Wednesday, October 18 (Pat)

Woke up to pouring rain about 6am. Ron got up first and we had our usual morning routine then got ready to head for the Marigot market by 10am. Found a place to park and went to the waterfront area where the market was. By now it was HOT! Lots of people bussed in from the cruise ships. There were a lot of stalls with colorful island shirts, jewelry, trinkets, bags, etc. They had some variations between them so you would find different things or colors, etc. The first booth we stopped at had some wood-looking necklaces that were actually made out of dried banana leafs. Some had inlaid mother of pearl. They were unique and I liked them but wanted to check out what else was here first. Ron checked out the island shirts. We found a refrigerator magnet that we liked. Ron took some video and we cruised the booths trying to stay in the shade. He found a shirt he liked and bartered to get it for nine dollars. There were some good artists there, some nice stone/gem jewelry, fresh spices, wood carvings, some beautiful carvings out of a big seed of some kind. We got a drink to cool off while we were walking around. We also picked up a couple of coasters for the computer desk. No one else had the same kind of banana leaf carvings so I went back to the first booth and picked one out that I liked. It was twenty dollars. The matching earrings were clip-ons so I decided to pass on them. We returned to the car, hot and sweaty by now, stopped at the Supermarche for some bread, cheese, and chicken empanada things and headed for Friar’s Beach to the north of Marigot. It’s a drive back to the beach along some nice homes to Friar’s Bay. A smaller beach but a very nice bay with rocks on either side. We walked up to the beach hut area and a very energetic Rastafarian type black guy asked if we wanted some chairs. Jaabaah was great! He got our chairs set up under a thatched roof cover. He brought some rum punch, changed Ron’s chair to a taller-backed one, brought ice for the water we had, all the while singing, chattering, doing a dance or flips. He kept busy taking care of all of us on his beach!! It was hot in the sun and today was partly cloudy, so when the sun was out, it baked. The water felt cool and refreshing. No big waves, a nice beach to swim or hang in the water at. I snorkeled – pretty silty with low visibility but it kept me cool. We hung out for the afternoon until the sun was gone. Jaabaah’s dog came out to play – a Rott/Lab mix and he liked to be petted. We chatted with an English lady next to us on ‘holiday’. Enjoyed our bread and cheese and grapes. Jaabaah was fun, gracious and entertaining. So by 6pm we headed for the car, thought we’d lost the keys – found them and returned to Ocean Club resort. Showered – I tried to get online at the Sapphire resort next door but it was close to 8pm and the computer was too slow booting up. So we headed out to eat. Tried to find the Cliff Hanger Restaurant – couldn’t, went into Maho and got some groceries and cash and went to check out Bamboo Bernie’s at the end of the road. Finally found it – a sushi bar type place, not much going on and too expensive so we tried the Sunset Bar – kitchen just closed! So we headed back to the Supermarket where we had noticed some food in a mini buffet style. Salad, fruit, veggies, rice, chicken, meat balls, lasagna. We loaded some containers, grabbed a couple of cold drinks and headed back to the studio. Not bad – filled us up. Ron had his pear yogurt for dessert – it was very good! Journaled, read, and off to bed. Another tough day at the beach!