We should have known better than to book a honeymoon in St. Maarten during hurricane season but we thought we were safe since it was the end of the season. Hurricane Omar proved us wrong.

My husband and I had only been married a matter of hours ... mere days ... when we went through our first (and hopefully only) category 3 hurricane. And wouldn't you know, our room was right on the water on the side of the island that got the brunt of the storm.

Since Omar originated down in the Caribbean, we didn't have near the warning time coastal residents in the U.S. are accustomed to. The tiny island only has one landing strip making evacuations out of the question.

Our room had sliding glass doors, and the winds were so strong during the storm that the doors were bowing -- getting ready to blow in. So we took cover in the closet towards the back of the room. It was a long and exhausting night. We lost power right after the eye of the storm passed. The next day we surveyed the damage and took several pictures. The picturesque resort was destroyed. For the remainder of our trip there was no electricity, no running water, the street were closed from damage and the beach was a wreck. We mostly played card games by candlelight to pass the time.

Here are some of the pictures of the destruction...

This was the swimming pool:

This was a poolside cafe:

A palm tree slammed down on a car in the resort's parking lot:

All of the chairs from the beach washed up, along with lots of sand and debris:

This WAS a hotel room: