I have been to St Martin probably 20 times but I have never been up to Loterie Farm. There is now a zipline course there so we thought we would give it a try. They have two types of zipline - the regular and the extreme zipline. The regular zipline is not that high off the ground and really caters to the cruise ship crowd. It looked ok but we really wanted a real zipline so we did the extreme zipline. Everytime I say extreme zipline I always think of the Extreme guys from Harold and Kumar Go To Whitecastle.
To get to the extreme zipline they loaded us up on the back of a truck and took us up to the top of the mountain. The ride up there made me nervous enough. We had no seat belt and were on benches in the back of a completely open truck. The view from the top is stunning. I only wish I had brought my camera with me. I was afraid that it would get broken but it would have been worth the risk.
The first zipline wasn’t so bad. We just took a running start and zoomed down the zipline to the first platform. The zipline is a lot of fun. I have to admit I was a little worried about hitting the tree at the end (even though it is covered with padding) so I kept breaking too early. I eventually got that under control and learned to enjoy the ride to the finish. The extreme zipline also had some extra items such as a cable tightrope, ladders and log bridge. I think they were just there to make you appreciate the zipeline ride. Our guide Nick thought it was a load of laughs to jump on the bridge and cables as we were walking across. Honestly, these didn’t scare me but it was physically difficult to get across these items. The logs on the bridges were spaced pretty far making it difficult to get across and the cable tightrope was uncomfortable on the feet. I always felt safe as we hooked ourselves into the safety lines. I just wish we could have hung from those lines and slid to the other side! Still, I highly recommend the zipline. It’s a lot of fun and a great view.
Over the past 20 years I have watched St. Martin grow. It’s very hard to find any open space left on this island and Loterie Farm is a nice refuge. They also have a nice restaurant and bar area.
In the afternoon we headed into Phillipsburg to do some shopping. Phillipsburg is the capital of the Dutch side. All the large cruise ships come into port here. This area has good prices on electronics and jewelry and also sells the typical tourist items. In the past few years they have built a nice beachfront boardwalk. This is a nice area to stroll or take a dip in the ocean. One store everyone should check out is Rima’s on Pondfill Road. They have a large selection of souveniers and beachwear. Many of the items sold along the beaches or other shops were bought at Rima’s first. It’s a great place to pick up some inexpensive gifts to take home.
In the evening we went to Toppers restaurant in Simpson Bay. This is a nice family friendly restaurant with some good basic food as well more gourmet items. I had the gnocchi, which was excellent, and the crab stuffed mahi mahi was also very good. After that we went to the Lady C floating bar. It was lady’s night so it was loud and crowded. I usually prefer a mellower atmosphere so we didn’t stay long. I think I would enjoy this bar more on other nights.
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