St. Maarten, April 29, 2009.
The island is beautiful! We've seen Nassau, St. Thomas, and now St. Maarten... and this is my favorite. This island was
"discovered" by Columbus in 1493, who "claimed" it for Spain. It was the Dutch who took real interest (Spain had its sights set on bigger pieces of land -- Puerto Rico) and by the 1630's it would be Dutch-occupied. The French, too, wanted the island, and it was jointly-occupied through the later 1600's when a Treaty was made. The island today is divided by the "Dutch" side and the "French" side. Both sides of the island provide for tourist shopping and exploring havens.