By 11:00 AM we were on our way to Orient. We rented chairs and umbrellas and started with our sand gravity. After a late lunch at "Baywatch" and another dip in Orient Bay, we headed back to Philipsburg. We dropped them off for some shopping before they returned to their ship. Meredith really enjoyed her day, since Orient Beach is clothing optional! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.