We knew there was construction at the resort, but were surprised by the immensity of it!

Our Beautiful Island Paradise

Yes, here we are, having just passed the gated and guarded entry into lovely Oyster Pond Beach Resort. George and Tami were in a brand-new condo, which stood just behind the photographer of this view (one that can't be duplicated from travel brochures). On our second day there, a big trench was dug in front of their building and George and Tami had to walk a plank to reach their condo. We kidded that we were going to get a picture of George carrying Tami over that "plank threshold", but never did do it.

The foregoing, we trust, should keep you from being too jealous, a sin from which we hope to spare you.
 
 

Oyster Pond Beach Resort is really very, very nice. When the construction is finished, it will be one of the best destinations on the entire island. The green buildings at the right comprise the resort. George and Tami had a condo in the closest building facing Dawn Beach, which is at the lower right. Oyster Pond is a bay, which is home base for many yachts. It is on the Dutch side, but right at the division line, so French St. Martin is at the top of the photo.

Tami secured a beautiful two-bedroom suite overlooking Oyster Pond for George, Pat, Greg, and Jill, which was truly wonderful. It had a full kitchen with all amenities including toaster, blender, microwave, and so on. We had three televison sets, a VCR, CD player, safe, washer and dryer, and even a bidet.
 

Jill, who neglected to put sunscreen on her feet the first day out, put the bidet right to work.

   This IS How It Works, Right?

The effects of the latest hurricane, Lenny, were evident throughout the island. The palm trees were pretty much devastated - shortened, bent, or non-existent. The priest at Sunday Mass announced that parishioners would have to bring their own palms for the Palm Sunday Processional and Mass two weeks hence. The church's normal supplier of palms had none to provide! It was so refreshing to see the local church-goers attired in their Sunday best; the children particularly were dressed to the nines! The singing by the congregation was resonant and uplifting!

On Monday while George and Tami conferred with their wedding consultant, the other four Sengstocks toured the 37-square-mile island. We visited a butterfly farm, taking the tour twice; thereby increasing our butterfly knowledge by about one hundredfold. It was fascinating! We stopped at a few of the island's 36 beautiful beaches, and sauntered the towns of Grand Case, Marigot, and Phillipsburg. We checked out lots of menus posted outside the doors of the islands 200+ restaurants.

We sampled island food at a small outdoor grill at Grand Case, apparently a successor to the "la-las" that dotted the beach there prior to Hurricane Lenny. It was a fine lunch and our most inexpensive meal during the week. We dubbed St. Maarten/St. Martin the "Land of the $7.00 Hot Dog". Some of the natives keep chickens, cows and goats and we observed that those items and by-products were a little more reasonable in price. At one point we had to stop to allow about 50 goats to cross the road in front of us.

On Tuesday, all six Sengstocks ventured to the island of Pinel, just off the northeast coast of St. Martin. We had a full day of sunshine, and snorkeling in two different locations within walking distance of our beach stakeout. Jill, still suffering, kept herself pretty well shielded from the sun.

Wednesday was wedding day! We expanded our investigation of Dawn Beach, adjacent to our resort, and discovered the snorkeling to be much more expansive than we had found earlier. There were several reef areas to explore and the varieties of fish and coral were extensive. It took us this long to see why the travel books called Dawn Beach the best snorkeling beach on the island!

The wedding assemby consisted of ten: the bride and groom, Pat and George, Greg and Jill, Cathy and Wayne Drehs and their friends, Christie and Les Magyar, from Brampton, Ontario. The Magyars have vacationed at St. Martin with the Drehs for several years. As the sun set on this April 5th, we all assembled on Dawn Beach and George & Tami exchanged vows.

After the exchange of vows, Wayne, Pat, Greg, and Jill signed the registry as witnesses (yes, four of us) and then we walked back to the resort reception and dining area where George and Tami had arranged a champaign and hors d'ouevre party.  There was enought shrimp, fruit, and cheese to keep an army encamped and indeed we did eat off the leftovers for the rest of the week. George and Tami danced to their favorite song, "Truly, Madly, Deeply" by Savage Garden.

Then we we retired to the dining room where we enjoyed a wonderful meal off the menu compliments of  the bride and groom.

Our Table Awaits... 

George and Tami presented their guests with a small Lenox china case in the shape of a dolphin sitting atop a reef or perhaps the sea itself. Inside was a golden dolphin charm. They also passed a book into which the guests wrote their memories of the day and their best wishes for the bride and groom.

There was a floor show by The Bobo Jam and it made the evening fly by as we waited for our meal to be served, as always, "on island time". During the show, the new Mr. and Mrs. Sengstock had their own private dance to the strains of "Unforgettable" and  TRULY it was an unforgettable evening.

On Thursday, George, Pat, Greg, and Jill, decided to take a lengthy walk around, up and down the southeastern portion of the island. It was a bit of a trek. Fortunately there was a light rain falling part of the time or we might have collapsed from heat exhaustion. It was about a four-mile jaunt, but we must have traveled another mile or so - just up and down! We have a picture of a perspiring Greg, an over-weight and dragging Pat, and a six-month-pregnant-Jill-bringing-up-the-rear as we approached the summit of our walk. It's too ugly to share. Suffice it to say that the unseen photographer, George Sr., spent his first night back home two days later at the Central DuPage Hospital - complaining of back pain.

On Friday, we visited the Drehs at their condo at Port de Plaisance on Cole Bay.  Hurricane Lenny had destroyed the Dreys' former condo on the island; but they liked their new quarters very much. Obviously, we did too!

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