The "Ready For A Visit To St. Martin/Sint Maarten To Catch Some Rays & Visit With Friends" Story

It was an ordinary day.  My dear wife and myself were recently counting all our blessings we have accumulated during our marriage.  We have three wonderful children with three fantastic grandchildren and quite a few loving pets along the way.  We also have had the chance to travel to many locations in the world.  A few of our favorite beach locations have been the Chesapeake Bay Area, the Jersey Shore, Hawaii, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  We also have enjoyed trips to Virgin Gorda and Tortola in the British Virgin Islands as well as our most favorite vacation spot...St. Martin/Sint Maarten.  St. Martin is the French side of the island while Sint Maarten is the Dutch side of the island.  Carol and I have made over a dozen trips to St. Martin/Sint Maarten during our married life and we haven't yet crossed it off our travel list for the near future.  We love the island because of the beautiful beaches, fantastic food and the super friendly people that live on the island.  The Capitol of French St. Martin is Marigot while the Capitol of Dutch Sint Maarten is Philipsburg.  We have made many friends during the many visits we have taken to the island.  We have been renting from a fantastic young woman named Magali who lives in the Orient Bay Area.  She knows the size and location of the places we enjoy staying on our trips.  We have been renting locations in the Orient beach area for over a dozen or more years.  But, one of our favorite island destinations each vacation is a trip to the Dutch side to visit with long time friend Barbara Cannegeiter who is originally from the Williamsport area of Pennsylvania.  We always make sure we get to visit with Barbara on each trip we make to the island so we can get a chance to talk with her as well as visit with Anna, her pet macaw, and her two dogs Scarlett and Amber.  We always enjoy giving her the news from the States as well as getting her island news.  Due to Covid, we haven't made any trips to St. Martin for over three years now.  We are hoping to get a chance in the near future for one more visit.  Our favorite past-time while on the island is visiting with old friends as well as making visits to Orient Beach where the sun always seems to shine and bathing suits are optional!  A vacation to French St. Martin is never complete without a trip to the beaches where you never have to worry about tan lines.  Carol and I are hoping we will get at least one more trip to St. Martin/Sint Maarten to visit with friends and get our vacation overall tan.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.