November 30, 2010

A "blurred out" view of the deserted point break in Sint Maarten. Some really cool cactus plants growing along the mountain... just sucked when you bumped into them.

November 29, 2010

A little bay in Sint Maarten. Looking towards Orient Beach.

November 21- November 28, 2010

Sint Maarten (also spelled Saint Martin) is a very unique/beautiful island. Christopher Columbus originally spotted the island (and claimed it for Spain), but he never landed there... and Spain never made settlement of the island a high priority. However, the French and Netherlands coveted the island (given its location) and jumped at the opportunity to colonize it. The two nations had numerous conflicts over the years, but neither were willing to leave... and the island remains split in half- French in the North and Dutch in the South.

There is no customs control at the border (you can just drive right through it), but there's a HUGE difference between the two sides... and you can immediately tell when you've crossed from South to North. I stayed on the French side and definitely liked it more than Dutch side (better surf spots, nicer restaurants, and less tourists). When I did visit the Dutch side though, I was unlucky... there were 6 giant cruise ships parked in the harbor.

Below are some of my favorite photos from the trip. It was difficult to only pick out 8... however, I'll be adding more of the next couple weeks.

The sun setting over Anse de Marcel. This was the beach our resort was on. Very beautiful... it was surrounded by mountains on all sides (which made getting to the resort very difficult)

Watching planes land at SXM international airport (on Dutch side of island). It was amazing to see the planes so close... little scary at times. More images/videos here: Princess Juliana International Airport landings

A secluded rocky beach that I hiked to... north end of island.

A scenic view on North end of island. This picture was taken right after a little rain squall. Again, this was a spot that I had to hike to (some amazing surf spots in this area).

The red cactus plants were scattered throughout the hills. They looked really cool... just don't touch them.

This was a hidden surf spot I found when hiking through the mountains... surfed here a couple days and was completely by myself. The waves broke really close to the rocks.

Watching the sunset at Grand Case. This little beach community had some of the best restaurants I've ever been to. It's definitely the culinary capital of the Caribbean. A short video of the sunset is here: Grand Case sunset

This picture is looking at a really good surf spot called Petite Cayes. It's a deserted beach on the Northern Coast of the island. It takes an hour to hike to (or 25 minutes by boat)... so as  you can imagine, not many people surf here. I hiked here a couple times... really fun waves.


A link to the full album is here: Sint Maarten- November 2010

November 19, 2010

Another view of the amazing sunset I saw in NH. Because the wind was so calm, there were lots of planes cruising around the sky... the lines they created looked really cool against the background.

November 18, 2010

Looking back towards Rye State Beach, I saw this amazing sunset. In this picture, it actually looked like parts of the town were on fire. 


You can view full web album (with all sunset pics) here: Insane Sunset!!


Also, here is a video from the evening:

November 15, 2010

The set-up at Straw Point in New Hampshire. Classic fall day... couldn't have asked for better conditions.

November 12, 2010

The George Washington statue standing guard at front of Boston Public Gardens... a nice fall day.

November 11, 2010

The little cottage at Rye on the Rocks... in front of New Hampshire's most famous surf spot.

August 26, 2010

Portsmouth bridge in the background... leading to Kittery, ME. I thought the yellow boat in foreground made for an interesting contrast in colors.



A random photo edit I did of this picture... thought it came out pretty cool:

November 7, 2010

Beach scene at Rye on the Rocks

November 5, 2010

Image taken from one of the entrances to Boston public gardens. I think it's cool you're able to get such vibrant colors with cloudy skies.

November 4, 2010

At the Charles River Reservation looking towards the Back Bay. Fall weather is perfect for shots like this... mixture of clouds, blue sky, shadows, and bright colors.

November 3, 2010

Last light at John F. Kennedy Park in Cambridge, MA

November 2, 2010

Empty park bench... really love the combination of colors in this photo.

November 1, 2010

Boston skyline at sunset... as seen from Arlington on a cool fall evening.