Carribean Princess - Part III (St. Martin/Maarten, USVI)

Our first stop was St. Maarten/Martin, USVI. I will call it St. Maarten (which is the Dutch spelling, Martin being the French) because it just looks cooler, right? Just hearing Virgin Islands, I think OooOOo. So I've been wanting to go here for the longest! The USVI (U.S. Virgin Islands) is just as you see it in all the advertisings, so very photogenic in every corner. I wish I took more artistic angles of everything, but for some reason, my inner wannabe-photog took a vacation from this vacation. No harm in that, because I most definitely want to go back to these cruise destinations on a worthwhile visit.

It has quite a unique history. Something interesting taken from Wikipedia: "On March 23, 1648, France and the Dutch Republic agreed to divide the island between their two nations, so they signed the Treaty of Concordia.

Since 1975, several versions of a legend about the division have become popular. An often repeated story is that the island was divided into two sections through a race; the French-dominated community chose one person for the race and the Dutch-dominated community chose another. The two representatives were put back to back in one extreme of the island, and made to walk along the coast in opposite directions. They were not allowed to run. At the point where they eventually met, a line was drawn across the island, connecting their starting point with their meeting point. This became the frontier which divides Saint-Martin from Sint Maarten, according to the legend. The reason for the difference in size between the two sides was said to be that the French representative moved faster than the Dutch. In one version, the explanation for the French walker's quicker pace is that he drank wine beforehand, while the Dutch walker drank beer. This is used to support the claim that wine has restorative effects and that it was the French drink of choice that enabled the French walker to move faster.

Sint Maarten, the Dutch side, is known for its festive nightlife, beaches, jewelry, exotic drinks made with native rum-based guavaberry liquors, and plentiful casinos, while Saint-Martin, the French side, is known more for its nude beaches, clothes, shopping, and rich French and Indian Caribbean cuisine."

Go wine! But oddly enough, I've become sort of a beer girl. Except, I'm neither wine or beer as of late. =P And no, we unfortunately did not get to see any of the nude beaches. Besides, have you ever been to one of those? OK, I haven't, but I've seen some vacation videos from some friends who went to places like France, and believe me, the nude beaches aren't full of the best looking people - more so people who think they are.

Anyway, for our excursions here, we opted for the Island Tour. It consisted of a two hour ride around the island in a bus with a local tourguide, a couple hours of walking around a shopping district on your own, and a pontoon boat ride on the deep blue waters around the island including seeing some random landmarks and passing by wealthy waterfront homes.
















I took this from our busride back to the ship dock. This was in the murky waters of the sewage. Do you see the camouflaged reptilia? It never fails to amaze me how different creatures roam areas in foreign countries that you would never see in the states.




On the pontoon boat ride.



















Doesn't it sorta look like he's looking into one of those convex mirrors?




Our tourguide/entertainers/bartenders of the day.




The yachts of the ridoinkously rich.







A pricey hotel overlooking the waters. Don't wanna ask how much a week there is.




After shopping around (in shops that puked touristy attraction), we took a break at a cafe for sandwiches and coffee to find this little critter sniffing around for some attention. Ain't he a cutie? He made us miss our baby back at home..the other baby that is. This one's a terrier though, and we have a white mini-schnauzer, which looks very similar.




Our excursion ended a couple hours before the ship was to set sail, so we mozied on down to the beach of course. Ah, can't go wrong with crystal blue waters, a margarita, and authentic local carribean jerk chicken!













A view of our ship and a Royal Carribean one from the beach.







Notice his fully-clothed self. It was actually a bit chilly because of the sun setting and wind, and the water wasn't exactly the warmest temperature. Plus, we were pooped from the excursion so we just took a nice nap on our nifty benches.

Random update and downdate

So I've been postponing blogging for quite some time now. I simply got caught up in other hobbies lately, like scrapbooking, sewing, and gaming.

Yes, gaming! Believe it or not, I used to be quite the gamer - for the easy, shmeezy shtuff, like Tetris, Bust-a-move, and Mario. I mean, who wasn't? And then I tried out Zelda and those fighting games like Mortal Kombat. And then I hit college, so gaming went on a big halt...until last year, when I was on maternity leave. Good ol' Nintendo beats the new, mind-boggling, tech-driven game consoles and their games, right? Depends. I have to admit, those no-nonsense games really get you at the edge of your seat..and time. So if you start, be ready to either throw in the towel pretty quick or be addicted for a good awhile.

So, I speak of gaming and maternity leave because there's something I want to stress. Being on maternity leave is no walk in the park. Some people think that while you're on it (or being a stay-at-home mom), that it's vacation time. FYI, it was a blur of changing, feeding, and being in a zombie-like state 24/7. Imagine what it's like for the hubby, who doesn't get paternity leave because he has a business to run. So yes, I sucked it up most of the time to tend to the babe, while the hubster was tired from work. (I was also recovering from popping out an 8-lb baby, and I got a C-section, which takes even longer, more energy and more healing to recover.) But you bet your buttons I didn't let him milk his "I had to work all day" shpeel too much! To those who plan on babies, don't ever EVER let your man (or whoever has to keep working while the other stays home) use that excuse, because they need to know that you've been working your arse off 24/7, and NOT just 8-10 hour days. You see, when you work, you get the luxury of coffee/internet/phone/lunch breaks - and breathing at the same time. As for being home with a newborn, you're holding your breath he doesn't wake up too quick when he's napping while you nap/relax/get things done.

I can't reiterate more do NOT have kiddos if you are not willing to sacrifice your life full of freedom, energy, and outside society. I'm sorry I make it sound like a terrible thing to be a mother, but plenty of studies have shown that the top thing parents miss most about pre-baby life was freedom - and we fall into that majority. Even while I work, I'm thinking about what needs to be done for him. So yes, you can say work is my break from the hustle and bustle of being a mama.

The good news is once the baby passes the stage of being an immobile little squirt who cries and feeds day in and day out, you are ever so glad you had him. All the things you sacrificed before and for the rest of your life for this being may not always seem worth it but definitely will be filled with an unimagineable love that only a parent can feel - something simply magical to be succumbed in. That in itself is far beyond a simple word as worth.