DAY 7 - Climbing to the top of the island!

DAY 7:

We woke up early (Laurie early that is) to enjoy Lotterie farms which isn’t a real farm though I did see some chickens? It is a beautifully landscaped huge field with tree houses to dine in and a gorgeous pool deck that you must pay 25 Euros per person to enjoy or you go down the street to the beach for free. But that’s not what we were there for. See here you can hike to the summit of St Martin to see some truly breathtaking sights and an almost 360 degree view from the top of the island. It was a pretty aggressive hike that included almost a mile of switch backs that go straight up the side of the mountain and some massive loose rocks throughout the paths. The total trek took us about 2 1/2 hours but we stopped a lot to take pictures and also found other little trails to venture off of. We also ran into our resort anniversary friends there!

This is only about 1/4 of the way up! Still a ways to go.

One of the better tree houses I've been to...

I'm about to give up. 

Joey ain't.

We made it!

Joey pointing to the top of the mountain we climbed to about an hour earlier.

After the hike we drove over to Marigot, the French capital, known for their outdoor market place run by women selling clothing, spices and souvenirs. We looked around and ate at a local Caribbean restaurant where I had beef stew and Joey had a burger. We ran into our friends again like cool locals and enjoyed guessing whether the drunk man smoking outside worked at the restaurant or not. He talked to every table outside (especially the women) but I didn’t see him do any actual work until I put cash down on our receipt. Actually, maybe he didn’t work there…

Joey enjoying his purses.

Lunch time! 

We walked some more and saw a mall and more beach and caught a glimpse of Fort Louis at the top of the hill. Fort Louis was used back in the day to keep the British at bay from St Martin and Anguilla (the island right next to St Martin). You can walk in the skeleton of the fort during daylight hours. It was super cool and all but we had not been in the water yet and were sweating our butts off all day from the crazy workout and heat.

Joey holding down the fort! So proud of myself for this pun.

We went to our favorite beach Mullet Bay to have one last swim there. It was awesome obviously and we air dried by walking around the beach holding hands like gross lovers before we headed back to the resort.

Joey asked Chris and Heather if they wanted to join us for dinner so we double dated at the Italian restaurant he ordered from the night before. The owner and server remembered Joey so naturally we received VIP treatment as well as an indulgent dinner.

Look at these happy little couples!

Joey's favorite moment: Seeing Laurie be able to hike uphill so well on that rehabbed knee.  

Laurie's favorite moment: Taking in the view from the top at the summit with Joey.