For every additional 100 FANS on Facebook we will give away our famous Citrus-C Pedicure. (1.15 hours of total indulgence to those tired tootsies) Share with all your family and friends. One of you could be the lucky winner! You and everyone you know deserves a little “Indulgence!” We started with 2072 fans when we launched the promo. We will go to www.random.org and do a random drawing from 1-2172 for the FREE Citrus-C Pedi. Any fan and/or person that likes our page will have an opportunity to win for each additional 100 fans thereafter until we reach 4000 fans! Let the relaxation begin. Visit Indulgence by the Sea in Aruba and St. Maarten.
Mon. - Sun. 9am - 6pm The Spa Located in Aruba and St. Maarten
Divi Aruba All Inclusive • 297-583-0083 Tamarjin Aruba All Inclusive • 297-525-5291 Divi Little Bay Beach Resort • 599-542-9024 Oyster Bay Beach Resort • 599-543-6163
By Lauren de Albuquerque
As timeshare owners, my husband Phil and I have been coming to St. Maarten, and Oyster Bay, since 2000—the year we got married. We love everything about the island: the people, the food, and the beautiful beaches. We own a biweekly publication called The Jambalaya News in Lake Charles, Louisiana. We also publish a separate issue for our Mardi Gras season, which, as you know, is huge in Louisiana! When we visited Oyster Bay this past May, we showed our publications to Ingrid Bosnie, the director of entertainment for the resort. She was thrilled with the Mardi Gras issue, and told us how the resort has a Mardi Gras parade. Then, she asked us if we knew anything about pirates. Do we know anything about
pirates? We just happen to belong to a pirate re-enactment group called The Buccaneers of Lake Charles! We all wear authentic costumes, carry guns and swords, and ride in parades on boat-shaped floats with names like the Jean Lafitte and the La Boucan. This gave Ingrid an idea. What if the Buccaneers of Lake Charles could come to St. Maarten for a week in September during Owner Appreciation Month? So, it all fell into place. This will be Ingrid’s fifth annual Mardi Gras parade—her brainchild—with the blessing of Paolo LoCastro, the director of marketing and sales. This year, the theme is “Pirates of the World.” And, if you’re here from Sept. 18-25, you’ll get to meet the scurvy band of pirates known as the Buccaneers!
By Phil de Albuquerque
It’s 6 a.m. and I’m sitting on our balcony with my coffee looking out over the water. The sun is just about peeking over the hill to shed its morning light on the pool. Workers are slowly starting to appear, making preparations to get the resort ready for another beautiful day. A pelican flies overhead and looks at me as if to say, “Welcome to St. Maarten!” I take another sip of my coffee, lean back on my chair, and recall how we found this wonderful place we now call “our second home.” It was the spring of 1999. I was a tour guide currently guiding a group through Switzerland. The snow was deep at the top of the Alps, but the sun was so hot you could take your coat off. I had a picture taken with the local St. Bernard as he sat next to me and gave me kisses. The Matterhorn was in the background, and the whole scene was a winter wonderland. This is paradise, I thought. I only wish I had someone I loved to share it with. At the end of the day, my 44 passengers and I took the train back down to our quaint little hotel. As I entered my room, I saw a light flashing on my
phone. It was my boss back home in Providence, Rhode Island. I was told I would be doing a tour starting in San Antonio for a week, and then I would immediately go on to Atlanta for another week. He could not give me time off to go to my sister’s graduation as I had asked for. What a way to get bad news—in the middle of a tour in Switzerland. It was the end of my paradise. So I did the tour in San Antonio and went on to Atlanta to meet my new tour group. As I was checking in the passengers for the week, I met a girl who was traveling with her mother. Within a few days, I felt as if I’d known her all my life. At the end of the week, she told her shocked mother, “I’m going to marry the tour guide.” One year and six days later, we were married in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Looking for adventure, we got ready to see where life would lead us! One day, a friend told us about a beautiful island in the Caribbean called St. Maarten. He proceeded to tell us about his timeshare and how he and his wife went every year.
Off we went to check it out. On our first trip, we bought a timeshare at Oyster Bay Beach Resort. We’ve been coming here for 10 years now, and every vacation is wonderful. We’ve brought friends and family, and the memories we’ve made in St.Maarten will last forever. The hardest thing to get used to is “island time” but when you do—-you’ve got it! Total relaxation. Nothing matters but being here. I take another sip of coffee and look out over the water toward St. Bart’s. We have lots of memories there, too. I go inside and peek in the bedroom, and see that my wife is still asleep. “You keep sleeping, sweetheart, until you’re ready to get up,” I whisper. “We’re on vacation!” I look back out the window at the waving palms, turquoise ocean and golden sunshine. I smile and think, “Now, this is paradise!”
