Statia - Day 3

Footprint in Statia
[Maryanne]We were both feeling pretty rested, and relaxed. Knowing there really was not that much to do on Statia, and having set aside the day to explore Oranjestad, we decided on a lazy morning aboard Footprint before leaving around 11 to hit the town.

Sights of Lower Oranjestad - Gin Hotel and Harbour
Big mistake. It was the weekend. The tourist office was closed (so we could not pick up the self guided town walking map). We made our way to the fort for more photos and stunning views, and then on to the Museum - just as it had closed (only opens on the mornings over the weekend) - Doh! The museum seemed one of the better of the Caribbean, too! So our short itinerary for the Saturday just got a lot shorter.

Sights in Upper town - Church, Fort, and government offices
Still, it really is a pleasant place to stroll and we enjoyed the views. IN the upper town there is the fort, the government buildings, the ruins of the old Jewish synagogue, and the outside of the museum. In the lower town there is the old Gin building (now a posh hotel) and of course the harbour itself. Statia is famous for its diving and we found at least 3 dive shops all in the lower town (Kyle actually splashed out on new swim shorts!).

Once finished in town, we went off to relax further in the Kings Well pool, taking up the kind offer of Laura and Win from the night before. We came armed with books too, just to be sure of the ultimate relaxing pool experience. We found we had the place to ourselves, and after a few races, and much messing about in the water, we retired to our lounge chairs to dry off in the sun.



Relaxing Sights of Kings Well
After our swim we returned to the bar to enjoy feeding time for the Macaws (and a beer or two). Win offered to make us something "special" if we wanted to eat, and we quickly agreed. Laura insisted that WE make the "Footprint" cocktail after dinner, this way we could always say we were once a Caribbean bar tender, and even invented the "Footprint" cocktail (If we ever wanted a job).