I was doing some cleaning and I found pictures of St Maartin when my husband and I took our one and only trip outside the U.S. Wow... I need to clean more often. This was the trip of a lifetime.

The island of St Maartin in the Caribbean is only 37 square miles with 37 beaches and divided into two separate governments. The south side is owned by the Dutch and the north side owned by the French. St Maartin is the Dutch spelling and St Martin is the French spelling. My husband and I stayed on the Dutch side. English is spoken everywhere and they love American money. This makes it a very easy place to visit.

Each side is equally beautiful but yet has it's own uniqueness. It is an amazing place. The natives are extremely friendly and truly have the "no problem" attitude!

St Maartin is quite the party island and open to nudity. Most beaches there are topless and quite a few are completely clothing optional. After the initial shock, it becomes very normal and not a big deal. When in Rome .... ;-)

Shopping along Front St in Philipsburg is a dream come true. It is one of the few duty free ports and a very popular stop for the cruise ships. Front St is a narrow stone street with jewelry stores galore!

Driving in St Maartin was quite an experience! They drive on the same side as Americans, but there is only one stop light on the island (I believe) and very few actual stop signs. There is quite a bit of traffic. There are a lot of hills and cliffs and the cars are tiny. Imagine coming to a four way intersection and no one has a stop sign! They drive like maniacs! There is much yelling and horn blowing ... but... the funny thing is ... they are yelling "Hello" and "Good Day"! I have never seen anyone almost smash into you and then wave and smile. It's just the way it is. LOL

My favorite part of the island is without a doubt ... the beaches! There is no end to the choice of beaches and each one is just a bit different and attracting various types of people. Some of the more popular ones include:

• Orient Beach
• Mullet Bay
• Cupecoy (my fav)
• Maho Bay (with the Sunset Beach Bar) where you can lay in the flight path of 747's landing at the airport right behind you. The plane will literally be yards away from you. Quite an experience!
• Simpson Bay
• Red Beach

So, here are some of the pictures that I have. And I promise you ... it really does look like this. The colors are really that blue! Enjoy and maybe set the tone for some relaxing this weekend!

They keep a clean beach!

There was a naked guy in one of the chairs, but I thought it would be a good thing to take him out. ;-0

What a way to have morning coffee huh?

This last picture is from St-Maartin.com and yes...the planes really do get that close!