Tales of a Shoebox Princess

Panoramic photo of Nettle Beach. Such relax........ Happy selfie...waiting for more French food Sunset view from the restaurant in Grand Case Happy Jim our table was right up against the railing, which was right on the sand, not 15 feet from the ocean panoramic pic of sunset dessert, a profiterole  SO DELICIOUS moonlight on the deck of the villa I thought I would start off with pictures. We spent Wednesday walking around Phillipsburg. I'll have more picrures of Phillipsburg later because we went back on Friday. The big deal of this day was the dinner in Grand Case. Our guide book says that Grand Case is the culinary capital of the Caribbean. For such a dinky little town that is difficult to get into (seriously we took wrong turns several times), the title is well-deserved. The only issue we had was that at the time we wanted to eat, most of the restaurants were closed. I swear we are old people. We were looking around for places to eat along t...

On Tuesday I actually spent the morning in the seminar for dental practice management. It was very good, especially the presentation from the guy who had gone to jail for insurance fraud--his presentation was "Stay Out of Jail". He taught us all how not to get caught at it (HA not really). I tried very hard not to make jokes about everything because I was sitting next to my boss (He's also the reason I am tempted to make jokes and stuff). I took notes on the hotel-logoed pad of paper given to us as a freebie by the hotel. The hotel pad that had 3 sheets of paper on it and a fine cardboard backing. Yes. 3 WHOLE SHEETS OF PAPER. And it was warped from water damage. Boy, did the Westin go all out or what??? But you don't want to hear about the conference, which was held in a windowless room so we couldn't be distracted by the view of the beach. After the conference, Jim and I had lunch in another French restaurant called Le planteur. It was very uncrowded. Jim an...

After Friar's Bay, and going back to the villa for a shower, we contemplated where to eat. Jim and I had seen a creperie in Oyster Bay and I had a keen interest in trying it out. Mike and Jen agreed to go along. At first, Mike wasn't so sure about it, because he wanted pizza. Fortunately, the BZH had pizza on the menu. I have no idea what BZH stands for and I wish I'd asked. We'd also had a grocery store clerk tell us that she worked at BZH in the evening and we should go there to eat. So when we showed up, there she was and she remembered us. She saw us and said in her awesome French accent, "You came!" I ordered a savory crepe with creme fraiche, ham, avocado, and a sunny side up egg in it. I think we all enjoyed our food, except for Jen, who ordered a different kind of savory crepe that had a kind of sausage on it that smelled and tasted like a barn. The server said it was a French taste and probably an acquired taste at that. I tried it and it was inde...

So after Maho, Jim and I headed back to the villa. We kind of got lost, but on a tiny island only 37 square miles in size, it's hard to be too lost. There is only one main road around the island, and only a few roads that run off of it. Anytime there is a choice of roads to take, they use a roundabout to control traffic--which means there is not a single stoplight on the island. And very, very few stop signs. Mike and Jen had returned from their scuba adventure and we went out for dinner together at the restaurant that is Busby's during the afternoon. It's weird that it's called something else for the evening (Daniel's by the Sea? Can't quite remember, dangit). There was a dog at the restaurant. We weren't sure if it was owned by anyone, but since the restaurant had only a roof (no walls, only railings) the dog came and went as it pleased. The French like their animals and allow them in restaurants. Jen and Mike. Also notice that the restaurant feature...

Where was I? Sadly not in St Maarten anymore. But I will continue the series of posts about my vacation since I want to remember it always. And the kids have found their valentine treats so I don't have to keep the pictures up on top of the blog. I have two more years of treasure hunts. I do it strictly for my own enjoyment; Matt probably wouldn't care if I stopped. Hayley enjoyed it, I think. Back to St Maarten, which I wish I could go back to. After we got up, Mike and Jen headed off to their scuba appointment so Jim and I decided to go for a drive around the island to see what it was like. We stopped at a roadside trailer for lunch. They were barbecuing and it looked good. Turns out it tasted good too. Lots of French spoken. I caught a lot of "cherie" this and "cherie" that. People like each other on the island. We drove around the whole island. It doesn't take too long, but there is a lot of traffic on those tiny roads. We finally stopped at ...

I'm interrupting my St Maarten vacation series to attend to some Valentine business. Not for use as a disinfectant Serving Suggestion Good luck to those who this applies to!

Now that no one reads this blog anymore, I can safely share all my vacation photos without making people jealous/mad/irritated. Thanks to my work, I spent the first week of February on the Caribbean island of St Maarten/St Martin. Thanks to my boss/little brother and his wife for making it possible for me to go and for being ok with me dragging Jim along. I will do this a little at a time, maybe one day at a time or one event at a time, with no guarantees that I will finish. At least I'm starting it. We arrived late Saturday night; the island was dark and we couldn't see our surroundings, except for the neon lights of some shady places that stay open past 10 on Sunday nights. Those neon lights were pretty close to the runway too. I thought, "In the US, they would never let anyone build anything so close to the runway." During the whole week, I spent a lot of time thinking, "They wouldn't allow that in the US," but not always as a criticism. We go...