American Visions: A road sign of good times: Sint Maarten/Saint Martin

As a journalist, I've crossed a lot of borders and seen a lot of border guard and customs officer styles -- from the bored East Bloc guys strolling through the train as it snaked its way from what was then West Germany into the what was then Czechoslovakia during the Cold War, to the proud Eritrean People's Liberation Front cadre who ushered folks across a border that was supposed to be controlled by the then-ruling Dergue in Addis Ababa, to the stoned, Kalashnikov-waving, 14-year-old Ugandan freedom fighters/killers/lost souls "guarding" the border into southern Sudan. But I have never had a safer, quicker, more enjoyable border crossing than that between St. Maarten and St. Martin -- the two ministates that share the small Antilles island ruled simultaneously, though separately, by the Netherlands and France. All there is at the border is a road sign. It's a good sign: I have come to the right place.

More than a million people annually agree with me. Most are drawn to St. Martin by the duty-free shopping, the casinos and the beaches -- so let me introduce those (and briefly clear away the political and administrative under-brush, which for tourists is essentially illusory) before exploring the island's high art, night life, heritage and highly recommended adventures.

Strictly speaking, St. Maarten is a constituent element of the Netherlands Antilles (whose shared capital is Willemstad, Curagao's capital), itself a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; the official language is Dutch, and the currency is the Netherlands Antilles florin. St. Martin is a commune of Guadeloupe, which is itself an overseas department of France; the official language is French, and the currency is the French franc. In fact, on both parts of the island the metropolitan countries retain significant control over foreign policy and fiscal matters; the lingua franca, so to speak, is English (though you'll also hear Spanish and Papiament -- the Netherlands Antilles dialect -- on the Dutch side and Creole patois on the French side); and virtually everything is clearly priced in U.S. dollars. In short, language and money present no difficulties to Americans.

SHOPPING

& CASINOS

St. Martin is the only completely duty-free island in the Caribbean, with particularly good bargains on watches. jewelry and clothes. The shopping opportunities on the Dutch side (centered in Philipsburg, the Dutch capital, and the Maho Beach area) are marginally greater than in the French capital of Marigot; but Marigot is a far more attractive setting for a stroll and certainly offers better chances for a good lunch.

All of the island's 10 casinos are on the Dutch side. Most of them -- including the largest, Casino Royal at Maho Bay -- strive for a European ambiance, though they all employ both a zero and double zero on their roulette wheels (surely the most wretched of America's contributions to the world).

BEACHES

Orient Beach on the French side is the island's most famous -- a fame accounted for neither by its sand nor by its surf, but rather by its official status as a nude beach. Nudity (bear to the right when you hit the beach) is not required. In@ deed, only about 10 percent of Orient's sun lovers were sans clothes on the days I was there -- but I have experience being a minority, and besides, it's a far more enjoyable way to swim. Bear in mind that nudity is not forbidden at any of the island's beaches.

Overlooked by short, red-hued bluffs, Cupecoy Bay Beach is by far the prettiest on the island. This successive string of small beaches on the Dutch side is also the main gay beach (though typically for St. Martin, no beach, bar or club has an exclusive orientation) and is now a nude beach.

Body surfers will want to head for Guana Bay; those who want to share the waves with local families should try Dawn, Mullet and Coconut Grove beaches, especially on Sunday. All of these beaches open onto the Atlantic Ocean.

THE ARTS

The sun that bathes St. Martin has nurtured rather than withered the arts -- particularly painting, which flourishes riotously. Many of the island's painters acknowledge a debt to Romare Bearden, who had a home here and who married Nanette, a St. Martinite and the founder of the Contemporary Dance Theater in New York. Those familiar with Bearden's last two series of works, "Obeah" and "Carnival," have already been exposed to the island's character, which he strove to capture.

On Philipsburg's main street, Front Street, visitors will find the Nanette Bearden Fine Arts Gallery. Here, prints range in price from $20 to $80, with original works ranging from $100 to $3,500. The works of Ruby Bute, Max Phelipa and Diedra H. Kelley (a niece of the late Nanette Bearden) are featured in the gallery.

Ras Mosera (who, with Cynric Griffith and the older and more established Roland Richardson, represents the acme of the island's painters) also has a gallery in Philipsburg. Mosera, who works in oil, water and acrylic and whose work hangs in the Stedelijk Museum in the Netherlands, has been seriously painting for about 14 years. "I took up painting," he explains, "after becoming Rastafarian; it's a way for me to be self-reliant." Prices in his gallery range from $800 to $10,000.

Also in Philipsburg is the Greenwith Gallery, which features the works of Stanislaus Defize (limited prints, $50; original works, $900 to $1,500) and Antone Chapon original works, $500 to $750; posters and prints, far less).

On the French side of the island, the principal venue for works of art is the Minguet Art Gallery on Rambaud Hill, just outside Marigot. (There is another Minguet gallery in Marigot proper.)

LIMING

For the last few months, the hot club on the island has been Coconuts, whose popularity is a function of having the hot band, Control. (This Coconuts is found atop the Casino Royal at Maho Bay and is not to be confused with another club of the same name, which is located close to Simpson Bay Bridge.) For the older set, Cheri's, right next door, is popular. Another hot spot lately has been the News Music Cafe, near Simpson Bay. Music at the News is house, punk and rock, and the crowd is young.

