After completing our last season as managers at the Beaver Island Lodge, we were exactly back where we were 10 years ago when I wrote the story “Wide Open Spaces Ahead of Us”. Our first …
Cruising was still relatively new to us. The previous year (2022) we embarked on a Regal Princess Transatlantic Cruise, which resulted in so much fun that before reaching Barcelona, we decided to add a Mediterranean …
Today, April 10 our cruise ends in Piraeus, the port city for Athens, Greece. Hard to believe that the last 30 days were spent on a giant cruise ship with some 3,000 other passengers and …
Port of Call Istanbul, Turkey had been on TJ’s wishlist since we booked the cruise extension in Barcelona. I forgot to mention this city in the Rome story in the line up of European cities …
Port of Call: Mykonos had been in our dreams as a place we wanted to visit badly. Well really it was one of the reasons we had booked the cruise extension in Barcelona. We know …
Port of Call Kuşadası, on the southeastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey, derives its name from the small, bird-head-shaped Pigeon Island in its harbor. It literally means “Bird Island” and as a destination, it was new …
Crete, the largest and most populous island in Greece, about 100 km south of the mainland, has 2 cruise ship ports, both on the northern side of the island was our next Port of Call. …
With a little more than 130 nautical miles to go, the Regal Princess still took off for Naples early in the evening, which told me that the Captain wanted to get to the next Port …
The storms over the water had disappeared for our second day in Civitavecchia’s port and we were ready for a trip out to Port of Call Rome, the Eternal City. We used the free port …
Port of Call : Civitavecchia/Rome Storms have been severely affecting the port of call schedules on this cruise, probably a result of the time of year. The new captain of the ship, who took over …
After seven days on the Atlantic, the time had arrived for a day at Port of Call Madeira, Portugal’s Year-round Resort Island. The weather had been pretty good, so the island of Madeira was on the schedule. A great indicator on a cruise ship that you’re nearing land is that you all at once see birds sitting on railings or flying next to the ship. No diversions needed. Madeira is part of Portugal, as are the Azores, which are often featured on other cruise stops, and lately has become particularly known as the birthplace of soccer phenomenon Cristiano Ronaldo. Besides his own statue at walking distance from the cruise port, the islands international airport is also named after him.
Cristiano Ronaldo, son of Madeira and first billionaire soccer player in history
Madeira
Madeiro was “officially”discovered sometime in the 14th century as an unpopulated island in what later became and archipelago of 4 islands about 430 miles to the southeast of the Portuguese mainland, although archeological evidence exists that the Vikings were there between the years 900 and 1030. Today the island is an autonomous region of Portugal and part of the European Union, so the Euro is their official currency. The island has a population of a little over a quarter of a million people, with an additional million or so tourists annually.
The island, and especially its capital Funchal, became prosperous early on in its development, as a major producer of cane sugar. Sadly the island was used to test the concept of sugar plantations being worked by slave labor. Later, after sugar production was abandoned, the now famous Madeira wines became prevalent in its economy, which today is based on year-round tourism. Continue reading
A Fourteen day trans-atlantic Princess cruise was on the menu, now that a land vacation seemed out of the question because of Covid concerns and different international procedures. Beyond a 5 days Bahama’s cruise on Carnival in 2016, we had not done much cruising except for some Caribbean Tallship Trips when Windjammer Barefoot Charters operated several Tall Ships like the Polynesia and the Mandalay in the Caribbean Islands. Actually that’s how we met, when TJ had booked a graduation present for her son Drew on the Polynesia, departing from St.Maarten.
Since May 2019 we manage a summer boutique hotel on Beaver Island in northern Lake Michigan which means we have the 6 winter months off to do whatever we like to do. Taking care of guests in the summer time meant to us that during our winter travels we should bathe in the luxury of at least one long cruise where others would take care of our needs. We quickly surmised that on our salary, cruises would be the only real “luxury” that fits our budget, especially because we would book in what is considered the Off Season for cruises, such as February/March. The previous year (2020/2021) we couldn’t travel internationally because the world was locked up in a global Covid-19 pandemic, but this year (2022) we had received our shots and were ready for some real discovery.
