St. Barts

Yes, it is true, we loved St. Barts. We had a feeling we would, as did Ludy and Monte who have been going there annually for years. Beyond the natural beauty with whitewashed buildings and red tin roofs peppering the landscape of rugged hills that melted into the most beautiful white sand beaches, beyond the wonderful food, great shopping, and spectacular views, we loved St. Barts b/c it was a place where we could get comfortable and stay put for a while. Its villages were like they were plucked from the French Riviera and plopped in the most beautiful setting of the Caribbean. And though it was RIDICULOUSLY expensive, we got to see it in the best way possible…from our boat. We spent many leisurely mornings walking through town and slipped nicely into the mode of afternoon siestas. We enjoyed long afternoons at the beach, exploring the island by car (a daring feat with its one lane roads and crazy drivers) and some fabulous meals. I loved getting up early for a run or long walk, stopping by the fish market as the fisherman unloaded their catch and filleted them right there in front of me, and then bringing back a final treat of croissants for breakfast (of which we ate entirely too many in our near 4 weeks stay on the island). After moving from Colombier we secured a spot in the inner harbor on a mooring ball and so were a mere 30 second dinghy ride to the dock. Being here we were in the center of the action…and action there was. Every night we would wake to the sounds of music from one of the many restaurants and bars surrounding the harbor. One such place called the Yacht Club (not quite the place that might be inferred from its title) would go on sometimes until nearly 5 in the morning. We tried desperately to adjust our clocks so that we might actually stay up past our usual 10PM and though we were successful in doing this a handful of times, we always seemed to arrive before the party began. Thanks to the energy of our guests Raine and Sean a few weeks later, we did spend one gloriously exhausting evening dancing the night away until 4AM! We didn’t know we had it in us but we persevered.