The color of our attire should leave no doubt about what kind of place we are headed to!

From the airplane, it looks like a beautiful picture. In reality, those are vast amounts of stinking seaweed making its way from West Africa to the Caribbean. Hope we will not get too much of it.

Incredible water colors

SXM

The first beach we hit on the Dutch side of the island

I had seen pictures of planes landing right above the heads of beachgoers in Sint Maarten. After landing on the island, Sharmila and I changed our clothes in the rental car and went straight to Maho beach. Got to see some really big planes land literally a few hundred feet above the heads of beachgoers. It is a sight to be seen.

This is what my dream looks like – opening up a bar (a smaller one) on a beach in an island!

Meanwhile, the road right outside our hotel is very steep!

The virus is long gone. The masking requirements have not been removed yet!!

This is in Simpson Bay where we are waiting to take the boat to Anguilla.

After a failed attempt to take the public ferry (long queues that were not moving), we took a charter boat.

This is in Anguilla!

This is in Meads Bay Beach in Anguilla.

Other than eating mangoes from a street-side hawker, Sharmila’s usual ritual on an island is to find some local spicy sauce and bring them home. At Anguilla Four Seasons, the staff was so nice that they packed her a bottle of the sauce the chef makes from local ingredients!!

First we did not see any. Then we saw a lot of them!!!

The road up to the peak of Pic Paradis got so narrow and broken that we left the car on the side and trekked it up to the top.

This is on the French side.

Instead of taking the boat, we decided to take a puddle jumper. We had the whole plane to ourselves! When the pilot and co-pilot came on, it doubled the population in the plane!!

This is the Anse De Publica (Bay/Cove of the Public). You can see the beautiful beach at the end.

This capital town is famous for all the high end retail shops. However, we arrived on a Sunday. Most of them were closed. There was a local market that was wrapping up. We arrived a bit late for it, it would appear.

Complete with the yacht, the blue waters and near rectangular cove. The only difference is that the house roofs are a bit darker red than in Europe.

Apparently, this was mined up until 1972.

You can see how it completely messes up the water and the view. And it stinks!

It is a Sunday. The island party is on in full flow!!

There is nothing wrong with Atlanta swimming pools.

I was sinking in the island hotel pools with equal alacrity!

Great Bay Beach

I am not sure if I will make it back here again. I will surely miss it though!

We had just boarded our flight home. Our two little suitcases had already been checked in. They are both carry-on size and barely weigh anything, but we had picked up some local island hot sauce. Those, unfortunately, tend to get one into hot water with airport security.

All I had to do now was find my seat and slide in. I was this close to accomplishing that simple mission when I stopped in my tracks.

There was something sitting on my seat.

It looked like a gift bottle of some sort. My first thought was that the incoming passenger had forgotten it there. Or a passenger who had boarded prior to me had mistaken the seat number, left it there, and wandered off to the restroom. I stood there wondering what to do next, mentally preparing to flag down a flight attendant.

Fortunately, my ever-observant wife noticed something I had missed. (She has a penchant for pointing out my misses!)

“There is something written on it.”

Sure enough, there was.

It turned out the wonderful local Delta team in St. Maarten had left me a small gift. Along with a handwritten note thanking me for all the money… I mean… loyalty… I have shown them over the years. 🙂

I have to admit that the simple gesture made me smile. It wasn’t expected, and it certainly wasn’t necessary. But it made an ordinary flight home feel just a little more special.

Thank you to the Delta team in St. Maarten for the thoughtful surprise.

Now you’ve gone and done it.

I’ll just have to come back to the island.