Good Morning Star Shine!	Pool below the balcony	Sunrise over the Rainbow		Sunrise over the Rainbow
full kitchen in our unit	living space at the Sapphire	living room at the Sapphire	Balcony with Jacuzzi	View from our balcony toward Saba

Bought our day passes at the desk and set-up some chairs, walked to BayWatch and greeted all our good friends. Adrian's smile, "You want a Chili Omelet?" is something I've been waiting for for a long time. Regina had the pepper and onion scramble and I had my omelet.

We then had a fast walk up to Mt. Vernon and found most of our friends on Club Orient Beach upon our return. I greeted Dennis at Papagayos and as previously arranged, we gathered a small group of owners and friends who were expecting us and set-up a worship service with communion by the rocks in front of Papagayos. That would be repeated each Sunday the next two weeks.

The rest of the morning was catching up with friends and enjoying the sun. Not much wind today and so we spent a good amount of time in the water as well. Both Regina and I had done some tanning at "the electric beach" to get a base this year and I was so glad I had, as I could stay out in the sun much longer than my normal amount of time. Will have to do that again next trip.

Talked with Rich and Sandy over a 1 1/2 mudslide lunch and then walked back to Baywatch to spend time with Cheryl and Regina went to work doing a consult and treatment on LilDeb's ankle. She had torn the Achilles tendon and not taken the time to get it repaired or off her feet long enough to let it heal, so Regina did her magic on the swelling and then promised to bring her special tape the next day to fix her up.

While Regina did the treatment, Adrian worked on my phone and even he could not get it to work. Suggested that I stop at the Amego store in Marigot and give it a try there. Met up with Deepti's sister and a few cousins all enjoying lunch at Baywatch. had a great chat and heard that Deepti's home had been broken into while her Grandparents were there and they had been terrorized by the culprits. They were moving from the home into their condo at the Rainbow that weekend. The crime is beginning to get to everyone on the island.

Drove back to the Sapphire, met up with David and Pam and their two children, Charlotte and Richard. Had drinks in their Penthouse in tower 1. What a beautiful layout and spread.

Then is was soak for a bit in the Jacuzzi, take some photos of the sunset and clean up for a night out with Johann at the Stone. I had the seafood special, tilapia, tuna, shrimp and scallops. Regina had seaweed salad and salmon and cream cheese fitters. Both of us had his delicious sautéed veggies and sweet potatoes. Placed a call into the kids and told them to just call my regular phone number until I stored out the problems with the phone.

It was a beautiful night out on the balcony. Regina crashed early and I sat out on the deck reading until the moon set. If we had been over at Club Orient this night would have been one that I would have swum to the raft and watched the Southern Cross peek over the horizon. By this time I was deeply regretting my decision not to bring my good tripod as the photo opportunities from our balcony were incredible...

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December 31, 2007    -  New Years Eve

Glorious Day at Orient Beach!

Arrived late after stopping in Marigot at the Dauphin Store to attempt to get my phone working. The young lady at the desk was next to useless. Could not get my simm to work in her phone or mine. Eventually she actually sent me across the courtyard to the TelCel office and told me to ask a gentleman over there to take a look. In between customers he tried a couple settings and then said that he could not figure it out either. We later discovered that none of the Dauphin/Amigo Simms would work with a Motorola Razr V3.

Shared mudslides with Rich and Sandy again at the Perch. Then we walked down to KokoMarina for lunch. It is owned by Mariana, daughter of the former owner of California. Delightful couple... Split a seafood salad with lobster and shrimp. Rich had a Flank Steak with pepper sauce. We all had some veggies and rice and topped it off with a couple bottles of wine.

Rich and Sandy	The Special Menu board and the friendly dog who greetd us at KokoMarina	View from insdie KokoMarina

 

Stayed on the beach till sunset. Cleaned up at security and then dressed for NYE and walked down. Met Tom and Janey as they came in and spent some time at their studio before going on over to Papagayos.

Sat with our friends Paul and Nancy, Rich and Sandy, Mike and Julie and Dennis, when he wasn't doing his "butterfly" job of flitting around and making certain everyone was having a good time.

The buffet was EXCELLENT! Roast pig, lamb, shrimp, crawfish. Great salads and appetizer course before. The dessert was a wonderful chocolate torte.

Had dancers for entertainment. The DJ was great, we danced until the fireworks and then danced some more after.

For the first time ever, Regina drove home after a party like this so I did not have to be the designated driver. That was nice too!

