One of the many things we enjoy about cruising is meeting people wherever we sail to. Today was one of those days. We had decided to go ashore and walk along the boardwalk area of Philipsburg to find a restaurant to have lunch. Our marina is on the southeastern part of Great Bay and the town of Philipsburg stretches all along the shoreline of Great Bay. A beautiful white sand beach runs along the shore and behind the beach are lots of shops and plenty of restaurants. It is a very nice setting with the blue water lapping the beach, steel drums being played on the beach and shore birds flying overhead.

There were four massive cruise ships in today so the boardwalk was filled with tourists looking for duty-free bargains, slurping down the rum filled fruit drinks, and lying on beach chairs under the sun umbrellas on the beach.

We found a very nice restaurant tucked back a little bit from the beach and its menu looked great so we opted to eat there. After being seated, we started talking about the size of the cruise ships. Mary Margaret saw a couple sitting near us and thought they may be from one of the ships, so she thought to ask if they were and if they knew how many people would be on each of the ships. As it turns out, the couple was not from one of the ships but instead lived here for 5 weeks out of each year.

After chatting for a bit, Mary Margaret invited them to join our table and this is how we got to know Jane and Darby. They have a time share condo on Little Bay, which is the next bay to the north of us. They live in a rural area of Massachusetts, not far from that state’s capital, Springfield. They have been coming to Sint Maarten for 26 years, enjoying its great weather and scenic beauty during the bitter end of the cold Northeastern US winters. Pretty smart if you should ask me!

After enjoying our meals and conversation, Mary Margaret invited Jane and Darby to come over to Leu Cat to see how we live. They were intrigued about our rather unique lifestyle. Leu Cat was not too messy since I am in the process of winding down the various boat projects I had been working on. Like most people who come onto Leu Cat, they were surprised at the amount of room we have and the layout of the boat.

It was so nice to get to know Jane and Darby a bit as they are a very nice couple and have a wonderful way of expressing themselves. They certainly have a great lifestyle being able to spend 5 wonderful weeks each winter here in Sint Maarten. They love it because they have the added benefit of knowing the people at their condo since they all return to Sint Maarten during the same period each year. Thus, they get together with their Sint Maarten friends each night to share meals, play cards or do outings. How wonderful it that!

It was great to get to know Jane and Darby and we wish them many more wonderful winters here in Sint Maarten.