Saturday, October 14 (Pat)

We got up at 7am (Ron) and 7:30 (me). Had coffee and a banana and enjoyed our last morning reading. It was starting out with an early morning shower. The boat anchored in the bay almost disappeared as the squall moved thru. We spent the next two hours packing and organizing our stuff into the two big bags that could stay in the car plus some miscellaneous bags and our small roll-alongs and a small bag with stuff we didn’t want to get heated up in the car. At 10am we checked out and trundled the bags into the café for breakfast. Duane, the waiter, was there looking a little bleary eyed. The anniversary party went on until 1am, and he was back at 9am! Ron had the French toast breakfast and I had the omelet. It was nice, cool and comfortable in the restaurant so we pulled out our reading material and read there for a while. I was dealing with a nagging sinus headache so was not feeling like doing much. Before we left we stopped in to Jody’s place to purchase a turtle print that Ron had seen on the café wall. Jody was there so we chatted with her some more about her art and St. Maarten. The turtle print has a green turtle in the water in a colorful bay with “Paradise Found” written on it. A colorful border was part of the print. We bought the larger size for $20. Just the right size to get rolled up in a cardboard paper towel roll. So with that in hand we took our leave of Belair Beach Resort. Jody told us we were welcome to come back to enjoy the beach if we wished. Got in the car and headed west. Purchased some gas in Simpson Bay and made our way thru Simpson Bay, past the airport and into the Cupecoy area. On the way you drive thru Mullet Bay resort golf course. The Ocean Club Apartments is the last complex. The signage wasn’t real obvious so the first pass we missed it. We turned around and drove in the entrance and I showed the security guard our reservation confirmation and asked him “Is this the place?” It was – registration was at the end of the first drive. It was just at noon – check in is usually 4pm so we figured we would at least check at the desk. Sure no problem! Gave us a key to room 204 in the main building we were in. We drove around the complex to park underneath, and took the elevator up to the second floor. Ron opened the door to the room and I could tell by the look on his face and the gasp he emitted that something wasn’t right. The room was filthy. It was a studio apartment with a thick layer of plaster dust along the floor in the dining nook! The floor looked water stained. Dust was everywhere, some old dirty paper towels on the counter. The outdoor table and chairs were covered in dust and leaves. That studio hadn’t been used for a while. So Ron went down and came back with the key to the adjacent unit, #205. It was clean and a bit bigger unit with a dining nook and corner balcony. At first we couldn’t get the a/c to work. The attendant came up and checked something in the adjacent room and finally it was going. So we unpacked and headed out to explore the place. The pool is in the center of a bunch of two story buildings with balconies facing the pool. They are probably double units – upstairs and downstairs. The pool is like a clover leaf with 2 rounded areas. Large enough you can get a number of strokes in swimming from one end to the other. Surrounding the pool is a nice tile/cement border with lounge chairs and umbrellas. The local resort cats aren’t as friendly as at the Belair except one black one. He loves attention and followed us back to our room. We had to keep him from coming into the common hallway area so he could wander back outside. The beach area is reached by a narrow walk between resort villas to a cement deck area with some lounge chairs and then on down to the sandy beach. The beach is steep. There isn’t much shallow water so it’s more for swimming that we were hoping. The sand was soft so it gives you a good workout to walk to the end. It’s not very long and no one was on the beach. There is a pool snack bar. A raised wooden café area with a small bar and some eating tables. We ordered some Caribs and Ron ordered a Philly steak sandwich and I ordered the mango teriyaki chicken wrap. We were hot and there was minimal breeze coming in. We ate half our lunches and came back to the room. It was finally cooling off in the room so we read for a while and then decided to go take a dip in the pool. It’s now 5pm and a couple was leaving as we got there so we had the pool area to ourselves. The water felt great! Got cooled off, did a few exercises, and enjoyed being cool for a change. We had a Guavaberry colada during happy hour and read by the pool until it was too dusky to read. After showering we headed into the Maho Bay area to get some food supplies and eat dinner. We found the supermarket at the round-about and picked up some items and then went for the parking structure. Talk about narrow, steep ramps! Finally got a spot on the third floor. Walked around and ended up at Cheri’s Café just before 8pm. We got a seat at the back side area even with the dance area so we could see the band and stage/dance floor. They hand out plastic ‘clappers’. A set of three hand cutouts held together with a handle. You wave it and they ‘clap’! Wave it more vigorously and they clap louder. Ron ordered the Mahi Creole and I went for the coconut shrimp. For drinks Ron had an ‘All Night Long’ and I had a ‘Day At The Beach’. Very tasty. Soon the show began. Clapping with the ‘clappers’. There was the band – a couple of islanders and the performers. Three guys and two gals. They did a combination of skits/dances and singing. The big guy would come out as various female characters in fat costume, boobies, wig. The skinny guy would dress up as well in various wigs/outfits (granny was a good one). With the other guy acting as the ‘straight man’, he would dance/sing/run around/interact with the crowd. It was raunchy and hilarious. The island beat music was fun. They definitely can shake their ‘bootie’ when they get going. They got eight men from the audience to be made over into their butterfly dancers complete with short, shimmering skirts, tie-on boobies, colorful wigs, and butterfly wings. The guys had to model and dance for the audience to clap/holler for the best one. The men got into it and one was chosen as the winner. The restaurant served everyone a glass of champagne as part of the celebration for 18 years in business. It was lots of fun. Seventy-five dollars for the night so we can’t do it every night, that’s for sure. Back to the room – a last bit of reading and off to try out the new bed.