TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Island Time Part 5

Dinner at L’Astrolab on Friday (Lobster) night was a great experience and as it turned out Shine was performing a nice blend of Jazz and pop music to round out the evening. Our Son and Daughter and their spouses had given us a gift card to cover the evening.
https://goo.gl/photos/RFX8mFCQDTaRZPyW9

We had another fun Sunday afternoon / evening party at Aloha on Orient. This talented little girl got up and sang. Then Natalie, the owner, did a few songs. Hopefully the link to the video will work. My cell phone recording probably does not do it justice...
https://goo.gl/photos/Wrax2UB56ia7pRKw7

One day we stopped in to check out Le Sand in Sandy Ground. This is a beautiful location right next to Dreams. We did not eat but had a drink and chatted with the staff who were very nice. Might have to go back there and spend the day sometime.
https://goo.gl/photos/bHwKXR2kyacwgvbZ8

We had a burst of energy one morning and hiked up the hill above Orient Village and took a couple of pics.
https://goo.gl/photos/oXCD66pLqFVp1s7t7

A couple of rainy days had us cruising the Dutch side with stops for Beef Brisket at Toppers on Airport road and juicy burgers at Buccaneers beach bar. The Buccaneer burgers were great. The Topper Brisket was very tender as usual but more salt than we’re used to.

Rented some chairs from Pedro’s and spent the day on Orient Beach on Monday. It was funny to see everyone wearing nothing but Eclipse glasses. I took a couple of pics at max eclipse time around 3:30pm. Things were not a bright as usual but no dramatic changes. I believe SXM had about 85% blockage. It was actually a little chilly with no cloud coverage during the eclipse.
https://goo.gl/photos/soiFFESHbXTwQ5ez7

On a recommendation from Willie at the Perch we had dinner Monday night at Mount Vernon Pizza which is next to the reception in the Mount Vernon resort. It’s not much on ambiance but the food was fantastic and very reasonable. $16 for Mahi mahi with creole sauce and 2 sides and a bottle of pinot gris for $15. Supposedly the pizza is not to be missed. We missed it so I guess we’ll have to go back.
https://goo.gl/photos/iucm5T1Nt9qRN1yXA

Laraine was happy with the job Lilly did on her nails at Georgianna’s yesterday morning. Since we were in Simpson Bay we decided to spend the rest of the day at Karakters Beach. The chicken sate in peanut sauce was fantastic along with a bucket of beers. Since the traffic was bad, we stopped and had dinner at Lal’s which consisted of sharing the lamb in spinach sauce with fried rice and garlic nan bread. Yummy.
https://goo.gl/photos/nGfH2jRGmGLxeLiU8

Cheers Again,
Jim & Laraine

thanks for the report and the pictures! LeSand actually does look very nice. Despite going to Dreams many times, we've never been to LeSand.

Thanks Carol, were you able to play the Aloha video?

Yes, I did play it. I think your assessment was correct, I guess it didn't do it justice. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />

Very nice report!

I played the video--
Everyone seemed to be having a great time! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

I saw the Aloha video. Came out okay. You've been very active.

Thanks Ritchard

Thanks for the update.

Yeah, we love the pizza at Mount Vernon. Definitely try it if you get the chance. We usually order it with chorizzo and goat cheese. Very nice.

Is the pizza truck still at the corner of the gas station lot north of the Rancho Del Sol? I've had a lot of takeout pies from there. I think it was run by the Orange Fever folks after that big storm a few years ago.

There is a pizza shop there near the gas station, but it looks more like a building now. Maybe it was a truck before i started going there?

Ritchard there is now a shack with "Pizza Mimo" sign on it, but it has not been open.

A second video from Aloha finally uploaded. Natalie took time out from making drinks to sing.

https://goo.gl/photos/gKybjDQq4B4VWkK18

As I get older, misremembering becomes more commonplace. The pizza place near the gas station was kind of a portable building. There was a at one time pizza truck just southeast of the roundabout. It also had good pie as I remember.

Le Sand does look lovely. I think I would feel guilty going there since Dreams is so close, but I need to get over that! Thanks for the report.

We're really enjoying your updates. You're hitting some of our favs, as well as giving us some new ideas. By "the hill above Orient Village", I assume you meant next to Club Fantastico?

Has the sand returned to Club O beach? We were there in January and it was all washed out.

Still only room for one row of chairs but it still works. Remember when it was much wider.

Thanks for the pics and post.

Thanks for all of the kind replies!

It was there in May. They said they will probably stay for as long as people continue to stop for food.