Slept in a bit today, then we took off for the Old House/Rum Museum, which is on the French side in the Mont Vernon area. We drove all the way over and they weren’t open - a potential downside to visiting in low season. Two dogs on the property chased our car around while we attempted to get some outside shots of the house. We decided to drive over to the Butterfly Museum…maybe the Rum Museum just needed some time to open? We chatted with a couple from Tampa in the gift shop while a tiny lizard started to attack SQ’s foot. I think all of FL must be in St Martin right now! We drove over to the Orient Beach entrance…I wanted to see if my favorite beach from before was still just as beautiful. We had heard the hurricane from several years ago had changed some things on the island, including Orient.
Back to the Rum Museum, still not open. We decided to check out Plantation Mont Vernon instead. Their marketing seemed a little cheesy and overly touristy, so I didn’t have high hopes. It was expensive to get in, but surprisingly cool. For $14 you get a talking handset which tells you about the plants, and the history of coffe, sugar and rum production in the West Indies. The main house dates back to the 18th century, but isn’t open on the inside to the public yet. The whole complex sits up on the side of a mountain, and the views of Orient Bay were just incredible.
Have I mentioned how hot it is?? Next stop for us was Grand Case, a cute little village that consists mostly of restaurants. They have a reputation for being the culinary center of the island - yippie!! Today we were searching for a lolo called Talk of the Town. Lolos are very casual BBQ places, they are cheap and the food is outstanding. A lovely French family from Brittany sat at the table behind us and their little boy of about 3 or 4 seemed just fascinated with SQ, stared at him through the entire meal. They were quite excited to get the results of the French Presidential election today at 2pm. We ate at a lolo on Orient Beach while here before, and the ribs were just as good as I remembered them to be. Another local had set up old-fashioned ice cream churns and was selling Banana, Coconut or Chocolate. The lolos were offering one dollar to one Euro exchange for using cash. I had heard this deal could be found fairly frequently on the French side in general…we’ll see with the dollar so weak right now.
Our next agenda item was to hit Loterie Farm, which sits at the base of Pic Paradis, just a bit north of Marigot. There is a highly rated restaurant here, Hidden Forest Cafe, but it’s pricey and we had already eaten. This may be one to hit when we come back next year. The zip line was a popular activity, but seemed a bit tame for us compared to the canopy tour we did in Costa Rica last year, so we couldn’t justify the 40 dollar/person price. We did decide to pay the 5 dollars each to hike up the side of the mountain. This is not an easy hike!! It took us about an hour total and was very strenuous. Did I mention how hot it is?? I wasn’t feeling so bad about the ribs, fries and ice cream I consumed for lunch after this. For all your hard work you are rewarded at the top of climb with some of the most amazing views of Marigot, around to Orient Bay and out across the ocean. I was disappointed not to see any monkeys, but got my fill of lizards! By the time we reached the bottom even I could smell myself…I desperately needed a shower.
After a rest back at the resort, and a cool shower, we drove to SkipJack’s for dinner. They are located on Simpson Bay, Dutch Side of the island, and I had read they have fresh seafood. As my goal was to eat as much seafood as I could possibly get while here, this sounded good to me. As a sidebar, while driving over we were struck by how much the Dutch side of the island has changed in the past 14 years, and not for the better in our opinion. The number of casinos is just so disappointing. I guess passing the giant building with ‘Bada Bing’ on the side sent me a little over the edge. In contrast, the French side seems to have just gotten more charming with time. Back to SkipJack’s…happy hour was on, but being Sunday the place was really dead. The Rum Punch (a specialty on the island) seemed a bit tame at first, then they just about knocked me out of my chair. Daniel, the bartender, was great but he is trying to get back to FL to be near the rest of his family. The food is definitely fresh, but not overly adventurous. If you order either Maine or Caribbean lobster you get to pick it out from the live tank. I went with crab-stuffed shrimp, and it was OK but not memorable. We did sit by the water with great views of the mega-yachts anchored in the bay.
We are off to Philipsburg tomorrow…the capital of the Dutch side!
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