Getting Around St. Maarten in Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com

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Svalugia-

The former natives—the Arawaks, now extinct—called Sint Maarten Svalugia. The island changed countries 16 or more times. World War II American GIs built Queen Juliana airport, now serviced by Air France, AOM, Corsair, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, KLM, Air Canada, and USAirways and inter-island operators such as Liat, Winnair, and BWIA.

The island is a true cosmopolitan mix. French and Dutch are widely spoken, but Papimiento is the original language. The French side has a European, but with a Latin beat, while the Dutch side has a more calypso, Carib essence. The national motto seems to be two of everything: two countries, two languages, two cultures, but living side by side on one island.

Fort St Louis

Fort St. Louis rises above Marigot, capital of the French side, and was constructed during French King Louis XVI's reign. Many ancestors are descendents from the French Revolution compatriots, fleeing the carnage of the aftermath of the Revolution, including the proprietor of "This Old House," a small, family museum on the way to Orient Beach.

Atop a knoll near the Divi Beach Hotel, at the end of a peninsula at Little Bay, Fort Amsterdam still rises ramshackle proud, defending the Great Bay of Philipsburg, capital of the Dutch side, as it has since 1631. A short hike reveals a few old gun batteries, a powder magazine, barracks, and the fort HQ. Fort Amsterdam was the first defense built in the Dutch Caribbean. The Spanish took it over and fortified it to defend their sea routes to Porto Rico. The fort housed 300 people in its heyday. In 1644, Peter Stuyvesant, founder of New York, then known as New Holland, lost a leg torn by a cannonball during an attempt to re-conquer the fort on behalf of Holland. The Spanish left the island in 1648, and the fort was baptized Fort Amsterdam in 1737.

Philipsburg has two main arteries - Front Street where the duty free shops are located, and Back Street, both of which are one way streets. Bridges at Simpson Bay open three times daily to allow boats out to the open ocean, and traffic is allowed to resume between the two countries.

Nanette Bearden Fine Arts Gallery
44 Front St.
Open 11 am to 6 pm Tuesdays through Saturday
011 599 543 1540

Down an alley and up a green and white staircase above the jewelry shops of Philipsburg lives the legacy of the late American artist, Romare Bearden, in a gallery founded in 1985 by his St. Martin wife, Nanette. His collages and watercolor paintings have appeared in the Smithsonian and the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Gallery showcases Caribbean artists, with a new gallery showing each month.

Search For Rare Caribbean Books

Let's Search for Unusual and Rare Book About Sint. Maarten, The Windward Islands, and the Caribbean, including cuisine, history, sailing, art, architecture, culture, poetry and literature.

Entry Requirements

To enter St. Maarten or St. Martin (the customs at the airport are the same), you need a current passport or a birth certificate with raised seal accompanied by a photo ID (drivers license). Naturalized citizens must show an original naturalization certificate with photo ID. After disembarking from the plane you will pass through immigration, and then into baggage claim. There is no formal entry into St. Martin, the French side, which for over 350 years, has shared a "borderless" border with the Dutch. The International airport is on the Dutch side, but serves the French side as well.

Duty Free Shopping

Shopping on Sint. Maarten is as eclectic as the nationalities. You will find bargain prices found on Sint Maarten that you will find nowhere else in duty free ports in the Caribbean, even the U.S. Virgin Islands. Best Front Street bargain choices include: Japanese cameras, Italian fashions and jewelry, French perfumes, Dutch chocolates, Swiss watches, Colombian emeralds, Cuban Cigars, and liquor and liqueurs from around the world. Back Street's Chinese and Indian stores is the place for discounted ready-to-wear clothing, Ts, and colorful garments, crafts, household items and friendly conversation in an open-market, sidewalk setting.

In Marigot, the shopping is confined between the seafront Marina Port Royale and Hotel de Ville (Town Hall). Marigot doesn't have the selection of goods as Philipsburg, but shopping is informal, with many international goods and French haute coutre. The French side is the place for fresh produce, which is more rural than the Dutch side.

