Sorry about this late trip report, but I guess better late than never. Just to go over a previous posting a bit, we started out on 6/26/04,at Newark Airport, flying U.S. Air through Charlotte. Got there at 5:30 am for the 7:40 flight. We immediately noticed that our flight was cancelled, but were told not to worry, that there would be another plane for us, which we would find out later was a lie. After getting the people out of line for Phil. and Pitt., they started getting people on various flights on Continental and American to SXM. By the time they got to us, no more flights left into SXM, so we had to return the next day and catch a flight from Newark to Phil. to SXM. If they had said this when we first got there, they could have gotten us ground transportation to Phil. to catch the 9:40 direct to SXM. Well, we finally got there a day late, but we did get in beach time on Saturday at Sandy Hook. Return flight was no problem untill we went through customs in Charlotte. They found out we had a container of meat sauce which we were bringing back home and they confiscated it. However, they said nothing at all about the ten cartons of cigarettes and 12 bottles of liquor we had in our suitcases.
When we arrived, our friends Ben and Susie were waiting for us with our rental car from Claude at Summerset Car Rental. We have been using them for years. Best price($120 per week), and service. Claude leaves the car for us, then he drops by our room when he gets around to it to do the paperwork, plus he just laughs at any new nicks or bruises that invariably show up after 2 weeks of driving on SXM! Just drop it off at airport with the keys in the ashtray when you leave. Can't beat it! We had a cell phone this year from Sharon Harris at Royal Palm. A very good deal at $30 for the 1st week, and that included 20 free minutes, and $10 for the 2nd week. It wound up being a lot cheaper than East Caribbean Cellular.
On the first Monday of the vacation we went to the TTOL party at Buccaneer Beach Bar. We joined Larry & Gretchen, Deepti, ThighMaster and Susan, Oakley, Deekerlee, plus others that I am sorry I don't remember their names. Had a nice time despite the angry cat.
On Thursday we went on the Tiko Tiko. We had a wonderful time. This was our 3rd time since 1994. There were ten of us all together. Our friends Wendy & Roy from home, Bob & Bobbie, Dale & Caroline, and Roger, aka ThighMaster and Susan. Also on board, was "Sailor", 3 year old son of Phillipe Grande. For those of you who are wondering, MaryAnn and Wendy designated one Phillipe as "Grande", and the other Phillipe as "Petite", for obvious reasons. We had a wonderful lunch and did the "Mud bath" thing and couldn't get over how smooth our skin was after washing it off. For some reason, nobody wanted to feel how smooth my "skin" had gotten. Oh well, maybe next time. All in all the day was a hoot and MaryAnn and Wendy laughed the whole time.
The 4th of July, we went over to Orient Beach for the "Parade" and Baywatch's 4th of July party. When we arrived , the parade had already started up the beach about 5 minutes earlier, so I had to run half way up the beach to catch them. It was a lot of fun. Everybody was patriotically painted and semi costumed. On the way back it started to rain, and except for a few minutes here and there, it poured and the wind blew at near hurricane proportations up untill about 5:00pm. But the party must go on, so we went over to Baywatch and had an excellent time with Andy and the crew. The ladies were dancing, the drinks were flowing, and everybody was having a good time.
For the 1st time in 11 years, we lost a beach day to the weather. As I mentioned before, 4th of July was almost as bad as when we were there for Hurricane Bertha in 1996. I did manage to get into the water for a couple minutes during a momentary break in the rain. I can't say that I missed one day of getting into the water, ever. The following Tuesday morning there was another heavy rain on the way to Dawn Beach, but we plowed on and had a great afternoon at Scavengers and were actually able to get about 2 hours of beach time in between the raindrops. Later on we made it back to the Pelican for their weekly coctail party.
