Breakfast in St. Maarten, DWI

To begin with, the fact that the Dutch West Indies gets abbreviated "D.W.I." makes me laugh, especially since one of the selling points that was made for purchasing a timeshare in St. Maarten was that we would never be hassled by police for drinking and driving. For those of you who know us, you can understand why we did not jump at the chance to purchase the time share (although we did eat the mediocre free breakfast--Jay had "Island Pancakes" which the waiter promised would have a special island surprise in them, but it was a trick as they were just plain old pancakes).

We did eat some wonderful breakfasts, made all the more impressive by the views. One morning we ate at a French patisserie called La Sucererie that had a view of the lagoon. Jay had a goat cheese quiche and a napoleon with his latte. I had the continental breakfast; an almond croissant, bread and marmalade, and orange juice. The pastries were divine, the coffee passable, the orange juice sour in that way that only vaguely Euro orange juices can be, but the view was spectacular. Unfortunately, this was the morning that I succumbed to the evil cold/flu/knock out bug that Jay had been harboring so it was the last time I was upright for a good 24 hours.



Jay's Breakfast

The other lovely breakfast that we had was on our last morning in St. Maarten at the Holland House Beach Hotel in Phillipsburg. Jay had the smoked salmon eggs benedict (eggs benny being one of his all time favorite breakfast options) and I had the full American breakfast (fruit salad, 2 eggs, croissant, toast and coffee). Again, the lattes were only mediocre but the pastries were great and the view couldn't be beat. We had walked past the beach hotel the night before when the stairs were all lit up and were sad that we hadn't found it until our last night on the island (and after dinner at that). I was thrilled to find the restaurant open for breakfast the next morning. We were able to watch the cruise ships (and the boat people) come and go from the ocean front dining room while sitting on lovely white couches with brightly colored throw pillows. The hotel had a very hip, clean aesthetic that was lacking from our own teal and wicker residence and the ambiance made me feel much cooler than the previous meals I had eaten to the accompaniment of the ubiquitous reggae Christmas hits.


Breakfast with a View