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What is your favorite memory/experience from a past St. Maarten trip? And what makes it so special and/or memorable? Thought it would be interesting to hear the different stories.

Our first trip to Orient Beach. We were nervous but excited. The first time we "dropped our drawers" it was sooooo exhilarating.

I was about to say the same thing. Now we both hate feel of a soggy suit clinging to us. And, of course, the restaurants.

Goodness, there are so many to choose from! But, one that I will always remember that still stands out goes back pre-Irma (2015 or so). Caught a taxi from Holland House to the Butterfly Farm (La Ferme des Papillons) on the french side. We did not rent a car this particular trip for whatever reason. Had a wonderful learning experience surrounded by stunning colors as the butterflies fluttered around us with one little fellow landing on my shoulder. The guide told me he was attracted to the color of my shirt (almost a fluorescent salmon) and that if he stayed attached to me that signified 'good luck'. As it turned out, this little guy hung with me for the rest of our tour (about 20 minutes or so) before taking off trying to find a lady butterfly, I suppose. The tour guide just laughed and told me that was longest he had ever seen a butterfly stay with a person in all the time he worked there. When our visit was over, we then walked to Le Galion beach for some relaxation and met some exceptionally nice people there who I told about my butterfly experience. They encouraged me to 'go to the casino' that night while the 'good fortune' was hot and we obliged that evening after we returned to the dutch side. Never did $100 disappear so fast as it did that evening as my slots play did not record a single positive spin! Just laughed it off and told my wife maybe that was the wrong butterfly that landed on me! But, when the Butterfly Farm got flattened by Hurricane Irma a few years later I felt terrible, and to this day I really miss that place and hope someday it will return.

CaribLee--Wow, really hard to come up with one. So, I will cheat and come up with two. First, December 31, 1999, standing on Club Orient beach, watching fireworks. Seeing in the Millenium, at my favorite place on earth.

Second, totally different thing. Some may consider this one weird, but The best meal I ever ate--at Dreams

Like many others here, too many great memories to count, over the years.

Here are just a few.....

Hanging for the day at Scavengers on Dawn Beach (before the Westin ruined it!), snorkeling and body surfing all day long, Marla's fantastic grilled grouper for lunch, lots of cold Heinekens and good laughs with Tyson at the bar, a grand total of 7 or 8 people on the beach all day. My idea of what a Caribbean beach and Caribbean Beach Bar should be.

Rented 50" sailing cat for the day from Private Yacht Charters in Oyster Pond. Breakfast for all at Busbies first, then sail around the island, passing Sunset just as the KLM 747 was landing over our heads, lunch at Friars Bay Cafe, snorkeling at Creole Rock, and off of Anse Marcel, plus at Tintamarre surrounded by 30+ sea turtles, dinner at Canoa on the dock upon return. A day with family and very good friends that I will never forget.

Third, and I'm with Carol on this one, a day at Dreams, where all family members - aged 5 to 65 - proclaimed this to be the best lunch we had ever had. That's saying something in SXM, and with tastes that ranged from pizza to fois gras!

All great memories. The only sad part is that many of my very best memories involve places that are no longer there (tears!). The people are though, and that's what counts the most.

Cheers

Like others there are many. My fav

We had a 2 week trip that spanned the last week in August and the first in September.... not really knowing at the time that September was the very slow season and many places closed. We often ate 2 or 3 times during a trip at Talk of The Town in Grand Case.... So we arrive on August 29 and settled in for a great meal... I don't remember names like others but we had a particular server. As we were preparing to pay our bill we told him we would be back once more next week before we left and he said "Oh no sorry... We shut down the entire month of September".. BUT he says on August 31 (stating whatever of the day of the week it was) I want ya'll to come back as my guest. The owners clean out all of the food by serving for free to all of the locals; the beer will be free; there will be a band.

Sooo we show up and were among maybe 10 "tourists" i.e. not locals out of maybe 200-300 people... It spilled over to the street and we danced and ate and drank the night away

Great memory

Liz

As above...our first experience at the Club Orient beach in 1989. Since then, we have met some of our best, and most genuine, friends in the world at Club Orient.

St. Paddy's day parties at Baywatch !

X'2 for Scavengers.........sealed the deal for a 25 + year affair.......

The day we got our keys to SBYC apartment. Voting day on Dutch Side (Theo's first race). We went to French side to buy booze and food to celebrate.