All of these clubs are where one goes to (or on a) "lime," or to hang. (The island's slang is quickly picked up, though until one does, surprises are in store; "Teachers will never get Students, attention unless they bring a little smack [enthusiasm] into the classroom" occasioned some wonderment on my part when heard on a radio program featuring high-school students.) For an "adult entertainment" lime, the Last Stop Bar (on Ilidge Road outside Philipsburg) is the main draw and it frequently stays open till 4 a.m., gaining new energy after 2 a.m., when many of the casino workers are released.

Which leads me to the island's bordello bars, of which there are five, all on the Dutch side. Since only one is on a main road, you needn't worry that you'll wander into the more public part of a bordello by mistake.

For a Friday lime, check out the Sualouiga Festival, a weekly music, crafts and food gig that runs from 4 p.m. till 11 p.m. in Philipsburg (don't bother coming before 9 p.m.). Look especially for cassette tapes of local carnival kaiso bands, whose music you won't find in any stores off the island. (Kaiso -- the island's calypso -- is rapidly losing ground to the faster-paced jamband music, so if you're a collector, move now.)

Another Friday night opportunity is at Lynette's Restaurant, where Bobo (several times carnival King of Kaiso) has now gone upscale as Beaubeau -- to the good-hearted amusement of locals.

HERITAGE

For an island that markets itself as "two nations, three cultures, one island," St. Martin's African heritage is, as vet, not well represented at either of the island's two principal museums.

On the Dutch side, the museum in Philipsburg features artifacts from the old Dutch forts, old maps, household utensils, some Amerindian artifacts and interpretation, and material on the salt ponds that made the island an attractive economic opportunity for European colonizers. There is little interpretation of the island's black experience. There is even little explanation of how the European division of the island affected the end of slavery. (French slavery ended in 1848. The Dutch did not officially end slavery until 1863 -- at issue was not slavery itself, but compensation for slave owners -- but since their slaves ran north into the French side, slavery was effectively ended across the island from 1848). Finally, there is little on the 20th-century transformation of the island. Photographs of salt pond workers and farmers and wharf scenes with black laborers represent the uninterpreted 20th-century experience of Afro-St. Maartenites.

The museum in Marigot is notably better (though still far from impressive) in representing the diaspora's experience on St. Martin. Here, you will find Amerindian artifacts and interpretation, wall panels explaining the European rivalries that swirled around the island, an outline of agricultural development (especially tobacco and sugar production, the latter of which led to the large-scale importation of abducted Africans), one panel on slavery, one drawing of the Middle Passage, and photographs of salt and wharf workers (circa 1900-1940) and of domestic scenes in the black communities. Upstairs, art is for sale.

For another taste of the island's black heritage, visitors should note the Seaview Hotel in Philipsburg. This, the island's oldest modern hotel, was founded by a prominent Garveyite, Melford Hazel, whose family still runs it. Look also for the nearby Oranje School, the island's first public school. Here, Carlos Cooks -- the well-known Harlernite street speaker and nationalist of Garveyite leanings (see The Autobiography of Malcolm X) -- spent much of his youth.

RECOMMENDED

The Butterfly Farm, located on the French side adjacent to Orient Beach, is the most unique attraction on St. Martin. You'll be surprised how enjoyable it is to learn the differences between moths and butterflies. the evolutionary strategies of food consumption, and the warning signs that butterflies or their chrysalides) employ to convince predators to eat something else. it may sound like school, but the talk is informative and humorous and the butterflies are quite beautiful. As you turn off the main road toward Orient Beach, continue past the marked left turn for the beach. Twenty yards further on, on your right, is La Ferme des Papillons. Enjoy.

The other unique island experience is the St. Maarten 12-Metre Challenge. This is an opportunity to sail competitively one of several of the multimillion-dollar yachts that competed for the 1987 America's Cup race (including Stars and Stripes '87 which won the cup).

Groups of up to 30 people are divided into teams and placed aboard two boats. Contestants take part in a brief training session; are offered crew positions (such as main grinder or mainsail winch); sail to the race course, practicing maneuvers as they go; jockey for position with the competing boat so as to cross the start line first; and then race a shortened three-leg version of the America's Cup course, tacking, grinding, jibing along the way, dueling for the fractional advantage of wind and speed that will bring their boat home first.

No previous sailing experience is necessary (there are a professional skipper and three crew members aboard each boat). Sixty dollars buys you 2 1/2 hours of real excitement. A word of advice; Although it is not absolutely necessary, take your gym gloves (and if you man the mainsail winch, you'd better hope that you haven't cut the fingertips off the gloves).

TIPS

The French side of the island is a joy -- where else can you experience a slice of the French Caribbean while speaking English? Marigot is lovely; be sure to climb the hill leading to Fort Louis, from which you'll see the town and bay spread out beneath you. Grand Case, the closest thing to an unspoiled large village on the island, is renowned for the breadth of its restaurants -- Why wouldn't you take advantage of reasonably priced, great French cooking?

Taxis are not cheap, and the island is small. Renting a car is highly recommended. How else will you experience an island that is at once Afro-Caribbean, Dutch and French?