The Return Home

This used to be my parent's restaurant..The Sand Piper..but as you see things have changed
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I grew up here, went to school, got married for the first time here...so It was an emotion first trip home in over 10 years.

I was able to revisit my Elementary & high school, my home, and to revisit old friends. Things have changed allot, more traffic, more crime, and many more buildings and Casinos. Sentimental things are gone too...such as Saint Rose's Hospital, a little hospital on the beach on Frontstreet,  where I gave birth to my daughter is now a trendy little Bar, called..Saint Rose's Bar...

My high school ( was F.V.P.T) now called The St.Maarten acadamy...look good, you can see the chickens running around inside the compound!
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But it's still a Beautiful place to see....Stay away from the Touristy areas and visit the out-of the way places to see how the locals live, eat their food, talk to them...it'll be worth your wild.

We rented a jeep and made our way around the island. Once away from the tourist area, the real beauty of the island emerges.

We revisited Guana Bay,  which is still, quite an unpopulated, still beautiful!  The hillsides littered with goats and the old slave-built rock walls, still divide the remote hillsides.

My daughters birthplace, right in this room..sadly it has been demolised since this photo was taken
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Making our way around the island we found, the still-hidden, Cupecoy Beach, In my opinion, one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. It's difficult to find, but worth the effort. Be prepared to tramp through the buses, and over a wall or two, but once there....you'll see an incredibly white sand beach, lined by natural coral caves, the you can lay and let the water lap over you, when you've had enough sun...No one will try to sell you anything, but you may find a nude bather or two...so don't be shy!

Clancy's Barber shop..still there..
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Our next stop was long beach...when I was a child...Beached in the sand was an old metal ship that had washed ashore many years before..we used to climb in and play in its rusty bowels, but as the years have passed, little by little, the sea would wash it away, and there is not even a trace of the old barge today.

Of Course we had time for a little visit or two with old friends and even a family member or two! I couldn't leave without stopping at my old-time, favorite "Chinese" Restaurant---Dragon Phoenix... It's really a mix of Chinese & Suriname cuisines..

Clancy the Barber still here too...retired now though
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Still dumpy and old, and now about half the size,,,, but still has the best -Sate Potato ( Skewered bits of meat, surrounded by thick cut fries, smothered in Peanut sauce) served in a foil pouch..no utensils needed! What a Wonderful trip this was...so much to see and so little time..I can't wait to come home again!