“A Go Around” in St. Barth
I was seated in the right seat of a Cirrus SR22 (perhaps the most jetset you could arrive to St. Barth since the airport doesn’t allow jets). If you have landed here before, you know how exhilarating it is. Thankfully, I’m a fan of flying, as some might consider ‘exhilarating’ a bit ‘stomach-wrenching.’ Not me. On the final approach, we flew over the well-documented hill, dropped our altitude and glided onto the famed tiny strip of runway.
Fast, fast, fast toward the end of the runway we raced. Then, the engine revved, and up in the air again we lifted just skimming the waving hands of sunbathers on Saint Jean beach. “We’re fast for this light cross wind, let’s go around,” said the pilot. Stephanie and I were chasing the sun to St. Barth (quite literally as we had just spent three rainy, cold days in Turks & Caicos when I made the decision that we should head further south to avert the weather). A quick connection through Miami to St. Maarten followed by a 10-minute flight sans “go around,” and we were in sunny St. Barth. A friend of mine owns a collection of villas so I coordinated the accommodations (and saved Stephanie’s only annual holiday she says.) Remax manager David Vandernoot greeted us at the airport, we hopped into a rental jeep and in less than five minutes were in our villa on the very beach we just flew over.
Our home for the next few days was Villa Oiseaux with two bedrooms, a full kitchen, contemporary interiors and sand at our doorstep. At this point, we could have been in a beachfront tent as long as it was above 50 degrees and sunny. Book the villa by emailing David and his team at remax-rental @ orange.fr. Go to La Plage for lunch, buy a dress at Vanita Rosa (Rue Oscar II, Gustavia) and book massages with Arnaud Daniel (arunfun @ hotmail.com). Stephanie returned to Europe bronzed and happy. I was on the move again, and oh, the take-off on departure was perfect.
