sun sand and surf

June 3, 2010

putting our feet up
literally.


(obviously these are josh’s feet + hairy legs; my own are much daintier and still feature hot ‘n’ spicy by OPI on each toe)

i used SPF1000 and didn’t get burned!


fine, it was 70. but i’m pretty happy i managed to maintain my pearly white glow. in the old days (ie 15 years ago) i probably would have tried to burn ‘because it’s the only way i can tan’. trying to make up for years of irresponsible sun exposure, now i try to be pretty careful!

lush greenery . . .


and a little green friend.


i think he looks slightly annoyed.

“why are these crazy tourists always trying to take my picture!?”
beautiful turquoise waters
after our massages, we spent the rest of the day out at orient beach. unfortunately, i didn’t feel safe bringing my camera (since it would have to be left on the shore while we swam), but i promise it really did look like this picture:


beautiful! i loved how calm the water was. i can stroke my way across a pool, but i would not consider myself a strong swimmer; furthermore, i was bred to be terrified of the undertow (admittedly, my early beach experiences WERE all at the jersey shore). but this ocean was so different: warm and clear and it really was that striking shade of aqua/turquoise that you see in all of the pictures of the caribbean. we will get some more beach time in today!

restaurant review: st. martin style!
the food here is pretty good. however, i actually prefer the cuisine back in NC! while it is lush and green around here, i don’t think there is much (if any) local farming, so everything must be shipped in. i am not even sure the seafood is locally caught, as none of the menus say anything about it. nevertheless, there is a european flair to the food which makes it fun. (and really — the yogurt is top notch!)

we headed to an italian place just steps from our hotel for dinner last night. spiga features ‘creative italian cuisine’ and they certainly lived up to this description.


luckily, it’s the off-season, so a reservation was not actually required — we walked right in! we sat outside on the porch. it was quite the romantic setting.


food collage! from upper-left, going clockwise: italian bread with new zealand butter (yes, really); a creative caprese salad starring . . . guacamole!; my spinach ricotta gnocchi with prosciutto and peas; josh’s lobster tagliolini; me; my date.


click to enlarge for culinary details if interested! we decided to order dessert for the first time on the island and i felt this tiramisu deserved its own full-size depiction:


served with espresso ice cream. YUM! we inhaled it. dining next to us, a fellow tourist couple took our photo:


another lovely night on the island.

today
we plan on exploring the dutch side of the island: the beach, perhaps a hike? and then we are going to come back to our hotel room and cook dinner. i’m officially ‘restauranted out’!

i have completely enjoyed being without agenda these past few days! my only regret is not bringing more reading material, as i’m finished with dance dance dance and down to just the last half of this month’s runners world. i loved hearing about your relaxing vacation experiences in yesterday’s comments — jenny, the mere thought of 4 weeks of this (!) makes me contemplate a move to where you live. i guess i need to start working on my swedish . . .

2 Comments

  • Reply RunningOnCoffee March 10, 2019 at 7:24 pm

    We went to St Martin at the end of August (right before Earl swept in)! We went to Pinel Island one day (which I think is in the distance in your beach picture from Orient). We wanted to eat to Spiga, but they were on vacation while we were there. Did you stay at L&#39Esplanade? We stayed at Grand Case Beach Club.

  • Reply RunningOnCoffee March 10, 2019 at 7:24 pm

    I posted a little about our vacation – maybe you will recognize some places from my pics! http://running-on-coffee.blogspot.com/2010/08/back-from-vacation.html

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