We did one day in Philipsburg. At the TTOL party, we met Deepti. She is a very nice and friendly person. So, we decided to give her a visit to see if she could replace a lost diamond from an earring, which she was able to do. While we were there, Deepti was showing MaryAnn a diamond tennis bracelet (8 karats). She then told MaryAnn that she could take it with her for a few days to see if she liked it. MaryAnn was afraid to wear it. She wore it to dinner and locked it up after that. Alas, it was a bit too much for our budget, and she returned it when she picked up the earring.
This year, we tried 3 new restaurants, one of which was my favorite this year. That was Le France, in the Marina in Marigot. It was the only restaurant this year that I can say I walked away full. They have 2 "price fix" menus, one priced at 16 euros and one at 20 euros. Dinner for both of us was excellent and filling and with 2 appitizers, 2 main courses 2 drinks and 1 dessert came to only 61 euros. Plus they give you 2 bottles of rum(1 vanilla & 1 mint), and you can have as much as you want. Definately will return there.
The 2nd new restaurant was called Berry's. It is located in Simpson Bay at the old location of Ren & Stimpy's. It is around the bend from Pizza Hut. Probably near AAA Car Rental. They have a small menu, mostly seafood, and very inexpensive. I think the most expensive meal was about $11.00. Everybody's meal was very good. Ben and Susie were there twice. The 3rd new one for us was Temptation. As you can tell, we go from one extreme to the other. We went there for our friend Jerry's (of the famous Jerry & Sherry) birthday/retirement dinner. I must say the food there is excellent. BUT, I also must say, that $37 for a piece of filet migon, ala carte, is a bit too much. Their dessert prices are not bad.
Our one disapointment was a favoriteof ours for the past 10 years, L'Alabama. We went there for our 4th wedding anniversary with Gladys & Dave, Ben and Susie and MaryAnn's daughter Meghan and her boyfriend Jay. The portions there have gotten extremely small. I had filet migon, and I know that it is usually not the largest cut of meat. But it was so small, that if I cut it into 4 pieces, that was it. And it was not only my meal, but everybody was saying the same thing. Even the next day at the beach, someone came up to us, having recognized us from dinner the night before, and asked us what we thought about the size of our meal. They said they would never go back again, we feel the same way. They must realize that taste and service is not everything. You don't want to leave hungry!
Other restaurants we went to were Peg Leg Pub, Jimbo's, La Petite Auberge des Isles (still the best deal in town and excellent food), Talk of the Town, Hot Tomatoes, Tutta Pasta, and Turtle Pier. All were good.
The beaches we went to this year were Cupecoy, Orient, Baie Rouge, Dawn, Plum Baie, and Pinel. On Cupecoy, we were sitting there, and MaryAnn was reading the book "Gone Bamboo" which was written by Chef/author Tony Bourdain. Larry told us that Tony was sitting in a lounge chair behind us, so MaryAnn now has an autographed copy of her book. Once again we shared our beach time at Plum Baie with the resident Dalmation, who just made herself right at home under our umbrella. We consider her our St. Martin dog, so we don't miss our little Gidget too much.
The night before we checked out of Pelican Resort, we noticed a large yacht with a helicoptor sitting up on the rear 2nd deck docked in the new mega yacht marina. The next day, after checking our bags at the airport and paying our departure tax, we decided to take a closer look at the yacht. We were told the night before that Sylvester Stallone was on it, so we stopped at the security gate to see if we could go in and have a look. The guard came out and asked us if we were with the boat, and we said yes, and he let us in. So much for security. We parked by the boat, it was over 180 feet long, took some pictures, and spoke with some of the help on the boat. We asked who was on board, and were told that they couldn't say, but it wasn't anyone famous. I said that I heard it was Stallone and they said it wasn't. It was somebody we didn't know. So, as we were leaving, we looked up at the boat, and coming out of a cabin to the front deck was none other then Sylvester Stallone.
So, that's about it. Hope I didn't bore you too much. Looking forward to going back in October, and next year for our 5th anniversary. I will post some pictures soon, if I can get them organized.
Paul & MaryAnn
aka Beachbum & Beachgirl7
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