It is both. The Southern side Dutch and the Northern side is French. It was divided in 1648. Legend has it that it was divided by a Dutchman and a Frenchman having a walking race (one headed North and the other South). Where they met became the border with the French obtaining 3/5 of the land. Today it is the land of “Duty Free” shopping. I did my share by purchasing the local Guavaberry Liquor. It is the only place in the world that I have been to where you don’t have to go through Customs to cross the border.
We anchored in Simpson Bay which is a large lagoon entered and exited only by a swing bridge which opens 3 times a day. The yacht club is at the bridge and quite the crowd gathers for the boat parade. The airport is right around the corner so every morning at about 8:15 the first of many jets pass over the boats where you are awakened by the extremely LOUD noise of low jet engines.
For fun we took the local bus/van (only $1.50 per person) to Phillipsburg which is the capital of the Dutch side. There is a beautiful Boardwalk to walk and shop away the hours. One of the deals we found was a bucket of six Carib Beers for $10.00. We were hot and thirsty so a cold one seemed like a great way to pass time. We also sopped in to the Yoda “Star Wars” museum. There were two cruise ships in port that day but at 5:00 pm when they leave, Phillipsburg becomes a ghost town. We found that only a few things stayed open for the rest of us and most of those were Casinos. We partook in BINGO at the Coliseum Casino and I won! For a $3.00 investment, I won $25.00..not a bad investment and a lot of fun. John was only a B-4 away from winning the $1500 “Blackout” prize.
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