How Much Is Duty Free?

United States Citizens

U.S. citizens, regardless of age, and who have been out of the country 48 hours, and who have not used their respective duty-free allowance within 30 days, are entitled to a US$600 duty free tax exemption. Families traveling together can pool their exemptions, meaning a couple with two childen can bring home US$2,400 worth of articles duty free. The duty free liquor allowance for U.S. citizens age 21 and over is one quart, the value of which must be included within the US$600 exemption.

Canadian Citizens

Canadian citizens who have been outside Canada for a minimum of seven days are permitted a duty free exemption of CN$750. Citizens are also permitted a duty free exemption of CN$200 each time they are out of the country for more than 48 hours. This CN$200 exemption may not be claimed during the same period as the CN$750 exemptions, nor can your exemptions be pooled with your spouse and/or children. The duty free liquor allowance for Canadian citizens who meet the legal age of the province they enter is 40 ounces of wine or liquor, or two dozen 12-ounce cans of beer, the value of which must be included within the yearly or quarterly exemption.

All Others - Many chartered yachts provision in Sint Maarten because of the low prices, and because often they do not enter back into a customs area, so they can purchase any quantities of duty free goods. The same primarily applies to European shoppers as well.

Currency, Credit Cards, Departure Tax

The official currency is the Antillean Guilder (Dutch side), or the Dutch Florin, and Francs on the French side, but American dollars are widely accepted, so there is no need to exchange your currency upon arrival on the island. English is widely spoken.

As with all travelers, a credit card or cash deposit is required upon hotel check-in to cover incidental expenses. Be advised that long distance phone calls from Sint Maarten to the U.S. are expensive, about US$4.25 per minute. Other countries are even higher. A departure tax of US$20 is paid in cash upon exit. There is a15% surcharge on services

FINE DINING, CARIB STYLE

The superb dining experience seems to spill across both sides of the island like a bowl of conk chowder. There are fine French restaurants on the Dutch side, such as Antoine's and L'Escargot, and there is exceptional Creole, Carib fare in the local markets on the Marigot side, with the French beachside community of Grand Case the gastronomy attraction for traditional continental dishes. Here are some of the finer places I was lucky to sample on Sint Maarten:


	Island Restaurant Guide Restaurant, Cuisine, Location, Phone Anand Indian Restaurant, Indian Hotel, Steeg. 542-5706 Antoine's Restaurant, French/Creole, Front Street, 542-2964 Boathouse, Seafood. Airport Road, 564-5409 Chesterfield's, International, Great Bay Marina, 542-3484 Da Livio, Italian, Front Street, 542-2690 Daniella's Courtyard, International, Front Street, 542-1333 Dario's, Italian, Port de Plaisance Resort, 544-5222 Don Carlo's, Tex/Mex, Simpson Bay, 545-3112 Everyt'ing Cool, American, Front Street, 543-1011 Greenhouse, International, Bobby's Marina, 542-2941 Indiana Restaurant, International, Pelican Key, 544-2797 Kangaroo Court, Deli/Café, Beside Courthouse, 542-4278 L'Escargot, French, Front Street, 542-2483 La Belle Vie, French, Port de Plaisance Resort, 544-2797 La Rosa Too, Italian, Maho Reef Mall, 545-3470 Le Bec Fin, French, Front Street, 542-2976 Le Perroquet, French, Airport Road, 545-4339 Mamma Mia, Italian, Maho Reef, 545-3932 Mary's Boon, International, Simpson Bay Road, 545-4235 Old Captain, Chinese/Japanese, Front Street, 542-6988 Pelican Reef, Steak/Seafood, Pelican Resort, 544-2616 Pizza Pasta, Italian, Maho Road, 545-4034 Rancho, Steakhouse, Simpson Bay, 545-2495 Ric's Place, American, Front Street, 543-6050 Ristorante Laguna, Italian, Airport Road, 545-2025 Saratoga, International, Simpson Bay, 544-2421 Shiv Sagar, Indian, Front Street, 543-1210 Spartaco, Italian, Cole Bay, 544-5379 The Hideaway, International, La Vista Resort, 544-30 Turtle Pier, Caribbean, Airport Road, 545-2562