(1) Going to watch the Eagles play the Patriots in the Super Bowl at what at the time was a Restaurant in Orient Village. Today I believe it is either a dance studio or maybe smalll grocery store. They sat us on one side of the stage wit all the other Eagles fans and the Patriot fans sat on the other side. The Eagles lost, but we had the best time!
(2) Or first ever trip to Pinel. Must have been 20 years ago now, but riding in that over-crowded ferry was a real treat. We walked to the top of the hill and then down to the other side to explore a bit more. Great time and the small store was interesting as were the many iguanas.
(3) Trip to Anguilla on the ferry, renting a car and driving to the beach and making a visit to Bankie Banks bar and meeting him. Happened to be the day after Jimmy Buffet sang at the place. Bankie signed a photo I had of hi which I sill have.
(4) Visiting the Fort in Marigot and then getting to meet Sir Roland Richardson.
(5) Our first time at Club O.
(6) Day I found out I had shingles on my leg and went to a doctor in Philipsburg who had no idea what it was. My wife suggested shingles, since she had already had it, and after using his computer...agreed with her. He said it was too late to treat it and I should just have to wait until it went away.
(7) Hey....I could go on and on. Every trip brings something new that we add as some of our favorite memories. Type in "https://lifewithldub.blogspot.com" on your computer and then type in the white box, top left, "Saint Martin" and or "SXM". You'll find many stories about our favorite vacation spot.

I'm going to throw one out that's a little different. We all remember Dennis McBriarty and his dear wife Michelle!!! One year, Dennis comes up with this great Halloween costume party Idea. We all go as retire decrepit bikers!! Louise and I had been to SXM for more than a few times since 02! So at this point, we knew our way around, and a 7 night vacation wasn't going to wet anyone's whistle. SO We booked 7 nights at the then Cap Caribe's. Then 1 night for the party at the then Summit hotel and another 7 nights at Mary's Boone!! Yes we booked THREE places for one vacation!! Yeah, we're a lil crazy!! On some other thread I will tell you about the party!! God bless Dennis and Michelle!!

In Marigot there use to be a British pub that had trivia nights. We had so much fun, and met people that we wound up spending time with throughout our trip.
Also, King Beau Beau and his Beau-bettes could always be counted on for a wonderful show and some fun give-aways.
I guess what helps make these special is that they are no longer available, and we look back wistfully ... and, of course, always open to new and wonderful memories going forward!

Could the ‘pub’ referred to above be David’s? If so, believe it or not, they used to serve possibly the best onion soup au gratin. It still stands out in my mind.

Another great memory for my family was the original Zee Best Sidewalk cafe in Marigot and the spiel the host would use to suck you in. Back then they would bring a basket of pastries to accommodate the size of the group and offer more if needed. It was so much fun to sit on the sidewalk across from the cemetery and watch the world pass by.

And lastly, among all our incredible memories of almost fifty years of annual trips to Sint Maarten were, were the many meals we enjoyed at ANTOINES on Front Street, both under the Captain and his wife right up through the ownership of Jean Pierre who currently owns The French Touch on Old Street.

So many wonderful memories…….I could go on and on but I’ll spare you all! 😊😊

I remember sitting on our deck at the Summit, when you bikers walked by to the bar.
I don't remember seeing other bikers, around here, wearing similar pants!! LOL

Terri-- Somehow, I get that visual!!

Yes, David's Pub. David &Tess Tyzack and Peter Hudson.

pat--No, please do go on!! Looking forward to hearing more of people's favorite moments!!

Hmm she should tell the story of the “bug” in my sisters French onion soup! Or security catching my sis sneaking into the condo in mullet hahaha. Or eating at Antiones during the carnival parade!!

Wasn't our first time being CO but my wife took to it like a fish to water. We sailed to other islands but were happy to return to Orient Beach and yes, you do meet the nicest people there.

Our very favorite would be our first trip to the island. May, 1985...stayed at Mullet Bay Resort. Rented a car and toured the whole island. The charm of Marigot and Grand Case. Discovered Orient with a baguette and some Laughing Cow cheese. It was undeveloped at that time and very beautiful. Some hustle bustle on Front Street. Ate at the Rusty Pelican..the future location of the Greenhouse. But the most memorable part was the day we were leaving...sitting at the outdoor bar, drinking a Pina Colada and realizing We couldn’t wait to come back! We had been to a number of lovely places..Maui, Kauai and Oahu had been favorites.
The next time we returned we brought our sons and bought pre construction timeshare at Royal Islander Club which we still own. We have never missed a year on the island since. Subsequently bought a condo at Simpson Bay Yacht Club. After 10 years, we sold that and bought a condo at Rainbow Beach Club which we still own. We spent 7 months of the covid lockdown there..a truly wonderful 7 months! Actually, one of our sons and his family are there enjoying it with his family this week.
Long story short...sipping that Pina Colada at Mullet.. and knowing we were hooked...seems like yesterday!

