St. Maarten

The last stop of our trip was in St. Maarten (or St. Martin...one is for the Dutch side and one is for the French side of the island).  Per usual, my dad had arranged a top-notch experience for us with Barnard's Tours.
Our driver, DJ, picked us up, went over some of the island's highlights, and then told us to call the shots as to where we went, for how long, etc.  Oh, and he had super strong rum punch (along with some waters, beers, etc) to enjoy on our tour.

Our first stop was at the iguana farm.  Farm may be a bit strong of a word, but the place had a bunch of iguanas running around.  And we were even able to feed them, so Colton was pretty much on cloud nine!

From there, we moved on to a scenic overlook.

And then he took us to meet Calvin (I'm pretty sure that was his name!).  Calvin hangs out in the water and fetches sea urchins, sea stars, conch, and other sea life for visitors to touch, hold, and see up close.  He hangs out there all day just waiting for people to stop by and tip him!  It was pretty neat, though!

And there was a really pretty scenic overlook there too.

After that fun, we spent an hour or so at the beach...Orient Beach to be exact, another of the world's most famous.  We spend a lot of time at the beach at home, as many of you know, but that time is  spent at the bay which means Colton has never really played in waves before.  Let's just say he was a big fan..as was his daddy!

After a couple more stops...another scenic overlook and a trip to an amazing French bakery that our driver recommended...we made it to my second favorite spot of the trip: Sunset Bar and Grill.  What can I say...I'm a sucker for a good bar!  Anyways, this place was right on the beach, but not just any beach.  The beach happened to be right next to the airport, so every time a plane took off or landed, it flies right over head.  In fact, there are tons of YouTube videos of people being pushed into the water by the jets' propulsion.  Obviously, with one barely swimmer and a total non-swimmer, we didn't attempt that, but it was pretty cool to watch.

                             

And with that, it was back to the boat we went.  

And now I officially conclude our trip report/photo bomb.  It really was an awesome trip...one that I feel so blessed to be on!  I promise to be back next week with more regular stuff!