Sorry I'm so late in posting this. Life has been hectic since our return and I tried to take my fingers off with our snow blower. Thankfully I was unsuccessful.

We stayed at the Pelican resort for seven glorious days in unit F-5 right on the beach. It is a small one bedroom villa but the location and view were fantastic. Nice to walk out your front door and you are on the beach. We thought the surf was higher this year and the temperature was a little cooler. It seemed like it was overcast half the time but that did not deter us from experiencing sand gravity. I think my wife could live on the beach.

We mainly used our beach though we did drive up to Orient Bay on Wednesday. However, the wind and surf were quitestrong and so we did not stay long and had lunch in Grand Case. I wish I could remember the name of the restaurant because we both had the seafood salads and they were excellent. I wanted creme brule' but they had just made it and it had to chill so we left and drove to Marigot.

I don't know how many miles we put on our Corolla that we rented from Michael at Unity but it took a full tank of gas to refuel. We had to see Deepti at DK Gems in Philipsburg and what can we say, she and her brothers have the best customer service and selection of stones on the Island (IMHO). We settled on a pair of 1 carat each diamond earrings for my lovely bride and Deepti showed her an upgrade to her wedding ring that unfortunately is now on the wish list. Deepti also suggested if we like Italian food to try a new restaurant that opened in Simpson Bay, Izi's. We did and the food was fabulous.

We also did our regular St. Maarten activity which is Deep Sea fishing. We charted the "Big Sail Fish" out of Marigot for a half day for $550. Linda caught two Bonita and I had a wahoo on the line but we never got him completely hooked so we lost him. However, as usual, we had a great time.

We also like to visit the casinos and went dancing at the Red Piano Bar at the Pelican Resort. I was able to hit a small win on a Genie $1 slot machine for $640 and then had three A's on three card poker table for a total win of $200 which was not too bad.

On the Saturday (12/19) that we left the power went off twice at the airport. We were in the que to check in for our flight and they were announcing final boarding. No, we and the several passengers behind us were not left behind and did make the flight. We did leave about 25 minutes late on our way to Miami.

We keep saying this and I know we mean it, one week is not long enough in Paradise and next time (there will be a next time) we will stay at least two weeks.

We ate at Greenhouse in Philipsburg and Simpson Bay, Lee's, Boathouse, Izi's, Pelican Cafe, and some other places I cannot remember.