October 4-10, 2010
This was to be a seven night stay but shortly before leaving I learned that I was going to have to be back at least one day early because of some business issues. We had bought tickets on AA some time ago – a very good deal – but to change the return tickets, AA wanted an absurd amount of money and we were able to get a better deal on USAir one-way – ridiculous, but with air travel these days nothing can surprise me.
I had made the usual arrangements with Bruno for Paradise Bungalows in Orient Bay, Michael for Unity for the car, and Sharon for the phone. All were great as always and I highly recommend them - they make SXM very easy and cost effective for us. The deal Bruno gives us makes it impossible not to stay with him and Geraldine – same thing with Michael and Sharon for their services. I had no problem connecting on the internet with Bruno’s wifi this trip, as long as I sat out on the lanai. This trip we were in Pinel, which is one of bigger rooms with the second bed upstairs - we have usually stayed in Tintamarre - a smaller room, but Bruno apparently was having work done on it and Pinel was available.
With regard to the car rental, a couple we met from California staying at Club O had used Hertz because it was at the Club but from the story they had they did not get as good a car or as good service as we do from Unity - I strongly recommended they try Unity the next time they rented - I do not think they will use Hertz again. We saw Steve and Connie many times starting in the immigration line when arriving and enjoyed talking with them throughout the trip.
The problem this trip was a fellow named Otto who really overstayed his welcome on the island. We arrived Monday afternoon to rain and it REALLY rained Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We still had a great time, but we did not get around the island much at all. All the rain also interfered with the celebration of 10-10-10 – Country Sint Maarten – it still was very exciting to be on the island with the new country coming alive. The rain interfered with some of the celebration, but from all accounts there was quite a party Saturday night in Philipsburg.
Thursday morning we saw a little sun and blue sky and drove over to Divi Little Bay, where the wife likes to snorkel and hang out. I knew it would not be good, but I had not realized just how bad it was there. It was not a good sign when the security guy at the gate laughed when we said we were going to go to the beach and told us not to worry about a parking fee because we would not stay long. He was right. The sea was rolling in, there was very little beach, and things were a mess along parts of property. We then drove over to Baie Rouge, which was pretty and not all that rough, but there was essentially zero visibility in the water. We saw the dark clouds rolling toward us and managed to get in the car before it started raining. I drove back though Grand Case in the rain which got very interesting around the pharmacy where the water was rather deep – fortunately we had a Toyota Corolla – I would not have wanted anything smaller to get through there, that’s for sure.
Except for that one water logged trip, we never left the Orient/Grand Case area until heading for the airport on Sunday. We also for the first time in all our trips to the island did not do even one day sail snorkel excursion. And, we also never made it to Front Street for a visit to DK Gems - which is unusual for one of our trips.
Another thread the other day was asking about secluded beaches. Well, most of the time from Tuesday through Thursday, you had your pick of 37 secluded beaches – wet but secluded. On Tuesday, we spent some time on the Club O beach despite the rain and we were alone on the beach, as we were for a good part of Wednesday and Thursday. We had lunch at Rancho del Sol on Tuesday and it was very good - the rain really came up when we were there and everyone at the outside tables had to beat a hasty retreat inside. On Wednesday, we swam over to Green Cay in the rain and the snorkeling actually was not terrible – visibility was about 6 feet and we know the reef well so we had an OK time. We had lunch at Papagayo and had the ribs which were good. The Perch was closed the whole time we were there, and it and Willie were missed by all concerned. Supposedly, Happy Hour happened at Papagayo at 2:30, but the bartender did not seem to know about it and it just was not the same at all – especially with the rain. Thursday was just rain and more rain after our brief foray out and about.
On Friday, things were looking up weather-wise – finally! It became a beautiful day. We swam over to Green Cay and had some decent snorkeling – visibility much better but still not great. Had lunch at Orange Fever, which was very good. My shrimp and chicken kabobs were excellent and the wife’s hamburger was very good. Cheryl and Andy’s was closed the whole time we were on island – I think they open late this week but not sure. The wife exchanged waves with Andy but I never saw him there. For dinner this Friday night, we drove over to Grand Case and parked in the municipal lot - I like parking there in part because of fact you can make a right turn out of it and it is usually easier to get out of town on airport road. After parking, we walked up and down the street, looking at menus, but we wound up eating at the Rib Shack where we have eaten one dinner for the last few trips. Only two of the lolo’s were open and there were more people at the Rib Shack that we have ever seen before. The food was good as usual and the service was actually pretty good - now that is a bit of a change. When we got back to the car, there were some teenagers near the car – I think a couple were leaning on the hood, but they moved off the car as I approached and I did not think that much of it, but the wife thought she had noticed something on the car. When we got back to the bungalow, we found that there were red scribbles and markings on the hood and one door of the car. They did not appear to rub off with just water and we were worried about what had been used to cause the markings. The wife tried calling the Gendarmerie on the non-emergency number to report it but she got someone whose English was worst than her French, there apparently was no one available who either spoke any English or was willing to deal with her French and she gave up. I called Michael to let him know and ask him about making a police report and he said that it was not going to be worth it, so we did not worry about doing a report. He offered to take a look at it the next day, but I did not want to drive over to the lot on Saturday when we would be heading over on Sunday, in any event. I did google how to remove marks from a magic marker on your car and learned that the easiest thing for us to find probably would be nail polish remover.
Saturday morning, I drove down first to Tap 5 a little after 7 to see if they had any nail polish remover but the nail polish remover would have been in the new (open about a month) Tap 5 supermarket located at what was the “church” restaurant in Orient Village and it did not open until 9. So, I just drove on over to Club O as usual and then after 8 (when the Boutique opens), I went in to see if they had nail polish remover. They were out of it but Zoe gave me a bottle she had with a little in it and I also bought a bottle of rubbing alcohol which was the only thing they had which I thought could be a solvent. Much to our relief, the alcohol worked great and took off the markings – which made me think that the kids had perhaps used a dry erase board marker. I was able to give Zoe back her nail polish remover. Zoe was great in helping us with this. After getting the car cleaned up, we swam over to Green Cay and had a good snorkel. For lunch, we walked down to Palm Beach, which is a very nice place and was pretty full on this Saturday afternoon - it appeared to us that a lot of locals go there. Only people with reservations could sit on the upper deck. The lower space was fine but the view is not as good. I had the pork tenderloin which was excellent. We got one of their ice cream deserts which was worth the price just for the presentation.
Sunday morning we just hung out on beach at Club O for a few hours until we had to get packed up and drive to the airport. The USAir flight was about 45 minutes late leaving and the machine from which you get the card to use the wifi was not working, so I did this report instead of doing some emailing. Despite the rain, we had a great time as always on SXM.
