Low-flying Aircraft

Our first port of call was Philipsburg, Sint Maarten. We did not have a specific plan for the day, but we knew we wanted to walk, we wanted to get to a beach, and we maybe wanted to see Maho beach, where the planes land right overhead. We disembarked and made the walk into town, getting hot and sweaty in the process. Philipsburg’s beachfront obviously caters to the cruising tourist crowd and there are endless hawkers trying to interest you in a beach chair, an umbrella, and/or lunch. They were all polite though; we found everyone we talked to on Sint Maarten to be extremely friendly. We wound up having lunch at a little beachfront place that advertised pizzas alongside some more interesting fare. When we sat down the waitress informed us that they did not serve alcohol, which was fine by us and something Liz and I thought was a respectable stance to take considering the touristy location. We wound up with a very nice meal: falafel for me, a beet salad for Liz, and pizza for the boys. All reasonably priced.

During lunch we discussed what we wanted to do for the day, and Thomas said he’d really enjoy seeing Maho beach. So off we went. Not coming directly from the cruise port, we didn’t have access to the organized tours or buses, so we improvised. We saw a van with “Maho” written on a cardboard sign in the windshield and flagged it down. I told the driver we wanted to get to Maho, he said hop in, I asked how much, he said $2 per person. Deal. We made the trip in about 30 minutes. The beach wasn’t as crowded as I thought it would be, but it wasn’t empty. DJ immediately headed for the water while we set up shop. Before we were even settled a 737 flew low overhead to land. It was pretty impressive. I was more prepared for the next plane and got some video. You’ll have to visit Thomas’s YouTube channel to see that. The planes just kept coming – not all large ones, but lots of ‘em. DJ didn’t care that much about the planes but had a terrific time in the water, which felt great.

When we were ready to head back we hailed a bus similar to the one we came in that was headed back to Philipsburg. The traffic on the way back was so bad that the trip that took 30 minutes coming out took over an hour and a half returning. It was getting to the point where I was wondering what we’d do if we started creeping up on the 7:30 PM all-aboard time. However we got back to the ship around 6:30 with time to clean up and head to the Terrace Café for dinner. We’ve come to really enjoy sitting outside on the patio at the rear of the ship.

Meanwhile we’re hearing about the hellacious wind and fires in our Southern California home and learned that our friends in Altadena lost their home. It’s heartbreaking to read of those who have lost their lives, those who have lost their homes, and those who have had to flee in terror. Hoping for a break in the weather.Read more