A day in St. Maarten, January 29, 2020

It’s hard to imagine that the dock in St. Maarten is large enough to hold six enormous cruise ships, but it is. When I awoke, we were tied up near the Viking Ocean Sea and there were two P&O ships nearby and another Princess further away. The next time I looked out the Royal Caribbean Harmony was blocking my view. I tried to get a shot of them when we left the Sky. Here is the best I could do.

The port area is very active and many of the Front Street shops have stores here as well. Some folks never leave this area.

Weather today started out very iffy but soon turned sunny and warm. We decided to take the water taxi to Phillipsburg.

It was worth the $7.00 round trip cost.

There was nothing we were aching to do and no where in particular to go. We just started ambling down Front Street to see how things have changed and how they stayed the same. There were lots of people coming and going and lots of shop employees everywhere trying to lure one inside. “Hello, where are you from” is probably the most uttered phase on Front Street.

Here are a few shots of the area.

We strolled down Old Street, Sint Maarten, a little side street shopping Mecca.

Color is everywhere you look. It makes the town interesting and festive.

We paid a brief visit to St. Martin of Tours Roman Catholic Church. The doors were wide open, inviting us in.

I was able to take this picture of a lady, surrounded by the comforting cocoon of her church, deep in devotion.

Further down Front Street we came upon what had once been The St. Joseph Building, a school opened in 1890 by Dominican Nuns who arrived from the Netherlands.

Next to the school one can find the convent.

Both buildings were damaged during Hurricane Irma on September 6, 2017 and were restored by the current owners to replicate the original construction.

We were window shopping when we came across this window display.

I love the design; its a scene from the Alfred Hitchcock movie, “Rear Window.” If you look in the upper right side of the shirt you can see a man with binoculars looking out of the window.

Here’s another, closer view.

We stopped to talk with Tiffany, one of the owners (its her and her husband that own the store). She’s very nice and we discussed her clothing line and, more specifically, discussed her line of Robert Graham shirts. They are pricey but lovely. The Rear Window edition that I looked at was #139 of 538. How about that, limited edition shirts.

We exchanged cards. Unfortunately, I lost hers getting back on the ship when my bag was flagged by security (too many lenses and cameras). When security was finished examining and re-examining my bag it was unzipped and stuff fell out of it when I picked it up, including Tiffany’s card. Sorry Tiffany.

Just for good measure, here is one more shot from her Front Street store.

Continuing our stroll, we passed a few more places for photos. In no particular order, have a look.

Ever wonder sometimes why you have trouble with your electric?

Just off of Front Street.

And, once more, back on Front.

The Court House is in the center of town.

We came upon the Methodist Church, Philipsburg Congregation.

I took this photo for my granddaughter Ella. Ketchup is her favorite vegetable.

While waiting for the water taxi to return to the ship, I took this picture of the beach.

Back on board! Tonight we are having dinner at the Chef’s Table with ten of our new best friends. I will write about in a separate post. Just to say, however, the dinner was excellent.

Sunset at sea after sailing from St. Maarten; this one was exceptional. Enjoy!