ANTOINE'S
599 542 2964
119 Front Street

Antoine's has an international flair, plopped down on Great Bay Beach. Although informal, the dining matches any formal big city haunt. Antoine's offers traditional French and Creole cuisine. Open for lunch and dinner. Valet parking is available. The main entrance is off Front Street, or walk up from the beach.

I felt Antoine's was the most intimate and exquisite dining desire for great food in Philipsburg, with a wonderful and friendly French staff serving the entrées with spicy tendrils of Carib boisterness evident in each dish. Sometimes, escargots in the islands are served glazed in a six unit tureen, but this evening they were more provincial, in the shell, with the perfect garlic buttery, soupy, flavor. Escargots thrive in the French wine region under the grape leaves, and go together delightfully with fine wine. Many restaurants repack the shells with canned escargots, but the difference in Antoine's fresh snails makes the heart sing.

Antoine's profuses a wonderful island wine corkage, flown in daily by Air France from the regions of Bordeaux, Lombardy, Burgundy, and Champagne, and in fact, Sint. Maarten is known far and wide for it's exuberant and rare bouquets. Many travelers bypass other duty free ports in the Caribbean to restock the boat galley with a myriad of choice, rare, inexpensive private labels of hard-to-find vintages.

Antoine's extraordinary Filet de Vivaneau au Beurre Blanc (Red Snapper fillet w/shallots & white wine or garlic), was grilled to a harmonious crisp, and when broken with a fork, the tantalizing thermal herbal infused encrustation hammered and shredded across my tongue, wave after wave lapping up as if on Great Bay Beach, and the table conversation demured.

A fine restaurant begs great dining companions, those that can activate conversation with easy volition on a range of topics, and indeed, the debated ingredients clung to the memory like a sailboat on the equator, gliding across an invisible line never to anchor in any one spot on the palate. Each entrée sample was passed around with gusto, like a taut Italian mother marking contentment on a ledger of realization.

Dessert was a giant, perfectly toasted, crème brulée that I shared with the cuisine claim jumpers at my table, but only enviously, and then I scooped up the rum sugary brown delight wildly, like a child embued with mad hilarity, lost in solitary reflection that God and seigneur, multi-talented chefs, could create anything so damn tastebud electrifying. I looked up with solace like a big-eyed bream, and everyone else was smashing through the food chain with the gusto of a Survivor participant coming home to a meal that they didn't have to spear or snare.

Antoine's Menu Selections

Gaspacho, Vichyssoise, Baked Onion Soup, Lobster Bisqué

Escargots de Bourgogne (Snails in the shells with Garlic Butter)

Seafood Linguini with Cream

Poulet Roti au Four (Half Roasted Chicken)

Canard Montmorency (Half Crisp Duckling, Brandy Sauce, and Cherries)

Escalope de Veau Belle Meuniere (Veal Scalopine with Mushrooms, Lemon &
Butter)

Escalope de Veau Dijonnaise (Veal Scalopine with Mustard Sauce)

Escalope de Veau au Vermouth (Veal Scalopine with Vermouth Sauce & Fresh Grapes)

Filet de Boeuf au Poivre Vert ou Noir (Filet Mignon with Green or Black Pepper Sauce)

Filet de Boeuf Grille Bearnaise (Filet Mignon Bearnaise)

Cuisses de Grenouilles a L'au (Frog Legs with Garlic Butter)

Filet de Vivaneau au Beurre Blanc (Red Snapper Fillet w/Shallots & White Wine or Garlic)

Filet de Merou Amandine (Sauteed Grouper Fillet with Sliced Almonds)

Dou de Saumon and Vivaneau cuit a l'Ancienne (Baked Salmon & Red Snapper)

Viuisson de Crevettes au Beurre d'au (Shrimp Scampi, Garlic Butter, flambéed w/Pernod)

Langouste Grillee (Broiled Lobster)

Langouste Thermidor (Lobster with Cream Shallots, and White Wine Sauce)

Sherbert or Ice Cream, Crème Bruleé.

