Island Time: Let's wrap this thing up!

The last 2 days were very fun, yet nothing warrants it's own post, so we're gonna wrap this trip up now.

Our last full day we decided to go shopping Phillipsburg on the Dutch side.  They are known for having a lot of jewlery stores where you can get a great deal.  Really, the most impressive part of Phillipsburg was the water.  I don't think I have ever seen that color blue before.  Truly amazing.

I bought myself a blue topaz ring that is the same color as the water...my kind of souviner. 

We wanted to take some pictures by the water but needed someone to take a group shot.  I found this guy:

But quickly determined he was not up for the job.

Success!

That night, Tom James hosted a farewell dinner on the beach.  They truly outdid themselves.  There were different types of food from the Caribbean including, my favorite, crab claws!  I ate so much crab, I think I was pregnant with a few by the end of dinner.

A few prom pictures before dinner:

The Lynn Sisters

Buddies!

On the beach.

Family Photo.  (Steve and I have adopted Buddy....It's a girl!)



After dinner, we hit the casino for a little bit where Steve lost some more money, (no one won!) and then all hung out and had a few more drinks.

I swear, you'd think we were triplets if you didn't know better.

I was begging the enitre trip to go to the Sunset Beach Bar by the airport.  This bar was featured on the travel channel as one of the most extreme airports.  The runway is less than 50 yards from the water and there is a beach in between.  The planes are so low as they land, and when they take off, the blast given off by the jets will literally knock people over who are on the beach.  Some people choose to "Ride the Fence" which means they hold on to the fence and practically fly because of the wind from the jets. 

Steve and I went to the airport early, checked our bags, and walked over to the bar.  Tons of little planes were taking off and landing yet only a few commercial jets landed while we were there.  Here's a fun fact about the St. Maarten airport, apparently commercial jets only take off a couple times throughout the day.  There were flights that left first thing in the morning, then the 2 hours we were at the bar not a single one left, and then when it was time for our flight to leave, there were about 4 or 5 leaving within an hour of eachother.  Not sure the logistics of this, but it definitely ruined my chance to ride the fence. 

Here are 2 of the planes landing:

There was one large private jet that left and blew some things into the water.  Also a group of 3 girls in sundresses were walking by the fence as it took off so their dresses were over their heads.  They had just been sitting at the bar watching planes take off and land so either a) they wanted the attention, or b) they are really dumb girls. 

Our flight was over an hour late since we had to wait on the jetway for the other 5 planes with the same departure time to leave.  In fact, every single one of the planes ended up being late and a good number of the Tom James travelers missed their connecting flights.  Travel tip:  If going to St. Maarten, leave yourself a healthy layover on your way home.

Our connecting flight from Miami to Houston was delayed an hour also.  Then as we were thinking it was time to board, they informed us that the bathroom was broken so we needed to switch planes and the new plane was on the opposite side of the airport (at the gate directly across from where we had just come in from St. Maarten).  Finally, at 2:30am, we crashed into our bed.

On a scale from 1-10, this trip ranked a solid 9.  Highly recommend this island.