Arrived on St. Maarten on Thursday afternoon. Retrieved the rental car – beat up, dented, ugly but functional – and followed Maayke Martina – in her beautiful white new Audi Q5 – to Villa Vista Mare on the eastern side of the island. The weather was perfect…82 degrees and sunny.
Tom and Joe’s place is delightfuil. It is high on a hill overlooking Oyster Pond with sweeping views of the sea. We can see St. Bart’s just across the channel. On the first level is the master bedroom, kitchen, screened dining room and the living room which is connected via the screened in porch to the rest of the house. There are two bedrooms upstairs and a balcony overlooking the pool. Upstairs and down, the vistas are incredible. So private, so peaceful and so relaxing.
Villa Vista Mare sits in the gated enclave of Dawn Beach Estates. The homes range from smaller modest vacation bungalows to larger sprawling estates. Not certain how many of the homes – if any – are inhabited year round, and today few of the neighbors seems to be around. Not that it would matter much, I don’t get the sense that the homeowners socialize much with each other. When they are in residence here they want to relax and rejuvenate. Being sociable can sometimes get in the way of that.
St. Maarten took a direct hit from Hurricane Irma on August 2017 (as a Cat 5 hurricane) and the impact can still be seen throughout the association. Tom & Joe’s place was demolished — the roof was torn off the house and all of the interior furnishing, appliances and artwork destroyed. They have fully rebuilt and it is a private oasis. Many of the homes are still desperately in need of repair. Several of those in dire straits are now for sale.
Yesterday we ventured to the Costpro market to pick up food and liquor. The weather was intermittently sunny and beautiful and then suddenly cloudy, windy and stormy. We probably had four or five major rainstorms roll through. We can see them form out over the ocean as they blow this way. Suddenly the sun is gone, it becomes dark and gray, then the wind picks up, and the pounding rain soon starts to hit the metal roofs. They don’t last long – ten or fifteen minutes — and then they are gone.
Today is Saturday. Gregg’s mom is coming in to visit for a few days. The weather is like yesterday – intermittent sun and clouds, bright warm sunshine and occasional stormy interludes. Hopefully we’ll be able to work on our tans sometime soon!