Probably in the early to mid eighties:

We were enjoying what we had hoped to be a romantic dinner, just the two of us, at Antoines. Out of nowhere we started to feel the floor vibrating beneath our feet. No noise, just a vibration that got stronger and stronger. I’d not even finished one glass of wine so I knew it wasn’t that making the earth move under my feet.

We were about to ask what was going on when we started to hear music in the distance. Lots of music. As we sat there eating, it got louder. As it came closer and got louder yet, the waiter finally came by and told us we were lucky because by the time we finished our meal they'd probably be just about out front and we could see the pre-carnival parade up close and personal from the sidewalk.

We had never heard of the “pre-Carnival” parade and would never have ventured into town that night had we known about it. Not exactly the romantic dinner we had planned on but interesting, for sure. But at the same time, a unique island experience.

The parade finally made its way down Front Street to our general location. I think every large truck on the island was tricked out with bands, singers, dancers and speakers running off generators attached was in that parade - and OMG! They were blaring their speakers at the highest volume level, I’m sure. And I’m equally certain that half the island population had come out to enjoy and be a part of the event.

The followers were dancing down the street with the parade behind, in front of and along side the trucks, shaking their bodies to the pulsating tempo of the music of their particular truck. We’d never before seen anything like it, nor have we since. I won’t go into detail about the dancing but it was certainly a sight to see.

Pat--nice story.

We were on island a few years back when Wilhelm and Maxima came to the island. We stay on Front St. in Philipsburg so it was quite easy for us to head down the street to watch the Royals tour the island. Their first stop was at the Oranje School in which the kids there were wonderful. After that they walked down Front St. to the Methodist Church. I was there with our Dutch friend who was decked out with orange flowers in her blonde hair and the King walked directly across the street and spoke Dutch to us (actually her, lol). I was in awe that I was a mere two feet from the King with no security smothering him and he was so down to earth. It was such an incredible thing to bear witness too. It was one of those "only in St. Maarten "moments for sure.

A few other recollections - most of them things that made me chuckle, versus destinations/experiences per se.

First, as I noticed that Neil R. popped into this thread for a moment, the 101 occasions I spent hanging with interesting folks at the ORIGINAL Sunset, as created and operated by Neil, and way before it turned into Coney Island. A very cool place then. I don't go near it now.

Now, a few things that made me chuckle, and/or shake my head.....

My first experience as a customer at Scotia Bank in P'burg. 2nd in line, lots of staff, and it took me well over an hour to complete one simple transaction. And this after being introduced to the Head Teller by the Branch Manager. One-and-done for me with in-person banking in SXM.

On a similar note, the series of little signs along Sucker Garden, coming out of P'Burb, that sequentially asked simple questions: "Tired of Standing in Line?"; "Are you Tired of Wasting Time?", "Does it Take Hours to Pay Your Bills?" etc., etc. These signs always got my attention. The only problem was that there was never a sign with the answer of what to do about it! Just questions, I guess.

The sign on the gate on the path going to Cliffhangers that read " No Rightaway".

The septic pumping trucks signed with the slogan "We Pump What Our Competition Talks"

The speed bump at the start of the paved section on the "road" from Tamarind/ Dawn Beach Estates to Oyster Pond. The speed bump was placed immediately after 500 yards or so of "road" that looked like it had hosted a major tank battle.

The convenience store in P'Burg branded and signed "24/7", with a small sign just under it stating "Closed Wednesdays".

The little shop on Back Street that sold only two things....electric guitars, and electric fans. I always thought this was brilliant, as, as far as I know, nobody had ever before thought of this highly targeted business concept. It may well now be franchised around the globe. I don't know.

The time after Lenny when they finally got around to turning Sucker Garden Road back into an actual road. There was a crew working on the twisty/turny section of the road going up the hill, with only a very slim single "lane" to pass through. They dutifully had two flagmen on the road, one at about where the Rainbow is, the other at the top of the hill where the carwash is now. The only problem was that these two guys could not see each other, so they each waved cars through at the same time. I got through just before the predicable total gridlock developed.