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January 1, 2008    -  New Years Day

Ate breakfast in our unit. Eggs, broccoli, tomato and cheese omelet. Then a quick drive over to Club Orient as there was no traffic any where.

Swam from Raft to Raft with the GPS to measure the distance and coords for Jim and Dennis.

As I promised guys:

Raft 1        N18 05.027 W63 00.869  (Closest to the Perch)

Raft 2        N18 04.992 W63 00.828  (Middle Raft)

Raft 3        N18 04.962 W63 00.789  (Closest to Papagayos)

It appeared that the distance from Raft to raft was about 300 feet give or take 25 feet one way or the other depending on the drift of the rafts on their anchor chains. That made the distance from 1 to 3 about 1 tenth of a mile. Swim them back and forth and you have about a quarter mile give or take a few feet.

I snorkeled around looking for the elusive Flying Gurnard for quite some time. I did not see any adult versions of those beautiful fish, but I did see some babies that were so quick that every time I tried to take a picture I just got sea grass.

 

We snacked at the beach as Baywatch was closed. had mudslides with Brian and Eileen, and Deb and Tom. It is so good to be able to catch up with good friends!

Drove back to the Sapphire, while Regina was cleaning up I went down and picked up an Italian salad and Pizza and brought it up to the room. We polished that off along with 2 bottles of wine and then soaked in the Jacuzzi to watch the sunset... What a sunset it was!

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January 2, 2008

Up very early for me... read and watched the sunrise as the cruise ships came in from St. Thomas or St. Croix. Boy do I wish I had a tripod!

 

Ate breakfast in, eggs, hard meats, cheese and tea and juice.

Arrive early to the beach and walked it end to end in a little more than an hour. Later I walked again to go and talk with some of the vendors down the beach about nudity enforcement and so that morning I put in a bit over 6 miles. Never saw a single Gendarrme the entire day and neither had any of the staff at the various places I checked in at, Bikini, Coco, Waikiki, Pirate and Bay Watch. Looks like the Gendarmes have completely disappeared. Tried calling my contact in the French COM today and got his answering machine. We are supposed to meet before I go home. Hope it takes place.

Caribs at 11:30 with some snacks. Happy hour with Rich and Sandy and Deb and Tom while Regina did another treatment on Deb's ankle. Found out the Gilbert likes Club Soda and Whisky, so we bought him one and brought it over to the side where he was taking a break. Got to talking about goat ribs and he suggested a place called Enochs for that in Marigot near the market. he also invited us back to his home for the best homemade meal on the island. Will be taking him up on that offer next trip.

Wandered over to Bay Watch late for some ribs... Regina and I  tasted Ross's Bloody Mary drinks and boy were they good. Have to do that again!

Left the beach around 4:00. It took about 35 minutes to cross the island. Soaked in the Jacuzzi, watched the cruise ships and boats go by while David finished off another bottle of wine. Another salad and pizza for dinner. Still have not connected with Larry and Janice.   Later that night the Sapphire celebrated some one's anniversary with a fireworks display right around midnight. We had a front row seat with our balcony.

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January 3, 2008 - Happy Anniversary!

Since we were needing to be back by 2:00 for our massages, we planned a Cupecoy day for our anniversary.

Gorgeous sunrise again as I watched the cruise ships head into Great Bay. I saw at least 4 so that decided me against trying to go shopping in Philipsburg at all.

 

Ate breakfast in then we took a trip to the Lido for some good fresh veggies. Got caught at the bridge on our way back with several super yachts leaving. It was quite a sight! Stopped at the Health food store near the Rancho and bought some foods that we could not find at the other stores, plus some great fruits and organic dressings for our salads.

Made it back to our unit and wandered over to see Danny at Cupecoy. What a beautiful day! We were entertained by some Sand Pipers who kept coming up to our chairs for pieces of cracker. Swam and sunned, walked and watched the boats go by.  The sun was so hot that both Regina and I had to hide under the umbrella for a bit. I remember lifting a Carib more than once and both of us saying "It can not get much better than this!" Then it did! We shared a plate of ribs and rice and a couple of Caribs before we had to walk back to clean off the sand for our couples massage by Bianca in our room.

Touch of Healing Massage by Bianca, in your villa or your room is the way to go! Wow what a treat. She showed up right on time and treated Regina and I to one of the best massages I have ever had. You can reach her at 011 599 522 8144 from the States and 005995228144 when you are on the island. I emailed her at make_a_wish_come_true@yahoo.com, but she has intermittent access to email so you may just want to give her a call.It cost us $80/hour and we booked her for 2 full hours.

Regina went first and I meditated while waiting to some wonderful music she brought along. While I was being done, Regina waited for a while and then went down stairs to the Spa at the Sapphire and had her toes re-done for about $12. With her refreshed "bathing suit" Regina was now set for another week on Orient Beach <LOL> Then we just chilled out watching the sunset.

 

We had reservations for quite late at Peg Leg for our Anniversary dinner, so as we were mellowed out waiting, Butch n Kelly called from their place at the Summit. They brought over some beer and we finished off some wine and re-connected out on our deck.

All of us ventured over to Peg Leg together. Regina and I had melt in your mouth Filet Mignons. Scotch and wine. Butch had the Petit Filet and Kelly had a shrimp salad combo that was just delicious. Regina and Butch got to talking with Shawn about the Greenhouse and the Flying Dutchman after dinner coffee drink, so Shawn gave them a try... I am not certain he got it completely right, but they all agreed that it was tasty just the same. He gave the drink a new name just for the occasion, "Two F__king Idiots!"  <LOL> We called Jim and Bev from the restaurant and put Shawn on the phone so he could talk with our good friends who gave us this night out as such a special treat. Thanks Jim!

Captain Neil brought his boat into Peg Leg for the Pub Crawl, so we had a great time saying hello!			Shawn wishes us a Happy Anniversary

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January 4, 2008 - A Day At Cupecoy

Back to our more organic diet. We had stopped the day before at the Health Food Store in Simpson's Bay so we had breakfast of some organic granola, rice milk and some organic cheese with fruit. While we were sitting out on our deck we watched 4 cruise ships go by on their way into Phillipsburg. While Regina was reading and getting ready for the day, I went down to the fitness room and worked out. Boy does the Sapphire need to upgrade the equipment. Then while I was showering, Regina fixed up a nice salad for the beach for Kelly and we walked over and grabbed chairs with Danny for the 4 of us.

Fred and Leslie joined us and we had a great day on Cupecoy. A couple short rain showers late in the morning, cleared the humidity out of the air and the rest of the day it was just beautiful.

David, Pam, Charlotte joined us for their last morning at the beach before having to head back to the airport. Charlotte has been really hampered with a difficult abdominal injury and chronic pain for quite a while, so the gals went off to a more private part of the beach and Regina did a treatment and then consulted with Pam as to some of the treatment alternatives that she could search for back home.

We had ribs and rice for lunch, exhausting our supply of Caribs that we brought with us so we just had to order a few more from Danny.

Fred and I partnered up and we went for some extensive snorkeling along the whole of Cupecoy. First time I had snorkeled outside of the famous rock and all the way over to Cupecoy Beach Club. The wave action that day was extensive, so it was very cloudy but I was able to get some photos of the reefs and some fish along the way. I also took some photos of the beaches from the ocean. With the strong currents and wave action, that was much harder than it sounds.

 

We met Butch n Kelly at the Thai Savannah. Had Pad Thai, Satay Chicken, Sweet and Sour Chicken and Veggie Spring Rolls.

 

Tried our hand at the slots at the Atlantis Casino. Once we both had lost our allotment, we drove back to the Sapphire and both picked up our books we had been reading on the beach and finished them.

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January 5, 2008 - Moving Day

Breakfast in of our granola and fruit. Packed up our stuff and walked over to Cupecoy only to find 12-15 foot high roller breakers pounding the beach. The waves were so strong and high that there were danger flags on the ships off the point and the hard core surfer crowd was catching the waves and riding them into the Cupecoy Beach Club Beach and beyond. Met Butch n Kelly who gave us a lift back to the Sapphire as we returned to our room and waited there for word when we could do the move.

While I was taking a shower, Regina saw Larry and Janice having breakfast by the pool and so ran down to catch-up. I followed but missed her as she was coming up in one elevator as I was going down the in the other.

We got our call around 10:30 and were told that our room was ready over in tower 3. Room 334. Not as clear a view, but also not as exposed to the pool so we could use our balcony more naturally. While we were unpacking, I ordered a pizza and salad to go, plus bought a couple cold caribs and we ate our lunch out on the balcony and then went off to Philipsburg for shopping.

