Forgive me if this is a bit long but usually my dear wife writes these reports.

Up at 4:30 AM for our flight to SXM. We left Lindbergh Field at 6:15 AM on Tuesday, April 12 for DWF and switch planes to Miami arriving there about 3:00 PM. Flew from Miami to Princess Juliana International Airport on SXM and arrived at 7:40 PM. We breezed through Customs/Immigration and were met by Unity Car Rentals at the airport. We drove to their lot near and quickly picked up a Toyota Yaris. A great rate came with the car for a week - $180 “off season” rate + liability insurance for an extra $40. This was the first time we rented from Michael and Joseph and it will not be our last, they were very polite and friendly.

We drove to Club Orient and arrived in time for Nancy to serve me a cheeseburger and soup & salad for my bride at Papaguayo’s at 8:45 PM. After a very satisfying dinner, we were off to bed after a 14-hour travel day from Southern California.

The next morning we were up in our birthday suits and off to the small store at Club O for croissants and juice for breakfast. We enjoyed a nice morning of sunshine and swimming with the fish and strolled down to Andy & Cheryl’s Baywatch for lunch. Mary Kay had Mussels al an Andy and I had a chicken Cesar salad with a few Lemon Breezes. That evening we went into Grand Case and had a nice sunset dinner at Calmos Café. Excellent meal consisting of red tuna steak and rice and a small salad while my wife had coconut shrimp and a Lemon Breeze. Dinner was a reasonable $75.

On Thursday morning, we awoke to a driving rainstorm, which tapered off after breakfast in our chalet. Our friends John & Jean, who we met at Grand Lido Braco in Jamaica in 2005, were arriving on the cruise ship Celebrity Solstice for the day. We met them at The Perch while it was drizzling at 10:30 AM. It shortly cleared and we had a marvelous day with them. Lunch and Happy Hour were at The Perch where we enjoyed swordfish sandwiches and cheeseburgers. A day’s worth of partying and lunch with old friends was $120 along with a generous tip to Willie. (Willie is such an angel.) After showering and cleaning up for dinner, we were off again to Grand Case for dinner. We decide to go to Il Nettuno for ocean view Italian dining.
I had the swordfish steak and a green salad both, which were out of this world and my bride of 29 years enjoyed lobster raviolis. With a bottle of white wine, dinner was $110 including gratuity. After a candlelit dinner, it began to pour and it did not let up until about Midnight.

On Friday morning, we met our neighbors in the next mini suite over. Dr. Jim and Marge from the Toledo, OH area. They were a simply marvelous charming couple. We sat with them on Orient Beach and met some of their friends who join them in April each spring. Here goes: Dr. Mark and Linda from New Hampshire, Debbie and Ken from Birmingham, MI, Dr. Omar and Dr. Leslie from Denver, Cindi and George from Baltimore and Randy and Jan from San Diego County. After lunch at Andy & Cheryl’s once again (you need those yummy Mussels), it began to rain. The skies were filled with dark black grounds and over Tintamarie, you could see lightning bolts and overhead we could hear the rumbling thunder. People began to scatter from Orient Beach and we headed back to our chalet at Club Orient. We spent the afternoon playing dominoes and listening to the ballgame on the Internet. That evening we headed to Papaguayo’s for dinner. I had a filet mignon medium rare with a green salad and Mary Kay feasted on lobster and a Cesar salad. Dinner including cocktails was under $100. The food service and new chef Randy were outstanding. It rained the rest of the evening and early into the morning.

We awoke Saturday morning to “Club Orient Chamber of Commerce” weather. Perfect blue skies, puffy white clouds in the distance and 85 F degree temps. The water in front of Orient Beach was aqua blue and gorgeous. We spent the day with our new friends and while my wife read her third novel, I walked the beach with my iPod. We strolled down Orient Beach to Coco Beach Bar for lunch. The owners – Sophie and Fred – were there and we visited with them. Mary Kay enjoyed a delicious hamburger while I had a pepperoni pizza. Lunch was excellent and was 35 euros (or about $50 dollars). We walked back to The Perch for Happy Hour and were met by a mob of naked people lining up for cocktails. Dinner that evening was back at Papaguayo’s with a group of 14 people. It was Karaoke night and while enjoying another filet mignon and salad and lobster once again for my wife, everyone in the place (maybe 150 people) were dancing and singing. Nothing was funnier than seeing 20 gals on stage singing “Stop In the Name of Love”. That evening we met new friends Bill and Cathy from Boston and Lynn and Big “E” Eric from Indiana. What lovely people.

The next three days were much like Saturday. Gorgeous warm temperatures, blue skies, puffy white clouds and little trade winds. We met so many nice people on Orient Beach and we did dine once again at Il Nuttuno and Le Cottage on our last night with a dozen friends. Both dinners were once again fabulous.

On Wednesday morning April 20, we were up at 4:30 AM to pack, shower and drive our car rental to Joseph at Unity in Simpson Bay. He drove us to the airport nearby for our 6:15 AM check-in aboard American Airlines. We breezed once again through an empty airport and Customs and Security. Our plane to Miami began boarding an hour later and had the wheels up at 8 AM heading for Miami. US Immigration and Customs at Miami International was a nightmare! After taking airport trains and walking which seemed for miles, it took us an hour to get through customs and pickup our luggage and then send it back through inspection. We hustled through a gauntlet of people and through another TSA security line and ran once again like OJ Simpson through an airport to our gate for Los Angeles. Our 1 PM flight took off on time and we had a pleasant flight across the US using the Gogo Wifi Internet connection on American. LAX was a zoo but we caught our 27-minute connection flight to Lindbergh Field in San Diego at 4:20 PM. Our 18-year daughter was there at the curb to drive us home.

In all we had a great relaxing vacation! Mary Kay completed 8 novels to my 150 pages. We met great people from all over and saw NO CRIME while we were visiting St. Martin. We will be back before you know it. I just hope the US Dollar strengthens over the next year. Food and drink were expensive.

Cheers!

Mary Kay & Rez <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" />