The "Vacation Musings: St Martin!" Story

PS - I wrote this story almost four years ago, but due to COVID19, and not being able to safely travel, never posted it.  My wife and I still have no plans for travel, but I thought you might enjoy reading about something pleasant with a bit of a twist to it.  Orient beach on the island of Saint Martin/Sint Maarten is one of my and my wife's favorite beaches in the Caribbean, if not the world.  We discovered the beach over 10 years ago and made it our go-to beach every time we travel to the island.  The South end of the beach has the most gorgeous fine, pure white sand and wave-free water that is so clear that you can see your feet while standing in neck-deep water.  The only thing that is different about the south end of the beach is that it is clothing-optional and for many, that makes it off limits.  You must approach the beach with a different attitude or you might miss the chance of not visiting one of the most gorgeous beaches in the world.  We are still waiting for a chance to visit the island once again so we can visit Orient beach, but just aren't ready quite yet.  Hopefully by the end of the summer we might be ready for another trip.  So, with this information in mind.....read on... 

It was an ordinary day.  Visiting world-famous Orient Beach on the island of St. Martin in the French West Indies.  The beach is perhaps one of the most beautiful beaches in the world on an island that sports a total of 37 beautiful beaches.  The south end of Orient Beach happens to be a clothing optional beach...which to those that may not know what that means...it means you don't have to wear a bathing suit if you don't want to. You see...the bathing suit..it's optional!

Sign telling visitors to this end of the beach that it is an
Au Natural or Nude beach.  Also says no photographs!  The
buildings behind the sign are shells of homes that at one time
was known as Club Orient.  So sad to see that it has taken so
long to restore the place to it's grandeur that it once held before
Hurricane Irma made a visit in 2017.

 The water at the south end of Orient Beach is calm with several shades of gor- geous blues and aquas that allow you to view your feet even thought the water might be chest deep.  My wife and I have met some of the most interesting people from all over the world as we lounge on our noodles in the pristine water on the south end of Orient Beach.  And, we have found that most visitors tend to be...well, let's call them "old-timers" or those who have gained more wisdom than those who haven't lived as long as we have.  Anyway, the young'ins have to have the latest in swimsuit fashion and most don't like to sit on the south end of the beach because they can't show off their skimpy bathing suits without feeling overdressed.  We have met people from all over the world whose tastes on vacations fit in the same category as ours.  Today we met Beth and Ed who happened to call home...Tallahassee, Florida.  Seems they had to take a flight from Tallahassee to Charlotte, North Carolina so they could hop on a connecting flight to St. Martin which is in the Caribbean Sea or way south of Florida.  

Made no sense to them either.  Well, we spent about an hour talking about life and reminiscing about what the south end of Orient Beach looked like before Hurricane Irma totally wiped out all the homes a few years ago.  As we stood in chest-deep water looking back at land, we all found it incredible that a place that was destroyed a few years ago has not made an effort to re-establish itself.  But, there is more to that story than meets the eye...and we don't have the time to discuss it, for our bodies have started to shrivel up from being in the water too long and that's not the best look for all of us without bathing suits on Orient Beach!  Our next visit into the beautiful waters in front of us, in another hour or so, will give us a chance to meet yet another couple and talk about life's problems once again.  Vacations are so much fun and being able to spend them in paradise is unbelievable.  We have missed it for too many years now and that's going to have to change soon, if at all possible.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.