Stopped at Rima and got our annual stash of gifts for friends. Regina got 3 sun dresses. Then off to Front Street. Had Regina's rings re-sized and her pendant polished. We also had some preliminary conversations about getting Regina's mother's Aquamarine ring converted into a pendant. Deepti was not there, so we left to take a walk down Front Street for more shopping. One of Deepti's brothers ruined the surprise I had been working on for 6 months with Deepti by telling Regina when we walked in that her bracelet had not yet arrived... oh well. I was going to have to spill the beans some time or other any way. More on that in a couple of days when the bracelet did arrive.

Shopped up and down Front Street for the kids and for myself. I had wanted a good ETL Speedlite Electronic Flash for my Canon Digital SLR camera and was surprised that no one had them on any kind of sale. The prices were actually higher than I could get them from a pro camera store here in the states, even paying cash. Bought the kids some sliver chains and earrings for the girls. Special bag for Rachel and a cute summer outfit for Zachary.

We did have a blast going to the Yoda Guy Gallery. We met Nick Maley and his lovely wife Gloria at the gallery. We spent altogether too much of their time talking about the movies and about his art. Bought Matt some special things there.

His biography and cinematography history  can be found here at his Web site :     http://www.yodaguy.com/

 

 

On the way home we got stuck in bridge traffic, so we stopped at Toppers and had an early dinner. Regina had the Brisket Sandwich and David had the Black and Blue (Angus Beef with blue cheese).. We were home by 7:30 and Regina was asleep by 7:45. I sat out on the balcony and watched the moon rise over the ocean.

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January 6, 2008 - A Day At Club Orient

Ate breakfast in our room, packed up our stuff for Orient and also packed up some clothes for the evening as we had planned with Butch n Kelly to meet there and go out for dinner on the French side some place on the way home. We made it through Marigot before 8:00 am and on the beach to stake out chairs for Butch n Kelly, Larry n Janice, Kevin and Suzie and Rick and Deb. Once we had done that we went for our walk by 8:15.

Walked the beach and saw no gendarmes and very few others for that matter. Coco Beach was deserted.

When we returned to the beach we saw another couple who had staked out some chairs looking around for people they recognized. So we walked up and introduced ourselves. It turned out that it was Rick and Deb. They had saved chairs for Kevin and Suzie too, what a hoot. Eventually having that many chairs saved was a good thing because Fred and Leslie and Scottie and Carol also joined us. It was a great time to catch up with every one.

While some of that was going on, I wandered down and joined Paul D and the Church of the Naked Truth <LOL>, for a church service led by Paul. Later on that morning we gathered by Papagayos at 11:00 and did a communion service for the late rising crowd. Felt just like home with the early and late services.

Ate lunch at Bay Watch with Scottie and Carol. We had 2 Bloody Mary's each, Beer Battered Scallops for me. Caesar Scallops for Regina. Polished off a

 Carib bought for us by some one Regina had treated on the beach and then split a piece of cheese cake. Yum! All that for about $70.00.Scottie took the occasion to present Andy with a special apron bought for him last winter in Montreal.

Andy's New Apron

 

Spent a wonderful afternoon on the beach. Regina did another treatment on Rich at his chair and in the water. It is amazing the progress we have seen in just a week and even more amazing that he was in a wheel chair just a few short weeks ago from his terrible accident. Rich and Sandy invited us back to their bungalow at Club Orient so I could check emails and then we packed up and drove over to Kevin and Suzie's at The Cottages to clean up for our night out at Gut Side. While I was checking emails, got a phone call from Deepti, the bracelet had arrived. When can we come in to size it?

Table for Ten please! Scottie and Carol, Butch n Kelly, Keve n Suz, Rick and Deb and David n Regina. I had the broiled Mahi Mahi, Regina had the stewed Chicken. Suzie had the shrimp again, as did Rick and Deb. I can not recall what the others had but all said that it was delicious. $50.00 for the two of us with our glasses of wine and the meals and the rum, can't beat that!

After dinner we did rum shots and talked late into the night with Richard and Lourdes. They tied the knot this year. 

 

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January 7, 2008 - Another Day at Club Orient

Brisket with eggs for Regina, left over pizza and hard boiled eggs for DHB. Packed the water and snacks and headed for Orient.

Don't think I have ever seen traffic so bad, so early in the morning. We got stuck at the bridge, stuck at the Marina, stuck going all the various back roads, it was just complete grid lock through the city both ways today. Double YUK!