And, many, many other examples. If I lived there, all of this would drive me nuts, but as a visitor, it just adds to the special island character.

Cheers

Surick--great story!!

Greenfields--thanks so much for posting!

Thanks Carol. And thanks for running this site, a great place for all to share information and favourite memories.

This is a "don't get me started" topic for me!

Just a few other random memories....

One of the first times I played golf at Mullett, with a couple of good buddies, and the course pro/Manager (who is a great guy, doing the very best he can with the $122 budget he is given to work with!). I hit my drive on the first hole, but had no idea where it went. Felt good in my hands, but my vision sucks, so I asked my playing mates where it went. Answer from the Pro was "in the rough, right in the middle of the fairway". OK, so ya gotta be a golfer to get this one.

Back in the day, when Lady C was one happening place, and a lot of fun, aided greatly by Brian (now owner of the SM Yacht Club), who was the hardest-working, friendliest and most efficient bartender ever on that island. We always got our drinks quickly from Brian, no matter how crazy the place was. Made even more amazing by the fact that Brian, at the time, appeared to be 12 years old. He is much older now......he looks 21 or so now.

No idea what the deal is now, but in the early days of the Isle de Sol mega-yacht marina, you had to pass through a guard gate, and tell them the purpose of your visit to get in there. A couple of my good island friends made a game of seeing how ludicrous an answer they could give, and still be let in. A couple of my favourites were "just dropping off a few cases of Anthrax", and "just going in to harvest fresh body organs". They were let in every time. Makes me very comfortable about the idea of keeping my mega yachet there, once I become a billionaire.

One new years eve, my daughters and I and a couple of island buddies went up to Orient to watch the fireworks show and ring in the New Year. There was some kind of special deal going on at Waikiki (I think?), for $150 or something like that, for your food and drinks for the night. One of our buddies was in there, but it was crazy packed, couldn't get a drink, yada-yada, so he told us to save our money. We did, and just hung at the little bar down by Bikini, which was open for the night. The fireworks were great, and were sent up by French firefighters from a raft anchored out in the bay. Very good idea, since there have been more than a couple of tragic outcomes involving fireworks in SXM over the years. Anyway, a great fireworks show. However, at 1:30 a.m. or so, we noticed a strange glow, getting bigger and brighter, out in the bay. It was the firefighters raft!, which eventually provided just about as bright a light display as the fireworks did, as it burned away to nothing. So much for safety!

And, on and on......

greenfields---Definitely get the golf joke!! Yup, Brian is seriously 'the man' and can't believe how young he was when he first arrived in SXM. Great story about Isle de Sol! We had always been intimidated by the guard there. Guess we shouldn't have been!!!!!!!!!

Greenfields,

Your golfing story made me chuckle.

For the first 18 or so ears we visited SXM we stayed at Mullet Bay Resort in a two bedroom suite just across the Hillside road from, I think, the second tee.

Being an early riser back in the day, I would make a pot of coffee and take it out on the porch along with whatever book I was reading, to catch the early morning rays and to feed the yellow birds their morning sugar fix.

It was almost funny to hear the golfers frustration as they teed off. You would hear the thwack sound of club hitting the ball and then the swishing sound as the ball flew through the leaves and finally, too many times, the aggravated utterances of the golfer saying, “$hit!!” as the golf ball hit any one of the trees there.

Hi Pat.

Yep, second hole, short par 4, but trees all down the left, out-of-bounds right, and I have found both, on many occasions. So sorry to have been one of the golfers who ruined your peace and tranquility with your early bird friends! "$hit" might be one of the tamer utterances to spill from my mouth on several occasions.

Also, so sorry to learn about what happened with The Towers. I never stayed there, but it always appeared to be the sole remaining beacon of what Mullet once was, and could again be. Sadly, not it my lifetime, it would appear. Very sorry about how this has affected you and friends.

That’s the spot alright! And honest, what I said I heard was really the worse I ever heard so no worries at what you might have said. 🙂🙂

Yes, the Towers situation really stinks but I’m lucky in that we got in preconstruction and were able to use all our four weeks for almost thirty years. We had an awesome unit with an incredible view of much of the island from our 7th floor location. If you never experienced the original Mullet Bay Resort it’s hard to portray what a great place it was and explain it to others. We miss the Towers but we moved on to Beachside Villas, another incredible place to call home for our annual visits. My heart aches for others who lost their Towers units and particularly those who might owe money on them.