This year’s theme is the Magic of Oyster Bay, featuring Pirates of the World Five weeks of fun at Oyster Bay Beach Resort Aug. 27-Oct. 1, 2010
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Monday: 5-30-7 p.m. — Welcome Party! It’s the night to meet and greet management and other guests. There will be poolside entertainment by Mystic Roots Band, and complimentary hot snacks and an international bar. Infinity Restaurant will serve a barbecue dinner with live entertainment for $21.95 per person Tuesday: 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. — Comedy and Talent Night Take part in an evening of fun and laughter in the courtyard! Infinity will be serving pizza and pasta. Enjoy live music with Ady. Wednesday: 7-10 p.m. — Pirate Night at Beau Beau’s Tonight is the crowning of the Madame and Captain of Oyster Bay. Come dine with us and cheer for your contestants of the week. Enjoy “A Taste of the Caribbean” buffet for $20 per person. Thursday: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Find the Treasure with Captain Blue Bubbles All aboard for a trip to Tintamare Island on the catamaran Blue Bubbles! The boat leaves from Oyster Bay Beach at 10 a.m.! Our trip is not your everyday tour; it’s a special excursion designed just for you. Use a treasure map and hunt for valuable treasure hidden around the island – certificates for free dinners, trips, jewelry, and more! Fee is $60 per person and includes panini sandwiches, rum punch, beer, sodas, T-shirt, patch and bandana. 5:30 – 9 p.m. — The Magic of Mardi Gras Time for the Oyster Bay Parade! Come out to see guests and staff dressed up in their Mardi Gras best! The line-up begins in front of the Shipwreck Shop. Complimentary tropical drinks. Friday: 6 – 9 p.m. — Let the Good Times Roll It’s an evening of jazz, a taste of international dishes prepared by the three chefs of Infinity, and entertainment by Franky and the Crew. The dinner is complimentary for members. Come dressed in white! The week of September 18, the Buccaneers (20 pirates) of Lake Charles, Louisiana will join us with a special performance at Beau Beau’s on Wednesday and the parade on Thursday evening.
Front: Brian Peloquin and Jimmy Bastow Back (L-R) Dean Day, Jill Peloquin, Jackie Bastow, Ruth Peloquin, Bob Peloquin, Madame Lafitte Sherry Istre and Jean Lafitte Donnie Istre.
By Lauren de Albuquerque Piracy resulted from the groups of Europeans, mostly English, Dutch and French, who were marooned or shipwrecked off the coast of Hispaniola. They were called buccaneers from the French “boucanier” (to smoke meat) on a “boucan“ (wooden frame set over a fire). By setting up smoky fires and boucans with the prepared meat of marooned cattle, these castaways could get a ship to draw near for trading, at which time the buccaneers could seize the ship. The buccaneers were later chased off the island by colonial powers and had to seek a life at sea. There, they created lucrative but illegitimate opportunities for com-
mon seamen to attack European merchant ships (especially Spanish fleets sailing from the Caribbean to Europe) and seize their valuable cargo, a practice that began in the 16th century. Piracy was sometimes given “legal” status by colonial powers, especially France under King Francis I in the hope of weakening the sea trade of their rivals. This “legal” form of piracy is known as privateering. From 1520 to 1560, French privateers were alone in their fight against the Crown of Spain and the vast commerce of the Spanish Empire in the New World. They were later joined by English and Dutch privateers.
THE BUCCANEERS IN LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA Almost three centuries ago, a notorious and ruthless pirate named Jean Lafitte and his band of buccaneers were fleeing enemy ships and heading west to Galveston, Texas. Along the way, they stopped in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Legend has it that Lafitte and his men would hide out along the waterways, and that Lafitte’s favorite hideout was what is now known as Contraband Bayou. They say that this is where he buried his treasure of silver and gold—and this is how Contraband Bayou got its name. The treasure has never been found.
Pictured below: Madame Lafitte Sherry Istre and Jean Lafitte 2010 Donnie Istre.
In 1957, a group of local businessmen formed Contraband Days, Inc. to develop a pirate-themed event to utilize the Lake Charles area’s recreational and cultural activities and to attract tourists. A few years later, the group formed another organization called The Buccaneers of Lake Charles, and added entertainment by dressing in pirate attire. A “Jean Lafitte” would be selected every year to lead the Buccaneers to the shores of the lake to “capture the mayor and take over the city.” Part of the group would also dress in “City Militia” attire, and were armed with real cannons to try to prevent Lafitte and his pirates from landing. The Buccaneers of Lake Charles have been going strong ever since. They’re the primary part of the festival’s entertainment; they begin and end the festivities, and promote Contraband Days year round. More than that, the Buccaneers are goodwill ambassadors, representing Lake Charles at various events across the state—and beyond. Twenty Buccaneers will be storming Oyster Bay Sept. 18-25. We’re looking forward to meeting all of you, and we’re going to show you how to party, Louisiana-style! So avast, me hearties, ‘tis time to party with the pirates!