After a couple of years globetrotting as interim innkeepers, we decided in 2019, to reply to a job offer on the website workingcouples.com, for a seasonal management job on Beaver Island in northern Lake Michigan. Boutique Hotel Beaver Island Lodge with 14 rooms and suites and a separate log cabin was looking for operational managers between May and November. After an online interview we were offered the job and our first season of seven in total became the 2019 summer.
The Lodge was built in 1950/51 on the island’s northern shoreline as a hunting and fishing lodge, mostly to attract guests from the Traverse City area in Northern Michigan and some Chicago families en route to Mackinac Island. At a distance of 32 miles from the mainland, the island can only be reached via daily ferry, puddle jumper airlines with daily service from the town of Charlevoix or private boats and yachts from the Upper Peninsula or areas around Mackinac. With 55.9 square miles of mostly forested surface, the island is home to a year round population of about 600, many of Irish descent; hence the nickname “Emerald Isle”. There are only a handful of small hotels, motels and inns on Beaver Island, with one grocery store, one gas station with convenience store, 5 or 6 restaurants and a couple of bars, but a summertime visit is more than worth your while, as the island is truly a gorgeous piece of historical relaxation. Probably the reason why we returned for 7 seasons in total.
Participating Heineken Regatta yachts entering Simpson Bay, St.Maarten
For our winter travels we decided this year on a monthlong Airbnb’ing our Stomping Grounds on St.Martin in the West Indies. We left our life on St.Maarten where we had met in 2004, during the Great Recession in 2008/09 as the economy had decimated tourism and consequently our internet related marketing and promotion businesses. Han had been living there for almost 20 years after hurricane Hugo chased him out of St.Croix – USDVI in 1989. So it had been more than 10 years since we had last visited the island. Many of our friends had left the island as well, and just some of our local friends had stayed. Hurricane Irma had just a couple of years earlier (2017) devastated the area but we had heard that the Spirit of St.Maarten had stayed strong and reconstruction was going well.
In the years we lived and worked on the island, we were mostly involved in tourism marketing and promotion for both sides of the twin country island. In those days we published St.Maarten’s online search engine Zebrabot.com and produced a popular daily TV program “Whassup St.Martin.” In other words, we were quite well-known across the island. Our plan was to reconnect with as many old friends as we could in 4 weeks, which is why we initially decided to spend a week at a time in AirBnb’s around the island. It turned out different however.
Simpson Bay
Simpson Bay beach almost in our backyard.
Our first lodging was an Airbnb in Simpson Bay, the ‘boat people oriented’ entertainment “capital” of St.Maarten, definitely the most tourism oriented part of the island. The BNB was upstairs and consisted of two large rooms – a bedroom with bathroom and a living/dining room/kitchen. Surrounded by restaurants, grocery & convenience stores the first week stay was pleasant and comfortable with Simpson Bay Beach, a favorite of ours from the first days we met, right at our back door and a stone’s throw from the Simpson Bay bridge where the following week Heineken Regatta yachts would be entering.
St.Maarten, especially the Dutch side, is a high profile, constantly evolving West Indian island in the Caribbean, originally colonized by the Dutch in the 16th century as a provisioning point for their merchant ships. The island’s Arawak Indian name was Soualiga, which translates as Salt Island, a spice commodity needed to prevent food from spoiling during long trans-atlantic voyages. As one of the first islands in the West Indies that started promoting tourism in the 1950s, it rapidly developed as a trend setter for the region. Today its International Airport attracts daily flights from across the world and its huge cruise port drops an easy 20,000 visitors daily on its shores. Consequently all tourism sectors are more than adequately developed. Neighboring islands, such as St.Barths, Anguilla, Saba, Statia, St.Kitts and Nevis, have arguably also financially benefitted nicely from this West Indian development.
Getting Around
We rented a car for our first week to get groceries and see as much of the island as possible and meet up with old friends still living on the island – especially after hurricane Irma had destroyed most of it only 30 months earlier.
