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SXM Day 12 – October 15, 2020

The final vacation day of the 2020 trip to SXM has arrived, and I’ll try not to whine too much. Here goes…

Woke up around 6 AM and noticed that the winds had finally picked up, and the breeze flowing through our apartment felt wonderful. The lack of a breeze in the past 10 days or so, and the fair amount of rain that had fallen, resulted in hot days and a lot of mosquitoes everywhere. The buggers definitely like Marc more than me, however. The clouds and rain rolled in, but then the sun came out, resulting in a beautiful rainbow. Bittersweet.

Breakfast consisted of leftovers again. No complaints from either of us. We had done a good amount of packing the night before, so that left me with a couple of hours of last minutes floating time in the pool, and one last treasure hunt on the beach. Marc is always anxious to leave on the final day, so he busies himself with sweeping, cleaning and laundry (god bless him). Our American flight to Miami was scheduled to leave at 2:40, so we said goodbye to Bob, and we sadly left the villa at around 11:00 AM.

The Honda’s gas tank was filled up for $10. We stopped at Subway for a foot long sandwich to split for lunch. On the way there, we drove past The Palms, and Jo was outside, washing the menu board. It was nice to shout out one last goodbye to this wonderful woman.

This sounds weird, but for the last several trips, we park along the runway (slightly before Mary’s Boon) and have a final drink / light bite to eat. The location and view aren’t the greatest, but we’re OK with that. We know our luggage is safe, and I enjoy watching the planes fly in and out (no views of that this trip though).

Shortly after noontime we headed out to Empress to return the Honda City. The car was a bit dirty inside (beach sand) and out (mud from all the dirt puddles), and I made apologies for that. Empress has no issues with either. It’s well worth upgrading from the i10 to the Honda.

We arrived at the airport about 12:30 and the lines at the American check-in desk weren’t too bad. We were flying first class, so we lined up in the Priority Lane. For some reason, for the past few trips, SXM has been earmarking my ticket for extra security checks. This not only means that I have to have my luggage searched in SXM, it also subjects me to extra security checks in the US and voids my TSA Pre-Check into the US. I really wish I knew why this is happening.

Check-in was quick, so we went outside and bought one last beer in the airport parking lot. Moving through immigration and security was quick also. The airport appears to be thoroughly cleaned (even the bins are wiped down after each use). We proceeded to the gate, where the walls were decorated in brightly colored, hand painted wooden fish. It so reminded me of old Kissing Fish bar at The Summit, a place that is now a beautiful memory, but a place we really miss. We probably sat at the gate for about half an hour before boarding.

After the gate security check and pat down, we walked onto the tarmac and up the stairs to the plane. The flights back home were on time and uneventful. Service on both first class flights left a little to be desired. One drink was served, with a choice of a chicken sandwich or cheese platter. We landed in Miami, checked in at the Global Entry kiosks, but then I was denied entry into the TSA Pre-Check line.

With a decent layover, time was spent in the American Admiral’s Club. It was relatively crowded in there, but better than waiting at the gate. We boarded the plane, was offered the SAME snack choices in First Class and one drink. But we landed safely into Boston. A SPEEDY Uber drive delivered us home at 12:45 AM.

That sums up our trip! Thank you all so much for the kind replies to my trip reports. I hope most of you can return to the island soon. You will not regret your decision, and the island needs us. Until next time – hopefully May 2021!

Thanks for the reports. Very enjoyable reads.

Thank-you for all the reports.

Happy your trip went well.

Enjoyed your daily reports! TY

Thanks so much for the reports!

I have to say, one of our favorite days when we left SXM, we had to leave our hotel around 11 and our flight wasn't until around 3. So we took a bottle of wine, some cheese, grapes and crackers, and sat in the car just down from Sunset Beach Bar, watched some planes land for a while, and then took the car to the airport to check in. It was a nice wind-down to the trip.

Thank you for all the reports. Sounds like a grand time!

Thank you for allowing us to share.
carib cheers,
doctorj

I remember the Summit well - spent many vacations there. Always gave our unused clothes to the ladies at the lobby who were always so helpful - can't remember their names.

Jo and Marc -

Hope your travels home were stress free and went well.

it has been a pleasure to travel with you and enjoy your trip. I know from firsthand experience doing the trip reports takes both time and effort and I hope you know we all have appreciated what you’ve shared.

Sincere thanks one last time.

Thanks again for taking the time and effort to post your reports. I enjoyed them and they make me homesick for my second home(hopefully January 28,2021.

Thanks everyone.

Just wanted to let you know that I took another RT-PCR test at the Rhode Island Convention Center yesterday morning at 10:26 and received my results when I first checked this morning at 9:15. “Not Detected”.

They have changed labs to Dominion Diagnostics for faster results. They’re claiming a 48 hour turnaround time.

Jo

good deal! Would love to see some pictures, if you can. It's very easy to do, using FULL EDITOR and the attachment manager.

Hi Carol. I’ll give it a try. Here’s a test. If it works, I’ll post more on a new thread (later today or tomorrow).

Looks good!!