Thursday, 08 Sep 2005

Playa del Sol, in the airport in San Juan, near the concourse for gates 1 through 7, is a good place to grab a bite. We do every time we pass through SJU. The Super Fries are great. The fries are great to begin with -- crispy and tasty -- but then they add chili that is watery but flavorful and cheese that looks like Velveeta but is most definitely not and all combined you have an eating experience.

Taking off from SJU was an adventure. The pilot came on to say that we were late leaving the gate because some passenger was a no-show and his luggage had to be located and removed from the plane. (He checked baggage and then didn't show? How does that happen?) This delay caused us to be caught by a thunderstorm that made taking off impossible. We sat for a half-hour on the runway, miserable, until suddenly we taxied into position and the engines revved to full throttle but we didn't move and then the pilot released the brakes and we were all slammed back in our seats and the stuff under the seats slid out and the plane leaped from the runway into the air. It was a take-off that would jump-start your heart if you'd accidentally left your medication at home.

After we were in the air, the pilot came on with some remarks about flying time and such. Judi said,

"He sounds very satisfied with himself."

He did indeed.

When we arrived at SXM, it was raining. Have I mentioned that the airport here does not have jetways (yet)? You disembark down a flight of stairs to the tarmac and run through the rain to a shuttle bus. If you're lucky the shuttle bus doesn't suddenly close it's doors in your face and drive off, leaving you standing in the rain like an idiot.

We arrived on a Thursday this year, instead of a Saturday, to spend a couple extra days at the Holland House Beach Hotel in Philipsburg. It's a place where we love to eat, and we love the colonial-period decor, so we decided to see what the hotel is like.

The Great Bay Promenade, from our balcony

The bookcase filled with things to do (photo: Judi)

The hotel is gorgeous. We have a penthouse suite that has a real honest-to-greatness hot tub, seats three, on the balcony. Our furnishings are colonial period style, consistent with the restaurant and the lobby. The chair and the table in the bedroom actually fold for storage or transport. Old wind-up clocks and other period pieces complete the decor. The (very nice large screen) television and DVD player are hidden in a cabinet whose sides are woven from wooden slats. A nice touch is a glass-doored cabinet stocked with books (in English and Dutch), table games (such as dominoes), and even a watercolor paint set. I can vividly picture a family returning from the beach to the cool air of this room and sitting down to spend the rest of an afternoon reading or otherwise entertaining themselves with the contents of this cabinet. That was how things were before television and radio.

We are not turning on the television or the radio.

One strange thing is that the kitchenette is stocked with an odd, mismatched assortment of glasses and utensils. Another strange things is that there's only one room key available. We're supposed to leave it at the front desk when we go out (though we don't). I guess this is also how things were done in the old days, when keys had room numbers on them and precautions had to be taken to prevent them from being lost or stolen. So I guess it could be considered quaint. I guess.

Not wanting to wander far in the rain in search of lunch, we ate at Holland House. We all had the Amsterdam Steak sandwich with Gouda cheese, and we shared a plate of fries. The steak was chewy but good. It was one of those "I enjoyed it but would try something different next time" experiences. The fries were excellent. Whatever oil they fried them in gave them an excellent flavor.

The restaurant, and I have said before, has a great atmosphere. For setting and atmosphere, it's Judi's favorite place to eat on the island. Also, they have real ice tea.

Our own hot tub at Holland House (photo: Greg)

I've read warnings about the mosquitoes on St. Maarten, but we've never encountered a single one on any of our trips. Until today. We first noticed bites on our calves and ankles while checking in, in the hotel lobby. We soon found that the bites were coming from a squadron of low-altitude mosquitoes. They plagued us throughout the afternoon and evening, in some of the Front Street shops and even in our room, on the fifth floor (in European and colonial style, it's actually called the fourth floor -- the ground floor is zero, and the "first" floor is one up).

We spent the evening having a round of drinks at Taloula Mango's and using our hot tub. The hot tub got really hot -- 103oF -- and stayed hot. It must be heated by gas. When we got out we felt good.

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