St. Martin

We've been back for a few days, but this is the first chance I've had to post some photos. We had a wonderful time--the trip was everything we needed and more than I could have hoped for.

This was our hotel, looking up from the beach:




The beach itself was amazing:



It's hard to see from that photo, but there were pelicans that spent all day hanging out on the cliff to the left, sunning themselves and then swooping down to catch fish in the water below.

We settled ourselves in at one of these cabanas and didn't really move for a week:



The further up the beach you went, the more swimwear became optional. One afternoon I took a long stroll without my bikini top and it felt amazing--I've always envied men's ability to take off their shirts when the weather gets hot. On our last day, we laughed as an older man dashed back behind the bushes after going for a skinny dip. It was really lovely to be in a place where no one cared if you went au natural (though I think Lunchboy would say that mostly people who shouldn't be looked at took advantage of the policy).

In case the ocean got too rough, there was an infinity pool nearby:



What would vacation be without a resident cat (this one was especially friendly at lunchtime):




Around 5pm, we'd go up and settle ourselves onto the comfy chairs on the porch behind our room:



Our view from the porch:



See those boats on the water? The Heinecken Regatta was taking place during the week we were there. Neither of us had any idea what was going on (we are not boat savvy) but it was lots of fun to watch the boats go by.



Happy couple, warm and relaxed!