We were off the ship by 8:45. We had room service for breakfast, but I couldn’t really eat any of it…I was too tired and it felt too early…
We got a taxi to where we were supposed to meet our tour group. Our driver, Francis, was friendly. When we got to the tour group, the guy told us that our group didn’t start until 10:30…but the group we booked o0ur tour through never told us! So we had an hour to kill with not much around. We ended up walking about a half a mile up the street to a small beach near a hotel and a dive center. We went in the water for abo9tu 30 min to stay cool. There was a dog at the dive center. He didn’t come up and say hi, but he was very cute. While we were out in the water, the dog came out, walked into the water, swam around for a few minutes to cool off, and then continued on his way. (The dog wasn’t a stray…but he defiantly knew his way around his beach “back yard!” ) I wish Belle could do that!
We went back at 10:30 for our Rhino Rider Tour. Rhino Riders are small, flat bottom boats that seat two people, front and back, straddling a center console. Our guide, Sasha, took us out of the Lagoon (incidentally, St. martaan / martin has the largest natural lagoon in the Caribbean.) and up the coast, past Marigot, the French Capital. St. Martin/Martaan is the smallest piece of land owned by two governments…the north is French and the south is Dutch. Hence, the two spellings, and the two capitol cities. We docked on the Dutch side, but the beach we went to was on the French, so technically we saw bits of both sides.
So we took our Rhino Riders up the coast and stopped at Happy bay, where we had 40 min to snorkel, hang on the beach, or whatever. Grant and I snorkeled most of the time. When it was time to get back on the boat, Sasha had me turn around and he grabbed me under the armpits and pulled me in the boat…so I didn’t have to use my arm at all! That was very awesome of him, I thought.
We took our rhino riders back to the original dock…all told, the trip was about 2 1/2 hours. A lot of fun. When we got back, the guy that checked us in had arranged for us to ride back on the tour bus to the ship, which was awesome because we didn’t have to pay for a taxi!
Once back to the port, we went shopping because grant had forgot to pack black dress socks. So we bought a pair of socks and some post cards (big spenders, huh?) Also, we found a little shop that was able to replace Grant’s watch battery, which had gone out at the beginning of the cruise.
Once back at the ship, we showered and went up to the Windjammer for a late lunch. I cannot believe how much food they have in this place! It was hard but I didn’t eat much because we were going to Portofino’s for dinner.
After that we went up t our cabin to rest. Grant took a nap and I blogged.
At 6:45, we went to Portofinos for dinner. Portofino is a fine dining option that has a 20$ surcharge (that includes tip) per person. It is excellent. I had a crab and shrimp bisque, a pear, bleu cheese and candied walnut salad, and an entrée of garlic shrimp and asparagus. Grant had a salad with a goat cheese soufflé, a pasta appetizer with prosciutto, and an entrée of filet mignon. For desert, we shared a slice of flourless chocolate cake and the portofino tiramisu. The entire meal was excellent in every way!
After dinner, we went down to look at our portraits and purchased a few…I’m not crazy about any of them, but I am hoping that tomorrow night’s turn out better.
Then we went to the ice skating show called “Cool ARTS, Hot ice”. Let me tell you, it is a trip to see a figure skating show on a cruise ship. The rink is very small, and I was so afraid they were going to get hurt! But they did a very great job…the show was beautiful…
After dinner, we went to see the Love and marriage game Show, which is always funny. They had a couple who had been married 28 hours, a couple that had been married 60 years, and a couple that had been married for 17 years.
We decided to head back to the cabin because we were both pretty tired. However, I came out to the balcony to read the next chapter of Harry Potter and ended up staying up until 2 to finish the book. Let me just say, I did not know the ending. It was a complete surprise to me. I can’t say anymore. Well I can say lots more but I had better not…
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