It was a great day on Orient. Started making connections with folks for the Celine Cruise. Met Laura and Bill, friends of Randy and John, they want to come. Regina did another treatment on LilDeb's ankle and we asked her and Tom. They are in too. Don't know about Tom and Janey and Fred and Leslie's friends, but Carol and Scott have some friends they want to bring, so we may be full any way.

Went back to the Sapphire and got totally stuck in traffic again going through Marigot. By the time we got back to our unit I was totally fried, so we ditched our plans to go out for the evening, ordered a pizza and salad from down stairs and enjoyed a bottle of wine and snuggle in the hot tub and life was good again!

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January 8, 2008 - Bling - Bling!

Into Phillipsburg to meet with Deepti and pick up the much anticipated bracelet.

Let's start at the beginning. A couple years ago Regina had let me know that she really wanted a nice Peridot bracelet to wear. Peridot is her birth stone and her Dad had once given her a Peridot ring that she treasured for a long time. We had just lost her Dad during the summer so my mind got to work. I had Regina try a diamond tennis bracelet during our trip in July, so I knew what style she liked, we even tried several weights and sizes of stones, so I had a good idea of that as well. I contacted Deepti by email and fax and showed her photos I had taken the previous trip of the styles and set her free to create a bracelet that would meet her high standards. We were not disappointed!

Deepti took months trying to located 35 matching weight and color stones. Two sets of stones later, she finally had them mounted in a solitaire tennis bracelet style with gold prongs. In the course of obtaining the stones she had to go up a couple weights in size to get the color and brilliance that she was looking for. It was worth the upgrade for the effect.

 

 

As usual, Regina's wrist was too small, so Deepti had to take out 4 of the links to get the correct fit. We had planned that on the phone as well. Deepti and Regina designed up a pendant out of the links to go with a new necklace. Thus the ensemble was complete. Then we got to work in designing up Regina's mothers Aquamarine pendant. Deepti came to the rescue there too, with an elegant but simple designed setting matched with a two tone Omega necklace.

While we were there, Butch n Kelly came in, so we celebrated together with a couple glasses of champagne as the two girls went to town for Kelly. She fell in love with the Peridot bracelet and as it is her birth stone too, well something had to be done! The girls designed a pendant for Kelly along with some Peridot earrings that looked just gorgeous.

They were still waiting for one of their pieces to come back from the jeweler's workshop when we had to dash back to the Sapphire to meet Bianca for our second set of couple's massage at our unit. These massages were even better than the ones we had 5 days earlier. She knew just where to go...

While we just melted back into our bed for a nap, the sun started to set... It was one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen in my life. So out came the camera while we enjoyed a glass of champagne in the Jacuzzi.

 

We had made arrangements to meet Neil at Uncle Harry's for dinner. I thought that meal was just so, so. Regina loved her beef, I had the shrimp. We called it an early night as we had our day sail on the Celine the next morning.

January 9^th    Celine Day .             Back to the Top

 

Early start in order to be at the dock by 7:00. Actually got there lots earlier with no traffic for a Wednesday morning. As is our usual practice, we were the first to arrive, followed by Nikki, Neil's new hostess and first mate. I now see why Neil has raved about Nikki so much. She is a well acquainted with boats, having sailed quite a bit, she also knows her way around the galley and is not afraid of the work all the work that a boat entails. In addition she has a great sense of humor and wonderful smile, what more can you ask for in a first mate?

 

The others soon trickled in. Butch n Kelly, Fred n Leslie, Deb and Rick, Kev n Suzie, Scottie and Carol, Gary and Joanne, Tom and LilDeb and Bill and Laura. With us and Neil and Nikki it made for a total of 20 on the boat. We were in for a great day.

 

Left to right sitting:  Carol, Suzie, Regina with David kneeling behind) LilDeb, Joanne.  Standing: Butch, Rick, Bill (in back), Deb (with Tom in back), Laura standing in the far back, Leslie, Kevin, Kelly, Scottie, Gary and Fred.

Our breakfast was Croissants, (with some special ones purchased at the new bakery in the Royal Islander plaza, Cereal, yogurt, Fresh Fruit, Coffee, Juice. We were all so busy eating I don't think anyone bothered to take a photo of the spread. Those new croissants were especially delicious.

The morning on the ride out was a pleasant sail for all, (except Kelly, even her special seasickness pills from Captain Bill did not work all that well).  It was a bit chilly that morning so many did not exercise the clothing option till we got almost all the way to Tintemarre when the sun finally came up full force. That meant I could take a lot more photos and show folks enjoying the sail.