TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Trip Report, Week 1, November 14-21, 2018

Wednesday-Thursday, November 14-15

Normally I prefer to fly first class the long distance from Portland, Oregon, to SXM. However, I found an amazing coach flight under $600 round trip so jumped on it. It left PDX at 11:30 PM, arriving CLT 7ish on Thursday morning. I slept a couple of hours on the plane and had time for breakfast before boarding the leg from CLT to PDX. We were bussed to the arrival hall, and baggage retrieval didn’t take long at all.

Leisure Car Rental was waiting for me just outside the arrival hall and drove me to their lot in a nice blue Hyundai. Paperwork was quick, and I was off to Tradewinds. On the short drive from Leisure to Tradewinds in Cupecoy, I noticed a rattle but thought it was just my hard-side suitcases knocking against each other.

I met the property manager for the unit I rented on VRBO and she showed me how things work. I had arranged to meet friends for dinner at Bar Code, right around the corner from Tradewinds. Normally I would have walked but drove instead since I needed to buy groceries after dinner. I neglected to take pictures of people or food but had a delicious tuna tartare, a special that day. The Carrefour Express in Jordan Village was just closing when I got there so I went to Maho Market instead and got most of what I needed. There was still a rattle in the car, so clearly it wasn’t the luggage. Headed to bed, only to be awakened at 4 a.m. by crowing roosters; wasn’t able to go back to sleep.

Friday, November 16

Had some errands so headed to UTS/Chippie in Simpson Bay to get “wi-fi everywhere” added to my phone. I considered stopping at Leisure about the noise in the car; in retrospect, I should have. UTS was closing just as I arrived at 1 p.m. I learned only later that they reopen at 2:30 p.m. but didn’t know that at the time. I decided to head to Tech Hub in the newly opened Carrefour at Bush Road. Traffic was horrid (it took an hour to get to Carrefour from UTS), it was raining, and the car noise was getting worse. I looked at the tires once parked at Carrefour and thought a couple of them looked low, thinking that might be the cause of the noise as it was sounding like a flat. After getting wi-fi loaded on the phone, I went to the service station just down from Carrefour only to find they didn’t have air. They directed me to a tire repair shop between Ace and Kooyman. I didn’t have a flat but they did add air to all four tires; that didn’t help the noise. Clearly I needed to get to Leisure as the noise was getting progressively worse and I was starting to get nervous about driving the car. I had intended to go toy shopping for a toy drive I am attending later in the trip but shelved that plan.

Jimmy at Leisure wanted to hear the noise so we went for a short drive. He agreed something was wrong and switched me to a new (only 7K miles) red Hyundai. Very nice car. Headed back to Tradewinds to get ready for dinner.

Dinner was at Le Cottage with IslandGem, Cindi Frye, and Jeannie of Shop N Drop Groceries. I picked up IslandGem up at Beachside Villas before heading to Grand Case. My oh my, the road. Lots of standing water, masking the pot holes. At any rate, we got to Le Cottage and had a delightful time with wonderful food.



Dinner was several courses, but pictures are of a cold soup trio (mushroom, zucchini, cauliflower) and sole on a bed of cabbage “fondue.” Very good.





Saturday, November 19

Finally was able to catch up on much-needed sleep so got a very late start to the day. Headed to Marigot market where many of the stalls were breaking down, but I was able to find what I was looking for. The specials at Bruno’s Place across from the market looked good so I decided to have a late lunch there; this was my first time eating there. I had a shrimp/avocado salad (mango chopped up with the avo) along with a starfish fruit salad. It hit the spot.



Back to the condo for awhile and then to Buccaneer to meet up with a group. Nice catching up with folks, but the smoke really bothered me. Had just an appetizer as was still full from lunch.

Sunday, November 20

I met Cindi Frye for breakfast at l’Astrolabe within the Esmeralda Resort complex; this was another first for me. The restaurant setting is charming: right by the pool. They immediately brought out our choice of juice, a fruit compote, and breads. In addition to this continental breakfast, we could have our choice of any 5 Euro item on the menu at no additional cost (8 Euro, if I recall correctly).



I wanted the omelette so had to pay additional, but it was worth it. It wasn’t the thick omelettes we are accustomed to here in the states but was nice and light. I thought it was delicious.



After breakfast I headed to Petite Plage at Grand Case Beach Club to meet up with friends. It was a windy day so they weren’t putting umbrellas up. The sun was quite warm and felt great as this was my first beach day of the trip. Initially we were told the chairs were free if we ate at Sunset Café, but Etienne, our chair fellow, later told us the chairs were $10 per. Not a problem. They have been open only two days and are still working out the kinks. Water wasn’t as warm as it is in June, but it was a great day at the beach.


When I went up to Sunset Café for a late lunch around 3:30 p.m., the kitchen had run out of food due to the volume of customers they had. My friends went up earlier and were served, but I was a little too late. I’ve been by Mezza Luna a couple of times so thought I would stop there for an early dinner. Either they open later or aren’t open on Sunday so I had to keep on going. Due to an early morning sail tomorrow, I wanted to eat and get back to the condo so opted for Bar Code again; this is my third visit so far, and I haven’t been disappointed yet. I had vegetable lasagna, a special, and it was very good. For some reason, I forget to take pictures when I am at Bar Code.

