We were out of the house around 10 AM today, as we had a full itinerary. First, we dropped Jeanne and Lauren off at Little Bay Beach, as they were not interested in our first activity: Fort Amsterdam.
The turn off the main road was so steep and sharp that turns were only permitted from the other direction, so we had to go down the hill to the edge of Great Bay Beach, turn around, and come back.
The land between the main road and the fort is occupied by a gated community, so we had to park in the public lot and walk about half a mile through the resort.
The first iguana sighting was barely fifty feet into the trek.
Steve was this close to the next one, and didn't notice it until I pointed it out. Twice.
Across Little Bay, we could see the beach where we'd gone two days ago (and where Lauren and Jeanne were).
The views from the top of the hill by the fort were majestic, and all four cruise ships were visible at the port on the far side of Philipsburg.
The (ruins of the) fort were somewhat sparse and spread over the hilltop, but there were a few remaining cannons to inspect.
In case they ever need to deter the cruise ships from docking, these cannons are perfectly positioned.
There was no shade, but a pleasant breeze evaporated most of the sweat from the hillclimb in the brutal mid-morning sun.
In the bay below, a gaggle of snorklers was escaping the roped-off snorkel area and exploring the rocky water at the base of the hill, near the designated Pelican Nesting Area.
I wandered down the hill, behind some obnoxiously-loud American tourists, but lost interest when they blocked the path to take photos of a hermit crab.
On our way back down the hill, we passed this guy on his way up, wearing water shoes, mask, and snorkel. His wife? girlfriend? was waiting halfway down the hill, also in snorkel gear.
We played more Spot The Iguana on the walk back down, through the resort, and up to the parking lot.
After loading back into the van, we once again had to go the wrong way on the road, down the hill to the edge of the next beach, and turn around. We parked at Little Bay Beach and talked our way past the hotel's security guard (not hard) to go find Jeanne and Lauren.
Our next stop was a French bakery in Simpson Bay to procure some lunch to bring to the beach.
The iguana spotting continued.
The little guy was not shy at all, suggesting that he's probably being fed by humans, I suppose. I'm not iguana expert, however.
About a mile down the road and over the drawbridge, we turned down a narrow road that ran parallel to the airport runway and followed it to the end, looking for somewhere to park. What-we-eventually-learned-was-the-public-lot was quite full, so we docked the minivan on the edge of some random side alley, mere steps from the beach. It looked like a safe-enough neighborhood for a rental car, anyway.
In stark contrast to yesterday's strip of sand, Simpson Bay Beach was nearly empty and quite tranquil (not counting the jets and turboprops arriving and departing intermittently).
We managed to find a tiny spot of shade in which to hide our cooler, clothes, etc., under a seagrape tree that was hanging over the wall of a beachfront house.
The water was calm and refreshing, which was a perfect remedy for our fort-climb sheen.
Around 1:30 PM, Steve, Rudy, and I took a walk down the beach to see the planes taking off at the airport. We found a beach bar at the far end of the beach, maybe a mile from where we started, and bellied up to the bar for a few beers. The bartender was one of the waitstaff from JAX a few nights ago, oddly.
Steve went back to join the ladies, while Rudy and I continued another half mile or so around the end of the airport, over to the famous Maho Beach. If you want the video version of why it's famous, it's... quite something.
As we approached the western end of the runway, the traffic jam accurately foreshadowed the situation we were about to wander into.
It was almost 2:30 by the time we got there, and the beach was absolutely mobbed with (what I assume were) Instagramers and TikTokers waiting for filming opportunities. Not wanting to be left out, I recorded my own video of a plane landing just over the beach.
If we'd tried to drive over here and find a parking space, I might've lost my mind. Taxis were loading and unloading passengers, people were fruitlessly looking for parking spots, and tour busses were inexplicably passing through.
Judging by the prevalence of staff asking almost every passerby if they needed a taxi back to the ship, I'm inferring that many of these people were cruisers.
We hung around for a few minutes, admiring the utter chaos of people walking on the short seawall and wandering in the street, while taxis honked uselessly at long lines of traffic. I think we were there for maybe 10 or 15 minutes before heading back from whence we came.
This is now one of my all-time favorite signs.
This woman was doing her best to get hit by a very-annoyed bus driver, who had to creep carefully along the beach lest his mirror make contact with the wall-standers' heads.
As we were leaving, we watched a few more jets launch down the runway in a deafening roar of exhaust. In any other setting, it would be weird to stand around and watch through a security fence as planes take off, but the tropical beach setting made it seem fun and exciting.
After a pitstop at the oceanfront bar on the west end of Simpson Bay beach, we strolled the beautiful mile-ish back to the other end.
We had plenty of time for more beach-lounging, adventure-recounting, and another swim or two before packing up the car around 5 PM.
Our early dinner date at Jai's was back near the French bakery; it should have been an 8-to-10 minute drive, but the drawbridge was up to allow sailboats through, so we barely made our 5:30 reservation.
Rudy was very excited to stop at Balls & Wine, but they weren't open when we passed in the other direction and they haven't made the cut so far (probably because their website is trash and you have to call on the phone for reservations). I might try to steer dinner that direction tomorrow, but I wouldn't bet on it.
Tomorrow, we're out on a charter boat all day.
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