The twin nation island is a favorite of many tourists because of its accessibility, with 36 Beaches, and a population that consists of more than 110 nationalities from all over the world, a distinct European influence royally mixed with African/Caribbean flavors and modern day eccentricities and with some 400 restaurants spread over the French and Dutch sides, it is also the Gourmet Capital of the Caribbean. It is the place where TJ and I met more than 16 years prior to this trip..
A mini Indonesian rice table in St.Maarten
TJ eating her very favorite Shwarma in the world
Sandy Ground
The Sandy Ground AirBNB
With my music friend Connis Vanterpool reminiscing about the old days on SXM
The second AirBnB we had selected was located in Sandy Ground, near the French side bridge from Simpson Bay lagoon, at a walking distance to Marigot, the French Side’s capital. Arriving on the morning of that change over, we noticed that the location was a bit questionable, with what looked like some drug deals going on at the street corners, and locals gazing a bit strange in our direction. The actual Airbnb was nice enough as a building from the outside, but did not give us the privacy we were looking for. In addition our room was offered with a shared bathroom, which was not as originally quoted. But then came unexpected help to the rescue. Our local friend Lucia, an artist/painter, originally from Romania, who had lived on St.Maarten for several decades already, came the next day to check on us and immediately ordered us to come and stay with her in Pelican Key on the Dutch side. Her boy friend was a local developer who lived in a huge mansion in the hillside of Pelican Key, with pool and spacious guest quarters and for the next 2 weeks Lucia became our chauffeur, taking us all around our old stomping grounds.
During one of those trips around the island, It turned out that our third Airbnb choice near Orient Bay was a bust as well, so we cancelled that one and quickly found a beautiful replacement condo-apartment in Cupecoy Beach near the American Medical University of the West Indies.
Sunset from our balcony in Cupecoy
Her FB handle is Luxurious Marie and she’s a riot.
Pineapple Pete’s Pierre reminiscing of good old days
Here we entertained several of our old island
buddies and had a great time discovering this western part of the island that had been rapidly developing in the 10 years we had gone. Connis, Luxurious Marie, Dick, Lucia, Pineapple Pete (Pierre) and so many others reminded us that the island will always take a very special place in our lives.
Nettle Bay
View from AirBNB in Nettle Bay-St.Martin
Our fourth and last week was booked in a very nice apartment, that once was part of Nettle Bay Resort on the French side. With the covered outside kitchen and living area overlooking the pool and Simpson Bay Lagoon, we set out to get a nice suntan before returning stateside for our second year managing the Beaver Island Lodge in Lake Michigan. Covid 19 or as many called it the Coronavirus was overtaking the news waves and every country on earth was getting nervous, as there was no known cure yet and the death rates were climbing rapidly. It was a very scary time and we hear just in time that the last airplane leaving the island for the US was leaving April 6 – a day earlier than our plan, and after that the airport would be closed for any air travel until this pandemic would be under control.
After a short discussion of whether to take the risk and stay in St.Maarten or fly back and continue our job at the Lodge, we grabbed our luggage and quickly got to St.Maarten’s Princess Juliana Int’l Airport. We both remember the plane’s pilot saying over the intercom: “Welcome aboard the cleanest, most disinfected airplane you have ever been on. Please take your seats quickly so we can get you safely home in no time.”
On April 12, we flew from Charlevoix, Michigan to Beaver Island on Island Airways in 40 mile winds, sleet, rain and snow. We didn’t get off the island until a full year later as Covid 19 decimated the world population by several million people.
Back in the Netherlands from our Portugal trip – the return flight from Faro with KLM subsidiary airline Transavia encountered foggy skies in Eindhoven and we were redirected to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Facing the option of being transported to Eindhoven by bus from Amsterdam, which could take several hours past midnight, we decided to take the train back south to meet up with family and have a midnight supper.
A dreaded global disease started to interfere with our further travel plans. Covid-19 would soon become a global pandemic with millions of dead people and a forever changed world order. Face masks were the advised item of protection, so we ordered a pack from Amazon-Netherlands and got ready to fly out from Schiphol Amsterdam to JFK in New York a week later.
John F. Kennedy airport is one of the older and largest international airports in the world, which is probably the reason why the international arrival hall can easily accommodate at least 5,000 passengers coming from all over the world to this junction of global contamination challenges.
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