St Maarten - Day 2 Blog

From St Maarten - Day 2

Today’s big plan: shopping. It rained just as much today as it did yesterday, so shopping was the goal for the day. We made our way down to town around nine, to eat breakfast and head out for the main shopping district. Breakfast took us down to a little bagel shop, with some great eggs (bagel with eggs, feta, and peppers for Diane), and headed into Phillipsburg, just as the heavy rain began to kick in.

Phillipsburg is filled with typical cruise-fare, hundreds of jewelry shops willing to sell you anything at a great deal, 50% off and no taxes, clothing shops with any major brand you can think of, and stuff from French and Italian designers that you’ve never heard of. A few hours of walking around led us to, well, nothing; a lackluster day of shopping in a too-overdone shopping district. Only one shop caught my interest, and it was a little too pricey for me.

On the way home, let’s just say I took a few wrong turns, ended up back where I started from more than once, and wasn’t the most confident of drivers (only to repeat that almost again later tonight). We finally made it back to our room after a 90-minute, ten mile drive. We decided to visit our local beach, find a geocache, and take a breather for a bit.

The highlight of the day was going back to Rainbow Café for dinner. Since the day wasn’t the best for a vacation, it needed a highlight, and what better way than to repeat something that had Diane crying over her meal? This time, it was a bottle of wine, a fantastic salad, a tomato and mozzarella appetizer, Diane with a steak filet, and me with an almond crusted salmon, both served with the best potato I’ve had in a long time, and great beans. Finally, the meal was ended with some fantastic Italian espresso. It hit the spot, and made for a wonderful day.