Monday, November 19

A simply wonderful day; no words can describe how special this was. The administrator of one of the SXM Facebook groups had organized a sail on Enigma C3 with Captain Neil; this was the third one for that group but the first since I arrived on island. It was a terrific gathering of friends (or familiar names who became friends). TTOLers on the boat were Cincinnati_Kid, BillandElaine, SteveandAnn, but there were about 23 passengers. We boated to Anguilla in somewhat rough waters, and the boat dropped anchor in Rendezvous Bay just outside Cuisinart and Bankie Banks’ place.





After playing in the water, Neil served us his famous lunch of mahi mahi, ribs, paella, and salads. More water time, and then we headed home.

Tuesday, November 20

After hearing how wonderful Café Atlantico’s breakfasts are, I headed there, only to find they are closed on Tuesdays. My morning mission was to buy toys for a toy drive I’m attending tomorrow so I found Intertoys in Cole Bay. What a great place! I wish I could have bought the store out. I filled two shopping bags with toys, and the nice lady gave me a ten percent discount.

Since I struck out on Café Atlantico, I stopped for breakfast at Vesna and had eggs benedict. Just okay. My plan was to bring the toys back to the condo and head to Parotte Ville for the afternoon, but rain thwarted my plans. There were heavy showers off and on all afternoon. On the way back to the condo, I dropped by Horny Toad to see the progress of their reconstruction. It’s really coming along well, and they plan to reopen December 27. I didn’t take any pictures as they have good ones on their blog at Horny Toad. I had a nice chat with Deb and Doug and look forward to staying there in June.

I spent the afternoon on my quite large porch, where this is one of my views.


And made a new friend.



Happy hour and dinner were at The Palms with friends.



Wednesday, November 21

Met some friends for lunch and beach time at Mary’s Boon. The tuna salad was excellent, and the beach was super.



A couple of groups went together to sponsor a toy drive to benefit children in orphanages on both sides of the island, to be distributed by All About a Smile. It was held at Snoopy’s, who contributed two-for-one drinks. These were my contributions.



One week down; two still to go.

Nice first week.

Great first week. Thanks for sharing.

You've been your usual busy self so far this trip.
Glad to hear the Horny Toad will be reopening!

Thanks for the report.

Linda, Are you going to be at Divi on this trip?

I am having Thanksgiving dinner there tonight with Cincinnati_Kid and do plan to go there for a beach day or two before I leave. This first week has been busy getting together with folks who will be leaving shortly, and I'll have more free time later.

Thanks for the report! Sounds like a really busy time so far. Would be interested in seeing some pictures of your condo at some point. I'm trying to remember, but I think that complex is on the land side of the road, so no view of the ocean?

Sounds like your usual busy time. Looking forward to seeing you at Bar Code on the 3rd, if not before. We arrive Saturday.

Safe travels

Sounds like you are having a great time. Always enjoy your reports and photos. Keep 'em coming!!

Sounds like great fun so far. Can't wait to get there on Tuesday! Keep the sun shining for us.

Carol - "VRBO" is a link to the listing; you can see pictures of the condo on the listing. Yes, land side and no ocean view, which is likely why it's relatively inexpensive.

Sorry, I missed that. Thanks!

Wonderful report!
Sorry I missed meeting you.
😀

Sounds like a great first and thanks for the detail report. Looking forward to our meetup on Dec 3. We arrive on the Sunday, Dec 2.

Love reading your reports with lots of pics esp. food. Looking forward to your next one. Enjoy.

Thanks for the report Linda. Always enjoy your SXM experiences and pictures.

Very nice, Linda. Beautiful photos and sounds like your usual busy but lovely trip. Don’t know how you keep up that pace but kudos that you do..

Great report and I liked the toy drive. Can I ask how the WiFi anywhere works? Is it a separate device? Do you have to go back to get it turned off when you leave?

For $35 for a month (plus a $5 fee for doing it) Tech Hub in the Bush Road Carrefour loaded wifi on my phone. Not a separate device; I just have wifi on the phone wherever I am and don't have to log in to wifi at an establishment. Very glad I have it as Internet was down for awhile at the condo where I am staying.

Any restictions on amount of usage and will it work on an android and iPhone format?

No restrictions. I have a "mini Samsung" for use on the island, and it works fine. I assume it would also work with an iPhone. But you need to have Chippie service; pretty sure you can't just add it to your US phone.

Ok. Thanks for the info.

Indeed, Linda, thanks for the wifi info. I know you will have lots of fun, no sand gravity for you. Not maligning people who like their sand gravity!!

Loving your reports and pictures as usual Linda! I see a kitty found you.

I was trying to add wi-fi to my mini Samsung via their online service....there were # and codes to do various plans. Apparently they work in Aruba or Curacao but SXM didn't have the ability to activate the service without going in to the store. I was too lazy to make a special trip to do so! lol

Can you just have it for the one month you are there? No contract?

Correct - no contract. $35 plus a $5 service fee to Tech Hub for loading it on my phone.

[thread drift] Found a new place for acrylic nail fills today recommended by Jeff Jhangiani's SIL, who has BEAUTIFUL hands. It's Vietnam Nails on Long Wall Road a couple doors down from the Scott sports auditorium. $20!

Great price on nails!

Linda, so the next time you return to the island will the data and wi-fi just work or do you have to go to the UTS/Chippie store again? Or just enter a code by text maye? Does the $35/$5 come from your account balance from top-ups?

I believe I have to go to the store but am not certain about that. I added the $35 in cash at a machine at Tech Hub and then paid then the $5 separately. They did something on my phone which I am sure I could learn, but I didn't ask them to show me how to do it. I likely will next time. No, wifi won't "just work" because what I have is good for just one month.

Thanks for that info. This trip I just added $$ to the phone from the Maho Market machine.