TURTLE PIER
00 599 545 2562
Air Port Road 114
St. Maarten

Turtle Pier is located in a nice lagoon setting at Simpson Bay, and is an island favorite, including mine. Turtle Pier is open daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with conch chowder and live Caribbean lobsters, just two of their superb specialties. Creole is strongly present in all their dishes, except the traditional Ginger Duck, but Creole reappears in the flambéed shrimp with spice rum, and the Turtle Pier Bouillaibaise, (seafood in coconut milk). Other Creole-style mouth waterers are the barbecue chicken and ribs. Arrive on a Friday for the Caribbean Grille Night; Tuesday is live music; Wednesday is lobster night with three course lobster dinners; Thursday is Jazz and Reggae; different specials and music on Saturday nights.

Nearly everyone in our party took the Turtle Pier conch soup, a Creole broth with veggies, herbs and tender conch, served steaming in a lidded pewter tureen. Try the Sunshine Salad with oranges, grapefruit and house vinaigrette, or Mozzarella Salad, with steamed fresh Christophene, and mozzarella and olive oil flavored with vanilla beans.

Turtle Pier Menu Selections

Appetizers

Crisp Coconut Shrimp, Buffalo Wings, Stuffed Christophene, Conch Fritters, or fried Calamari. or "Sates Tropicale," — two small skewers of chicken and beef served with mustard, ginger, and garlic saffron sauces.

Entreés

Chicken — Most of the chicken entrées come with rice and peas, including the Grilled Citrus Chicken, Chicken Creole (traditional French Caribbean-style), or Chicken with Mushrooms.

Duck — Ginger Duck is served with choice of rice and peas, baked potato, French fries, or veggies. Ginger Duck is choice breast. pan seared with a sauce of ginger, honey, orange juice, and a touch of soy sauce. Guavaberry Duck is sliced and pan seared with the breasts flambéed in a sauce of local Guavaberry liqueur, shallots and a pinch of nutmeg.

Steaks — Meats are the standard grilled mignons, sirloins, T-bones and London broil, or beef kabob. Try the surf and turf.

Seafood — Someone at our table ordered Shrimp St. Maarten - large shrimp sautéed with shallots, flambéed with spiced rum, cream, and a hint of citronella added for a rich, thick, sauce. Needless to say, other orders quickly followed. Other choices are Shrimp Scampi, Shrimp Kebab, Barbecued Shrimp, and Crispy Coconut Shrimp.

Grilled Whole Snapper or Snapper Filet is one the best local fish on the menu, The snapper filet is what I tried and it was nicely seasoned and prepared, and I ordered it grilled, or try it pan fried, Creole-style, and spicy. The Grouper Filet is also a wise choice, prepared and presented just like the Snapper. Other choices include: Tuna Steak, Fish Kebab, or pick out a live, market priced per pound. lobster from the tank at the restaurant entrance.

Vegetarian Dishes - Turtle Pier has a wide menu of vegetarian dishes, including: Creole Vegetarian Stew, made from fresh Caribbean produce - Christophene, dasheen, plantain, carrots, and green beans, cooked in a tasty Creole broth of tomatoes, onion, garlic, and herbs.

