Would You Like A Bathing Suit With That Beach?

Maha Beach, Sint Maarten

Two more ferries back and fro from St. Martin International Airport, and we had our bags and more importantly, our bathing suits.

One thing really sticks out about Anguilla, it's not built up like St. Martin. There is one two-lane street that crosses the tiny island while bushes and trees hug the edges of the street. Also there are no sidewalks, so walking from one point to another requires that you walk on the street and dodge two types of passing cars, ones speeding by with young drivers, or ones mellowing along with older drivers.

A cupholder for your regular beverage and one for your coconut

Once Nadine and I decided to explore a part of the island that was not attached to the glorious combination of beach and sea, we walked. For snacks, we walked south along the winding road past barking dogs on fat chains to the small convenience store. To the north, was a collection of handicraft stores. When we entered the Devonish Art Gallery, we were gently greeted by one of the nicest people you will ever meet, Carrolle. Over the next 30 minutes, she taught us a little about the island, Carrolle's departure from Seattle and subsequent move to the Caribbean, and of course, how her children are doing. No need to worry, they are fine and not living in New Mexico. After our talk, she kindly drove us back to our hotel.

Unlike the majority of our trips, our goal was simple, sit on a beach and nap, read, or just stare into the distance looking for other islands. We got pretty good at that on Mead's Bay. Every once in awhile, we would swim out to a trampoline, and like Cypress HIll suggested, jump around, and then finally jump back into the water where we would eventually find ourselves back on the beach back at step one, napping, reading, or staring into the distance.

What Anguilla doesn't have as far as infrastructure, they do have in beautiful, secluded beaches. That's why really famous people visit this island. Plus, the laid back folks of Anguilla don't harass people, much less famous people. No one bothered us. Not sure if they didn't bother us since they thought we were famous or our skin was so white that it scared people away. Over along picturesque Maunday Bay beach on the southern tip of the island, we thought we had found the world's top beach with it's soft, powdery white sand and calm, blue water (sound like a travel magazine description?), but the next day, we found that top beach at unassuming Shoal Bay East (insert same adjectives about this beach). Too bad I forgot my bathing suit and just had to watch everyone enjoy the world's best beach. I can't say that my bathing suit and I had the best vacation, we were never together.

East Shoal Bay, worth the visit, even without a bathing suit

Our vacation to Anguilla was bracketed by days in St. Martin. Watching large airplanes land and takeoff just feet away from a public beach was without a doubt the highlight of St. Martin (you probably thought the missing bag was the highlight or having to pay twice for a hotel). What's unique is that the runway leads up to the edge of the water with just enough area for a spit of beach. So when planes takeoff, folks will take "advantage" of this by running up to the chain link fence and endure the pure blast of joy of a mouthful of sand, dirt, trash, fumes and/or jet fuel spewing out of the back of the plane as it thrusts itself forward. When they land, people sit and take photos and videos of planes landing intimately right over head. We chose the alternative viewing point, up on the terrace of a restaurant with a burger, fries, and beer in hand to get more of the panoramic view.