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Philipsburg Photo Feature

Philipsburg is four parallel streets squeezed between Great Bay, where the cruise ships dock, and Salt Pond, where salt was made many years ago. The entire area has been improved greatly over the last few years. The harbor was dredged so that cruise ships could tie up at a new terminal. The sand from the dredging was used to replenish Great Bay beach and a boardwalk was built running the length of the beach. In addition, Front Street was beautified with paving stones, benches, new sidewalks, palm trees, and cast iron streetlights. Parking was eliminated, making the street a mile long restaurants mall. New parking was added along Pondfill and at Bobby's Marina at the same time.

There is a major market in the center of town with tee-shirts, souvenirs, and much more.

They redo the the license plates every year. The old ones are for sale in the Philipsburg markets. These are the 2004 to the right, 2005 below left, and 2006 below right.

The Boardwalk starts at the head of town at the Greenhouse Restaurant. There are plans to extend it to the cruiseship pier, but at this time there is a sidewalk leading to the Boardwalk and there are water taxis taking cruisers to the dock here or the one in the center of town at Captain Hodge Wharf.

Walk out to Front Street and you'll find Uncle Trouble's Tees. They are pretty funny. Continue down Front Street and you'll find the Guavaberry Emporium. Get a free taste.

A bit further is Endless Summer Swimwear. Continue on and you'll find this gentleman and his unhappy friend.

DK Gems has a fine selection of gems, jewelry, and Deepti.

A bit further west and across the street is one branch of ROYAL CARIBBEAN JEWELERS, offering high quality jewelry with attentive service. You'll find 14kt and 18kt gold rings, bracelets, pendants, loose diamonds, and exclusive sterling silver pieces here and at the Flamingo Resort in Simpson Bay.

Moving along, the smell of garlic and the sound of Edith Piaf lures you into L'Escargot Restaurant's colorful Creole house. The entrance to Antoine Restaurant offers glimpses of the sea, hinting that all of Great bay will entertain you at dinner or lunch.

If you have walked along Front street to Antoine without stopping for lunch, you have a choice of dining in the lovely dining room or out on the beach, same menu. If you've had lunch, you deserve a cold drink on a comfy chair as you contemplate the wonders of a tropical island. There are photo ops all along the boardwalk, even an opportunity to photograph the photographers! Segways are available.

The Sint Rose Retirement Home used to be here on the beach. They sold their pricy beachfront property and built a new and better home a bit further from the commotion and hurricane damage potential of Great Bay. It has been replaced by this tourist attraction. A little ways away is another time-honored island tradition: stealing the name of anything popular in the states. We've had a Hooterss (note the doubled s on the end) and a Midass Muffler shop (ditto).

Looking for an inexpensive hotel with a lovely pool and free Wifi. Check out L'Esperance Hotel. It's not on the beach but is pretty convenient.

These are photos taken by Glenn Aker during a vacation in Philipsburg recently. I thank him for the sunrise. They are very rare photos for me. The fort is Fort Amsterdam on the Divi Peninsula just west of the harbor. Peter Stuyvesant was the peg-legged governer of New Amsterdam when the British took it from the Dutch and renamed it New York. Before that, he was the governer of St Maarten. His original leg is still someplace near these ruins.

It started out as a calm day on Great Bay as this cruise ship approached the dock. Unfortunately, it was watched by a hungry giant lizard that devoured the ship and all passangers. You won't read about this in the local paper as all accounts haved been surpressed.

Glenn took the photo on the left. It appears to be the 12 meter America's Cup boats rounding the flag in Cay Bay to the west of Pburg. You get to go out on a real America's Cup boat with a skilled captain and a couple crew members and race against a similarly outfitted boat. This activitiy regularly gets voted the best in the Caribbean. There is lots more at their website.