Desserts

Chocolate Mousse — Rich creamy chocolate with a hint of Grand Marnier

Flan Coco — A custardy pudding with lots of shredded coconut and caramel sauce

Banane Flambée Rip — Sweet bananas, sautéed w/brown sugar, flambéed w/spiced rum

Caribbean Reflections — Shredded coconut baked in a rich creamy filling

Mango Pie — (Jetsetters Magazine favorite pick throughout the island,) - Slices of mango in creamy filling

Banana Chocolate Coconut Pie — First the banana pie is made, then pour a thick layer of melted chocolate, and finish it off with shredded coconut sprinkled on top

Also: Key Lime Pie, Cheesecake, and Chocolate Cake

Another favorite: Old Fashioned West Indian Bread Pudding, raisins, lots of spices, rum, served with a little caramel sauce

THE BAREFOOT TERRACE

The Barefoot Terrace, or "BT" to the locals, is a great place to hangout during the hot days in Philipsburg. It is located near the cruise ship pier and center of town, and you can check your internet messages at the FedEx building around the corner. There are other bars and restaurants in the area, but the open verandah and airy BT offers superb food at a reasonable price.

BT offers daily local specials on soups, salads (such as pickled conch salad), island conch fritters, coconut shrimp, jerked or BBQ wings, or ribs. Get the BT sampler (combination of conch fritters, coconut shrimp and wings).

Some of my favorite menu specials at the BT include: West Indian Wraps, Grilled Jamaican Jerk Chicken, or standard burgers; on Saturdays there is a Caribbean Barbecue.

Best Swimming Beach - Mullet Bay Beach (Dutch) - Golf at the Mullet Bay Golf Course, the only course on the island at the now deteriorating, and closed, Mullet Bay Hotel and Resort. The 18-hole course is still open daily.

Best Snorkeling Beach- Dawn Beach (Dutch) - Rent a sailboat at the Moorings, located at Dawn Beach, or contact jetsetters@hotmail.com for all your Caribbean yacht chartering needs.

Best Beach For Romance - Baie Longue (French) - The longest beach on the island. Or Baie Rouge (French) - Also great for romance.

Best For Food - Grand Case (French); Great Bay Beach, Philipsburg (Dutch).

Best Beach For Kids - Anse Marcel (French).

Best Beach For Scenery - Cupecoy Beach (Dutch) - With craggy cliffs. Visit the 120 parrot species at Parrot Jungle.

Best Beach For People Watching - Maho Bay Beach (Dutch) - Sip a Carib and watch the planes land at Queen Juliana Airport at Simpson Bay.. Stay for the nightlife at the new Baywatch Nightclub. During the day get a massage at the Caravanserai Spa.

Best Beach For Body Surfing - Guana Bay (Dutch).

Best Beach Overall - Orient Beach (French) - Watersports, parasailing, nude sunbathing, water-skiing, sea kayaks, bars and restaurants, and lots of creamy, oxide-red sand beach. For adult nude sunbathing and swimming take a boat out to small îlet Pinel, where the professional suntanners bake themselves into lizards. Archaeological diggings at Orient Beach go back to 1900 BC. Changes in Latitudes offers nude cruising or clothing optional cruises (call: 5-75982). Tri Sports Paddling is offered around Orient Beach (call:545-4384). The area was once a large turtle nesting area, so occasionally some turtles may return.

Where The Locals Go - Frier's Beach (French) - Drive down a bumpy, sandy road and try to find a parking slot. Watch out for the land sharks, then head for the beach bar with Carib beers and food. Rent a lounge chair or spread out on the sand. Catch a $3 panga to Anquilla, five miles away.

Other Outdoor Fun

St. Martin Ecotourism Association
Les Coordonnees d'Ecotourism Assn.
29 41 57, Fax 87 25 54

Contact the association for surfing, body-boarding, marlin fishing, hiking in Sint Maarten, or St. Martin. Or take the Sint Maarten Heritage Museum Tour. Call: 5424 917.

- Kriss Hammond, Editor, Jetsetters Magazine, and Carib Correspondent,