We discovered SXM by way of cruise stop back in 1999 and on the 3 occaisons we were there it was cloudy and threatening of rain, so we just walked along Front Street, finally after another cruise the weather was beautiful and we ventured over to Orient Beach and after staying along the beach all day my wife and I decided this would be a great vacation for us, minus other family members. So in the year 2003 (I think) I went on line and found a new hotel called Alamanda Resort that was in its inaugural year so we booked a week for the 2nd week of January. When we got there late in the afternoon after checking in we went down to the beach and it was deserted and we both looked at each other and said "did we make a mistake by coming here", for we are use to vacationing in O/C MD during the summer when there are all kinds of people late in the afternoon. Well anyway later that night after hiring a taxi service, who became our personal driver for the rest of the week and took us to all the favorite places to eat and all the tourist attractions we just fell in love with the island. We had gone back the following years 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 on the same week and same hotel and whether it be the staff at the hotel or the friends we had made in the restaurants every time was better than the previous trips. My wife got seriously ill in the year 2008 and we have not been back since. This coming February we are going on the Oasis of the Seas and one of the stops will be SXM and we are hoping to get over to Orient Beach and visit the hotel and the friends we have made there. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/dine.gif" alt="" />
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