Dare I post these last two memories? Oh, what the heck.

Hopefully no one will be offended by my words or reactions and everyone will remember these were the thoughts and experiences of a somewhat sheltered female from a very small town in the early eighties and you need to remember I was fairly young and had led a somewhat sheltered life in the realm of worldly experiences on the occasion of both .

Cupecoy - we finally decided we were going to spend a day there, John, having swam over from Mullet with our girls the previous year, had been there already and assured his hesitant wife it would be an experience.

Well, it was, for sure!

We parked and started down what was only a path to the beach back then and as we got to the last boulder before stepping onto the sand, I encountered the largest hairy and bare backside I’d ever seen. It, the behind that is, was bending over trying to step back into his street clothes. I was so shocked I did a full u-turn on the rock-like step and actually crashed into John in my anxiousness to leave. No way he could convince me to give it another go. So much for Cupecoy.

Orient Beach - our second visit, the premier visit being in 1973 or ‘74 - what an incredible time to be there and see OB in all its glory, but the first visit with others in a timeframe when it was being rapidly developed. I’m thinking ‘85, we were on island with my Sister and BIL who really wanted to see and experience Orient in all its splendor. We got there and were showing them the where and how of Orient. We were sitting on the brink of a good sized sand cliff chatting and I was having a cigarette. Yes - I smoked back in the day…….

We could see a guy jogging down the beach dressed in the altogether but he was at least wearing a baseball cap. Don’t you know, he stopped in the sand directly below and in front of us, took off his cap and pulled out his cigarettes but had apparently lost his matches along the way. So don’t you know, he climbed up the sand cliff and asks me for a light.

I guess I need not say what part of his anatomy was waving at me. I was mortified and to this day my BIL loves to remind me of my naïveté back then. To that point in my life, nudity was not part of my public being and he loved the reaction he used to get from me when he brought it up.

I’ve come a long way since then……🤭🤭

Dare I post these memories?

Well my Dear , I never look lol .

It wasn’t a matter of looking or not looking. I almost crashed into the bent over behind which was part of my personal embarrassment. 🤭🤭

Lovin' it!!! Thanks for posting!

My favorite times are always when we get to spend time with our island friends but two stories that are a key to us to keep coming back to meet island friends. Our first trip we read up a bit and one of the places that was suggested we go to was Pedro's and they had a band playing, they were due for a break but the rain started and so they kept playing. We weren't as quick to leave our lounge chairs as others so there were no more seats left but a waiter named Buff found two chairs and found us space under an eve until a spot opened up. When a table did open up he held it for us and moved us over and bought us a couple beers. The band kept playing and playing as the rain kept coming and coming. We felt very welcome.

Our second story would be that on that first trip we went to a touristy store at the far end of front street and bought a decorative plate and two other items, well the plate broke on the way home. We did not go back for about 21 months but when we did we went back to the store and the person at the store stated that she remembered us and of course we were thinking no way with all those cruise ship people each day that she would remember us and it was a line, but she then told us the three things we purchased 21 months prior to that. What we learned after many trips is that being remembered is not as uncommon as one would think.

We love the beaches, the food, the weather but the love affair began because of the people and that is the real reason we keep going back.
Cheers,
Todd

And as Todd and others have said, the people and how we met, some of the best memories of all and all of them great peeps.

I often read people commenting as to how they meet the nicest people on OrientBeach. I would suggest we have met them all over the island - in the shops, in restaurants, in bars, at parties and gatherings and on the various beaches and even here on line.

We have been so very well blessed in all our travels to have met some of the nicest people in the world and all on St. Martin island. Barbara and Dee, Sharon, Elaine, Bill, Shurma, Manu, Jean Pierre, Ronalee and JD, James, Irma, Shirley, Max, Todd, MJ, GAKaye and David, Carol, Jeannie, Mo, Terry and Rit, Michele and Terry, Smarthie, Lesley, Irina and this is just a small part of my list, not to mention all those people we’ve met on line but haven’t really spent much time with on island - Mike, Joyce, Leona, Andre, Teri, Elizabeth, Linda, Pat and Bill, Louise and David and the list goes on and on and on. So many others whose names will keep me thinking all night and feeling bad about those I’ve missed.

And people ask why we love SXM?! 😊😊

Edited to add:

I should probably delete this as I know there are others I’ve forgotten and I may still hit delete………

That was a great night!!! Summit was a cute hotel!! We had not found BSV, so you were cheating on BSV???LOL!!!