It was an ordinary day. We just got back from St. Barthelemy, commonly known in English as St. Barts. We arrived at 6:30 AM this morning at Dock Maarten where we boarded the Swaliga II. Had gone to the the dock yesterday and pre-paid for our trip which included passage with all the drinks we wanted, lunch inGustavia which is the capital and main harbor, a taxi ride around the island and snorkeling on the way home. We showed the crew our passports, removed our shoes and hopped on the high speed catamaran. It took about a half hour through rough waters to reach St. Barts. As we entered the harbor we saw the beauty of the island. Yacht after yacht linedthe docks as well as the moorings in the harbor. The captain pointed out one very large yacht which belonged to Aristotle Onassis. As we docked, we were met by security which inspected our bags and our passports. Since we had departed St. Maarten from the Dutch side and landed in St. Barts, a French island, we needed the passports. St. Barts is about 8 square miles in size. It is known as the playground of the rich and famous and the language, cuisine and culture of the island is definitely French. Right down to the fact that almost everyone we saw was smoking. St. Barts has 21 beaches, two of which are nude beaches, but we had so little time today that we didn't make our way to any of the beaches. We wandered the town and Carol bought a sweatshirt with St. Barts embroidered on the pocket. A sweatshirt that would have cost $40 in the states, but on this island is was a bargain $75. As we walked through Gustavia we saw the quaint shops and restaurants. We passed the Anglican Church as well as Le Select, a small outdoorrestaurant where Jimmy Buffet allegedly wrote Cheeseburger In Paradise. Time for our free lunch. Right along the waterfront was a large artificial electric coconut tree. The "Blue Coconut" was our next stop. We had ONE choice for the meal, but theMahi-Mahi with seasoned rice, salad, ice cream andicetea was the perfect meal. Average portions, as in France. We next hopped into a taxi for our free ride around the island. Beautiful and wealthy!! Rod Stewart, Beyonce, and Maria Carey had recently sat in the same seats that we are now riding in we are told by our driver. We were impressed, not! On our return we crested a hill and in front of us was the Aeroport de St.-Jean. Wow! You travel too far onto the runway when landing and you may run into the CaribbeanSea. This airport was featured in the TV show "Extreme Airports". You have to have a special license to land a commercial plane on this runway. Check out the link at the end of this story for a miscalculation on a pilot's judgment. Well, our visit to St. Barts was over. We boarded the Swaliga and motored back towards St. Maarten. We did make our final stop for snorkeling on the way back. We were fitted with a mask, snorkel, and flippers and into the water we went. Directly below us was a shark moving in and out of the coral. We were told it was a sand shark, harmless to us. Now, would you believe that if you were directly above it? We certainly kept a close watch on it. We returned to our final destination after a few rum punches and a good time. Passports again were checked and I purchased a "Dock Maarten" for me and one for my son Tad. The end of a great tour. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Pixs from the tops: The Swaliga, the happy travelers, harbor of Gustavia, waterfront, "Blue Coconut", our lunch, Le Select restaurant, and Carol relaxing after being scared by the shark.
It was an ordinary day. We just got back from St. Barthelemy, commonly known in English as St. Barts. We arrived at 6:30 AM this morning at Dock Maarten where we boarded the Swaliga II. Had gone to the the dock yesterday and pre-paid for our trip which included passage with all the drinks we wanted, lunch inGustavia which is the capital and main harbor, a taxi ride around the island and sn
orkeling on the way home. We showed the crew our passports, removed our shoes and hopped on the high speed catamaran. It took about a half hour through rough waters to reach St. Barts. As we entered the harbor we saw the beauty of the island. Yacht after yacht lined
the docks as well as the moorings in the harbor. The captain pointed out one very large yacht which belonged to Aristotle Onassis. As we docked, we were met by security which inspected our bags and our passports. Since we had departed St. Maarten from the Dutch side and landed in St. Barts, a French island, we needed the passports. St. Barts is about 8 square miles in size. It is known as the playground of the rich and famous and the language, cuisine and culture o
f the island is definitely French. Right down to the fact that almost everyone we saw was smoking. St. Barts has 21 beaches, two of which are nude beaches, but we had so little time today that we didn't make our way to any of the beaches. We wandered the town and Carol bought a sweatshirt with St. Barts embroidered on the pocket. A sweatshirt that would have cost $40 in the states, but on this island is was a bargain $75. As we walked through Gustavia we saw the quaint shops and restaurants. We passed the Anglican Church as well as Le Select, a small outdoorrestaur
ant where Jimmy Buffet allegedly wrote Cheeseburger In Paradise. Time for our free lunch. Right along the waterfront was a large artificial electric coconut tree. The "Blue Coconut" was our next stop. We
had ONE choice for the meal, but theMahi-Mahi with seasoned rice, salad, ice cream andicetea was the perfect meal. Average portions, as in France. We next hopped into a taxi for our free ride around the island. Beautiful and wealthy!! Rod Stewart, Beyonce, and Maria Carey had recently sat in the same seats that we are now riding in we are told by our driver. We were impressed, not! On our return we crested a hill and in front of us was the Aeroport de St.-Jean. Wow! You travel too far onto the runway when landing and you may run into the Caribbean
Sea. This airport was featured in the TV show "Extreme Airports". You have to have a special license to land a commercial plane on this runway. 
Check out the link at the end of this story for a miscalculation on a pilot's judgment. Well, our visit to St. Barts was over. We boarded the Swaliga and motored back towards St. Maarten. We did make our final stop for snorkeling on the way back. We were fitted with a mask, snorkel, and flippers and into the water we went. Directly below us was a shark moving in and out of the coral. We were told it was a sand shark, harmless to us. Now, would you believe that if you were directly above it? We certainly kept a close watch on it. We returned to our final destination after a few rum punches and a good time. Passports again were checked and I purchased a "Dock Maarten" for me and one for my son Tad. The end of a great tour. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Pixs from the tops: The Swaliga, the happy travelers, harbor of Gustavia, waterfront, "Blue Coconut", our lunch, Le Select restaurant, and Carol relaxing after being scared by the shark.
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