We came to our first port this morning. The island has 2 countries owning it. 16 square miles is owned by the Dutch and 21 square miles owned by the French. The Dutch built a port where cruise ships can dock and became a tourist attraction. Tourism is the basis of their ecomony. The hurricane recently has left some work still to be done. The Dutch side has make great strides in rebuilding, but not the French. We didn’t go to the French part, but others told us about the disrepair.
We came ashore and took a water taxi to the town. It was hot and very muggy. Only 90 degrees, but when the sun came out, it was stifling. We walked around the town, bought some soda for the ship, and saw some repairs being made. There is a LOT of shopping here, since it is a duty-free port. You can buy diamonds in almost every store.
tourist walk and courthouse one street over (there is a KFC here)
hotel being worked on still more destruction
Dan and I were there years ago. It's a stereotype, but the French side shopkeepers were very snooty and rude to us. The Dutch side was all party; bars on the nude beaches, smoking dope in the open, legal prostitution. Which side was more fun???
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