TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin TRIP REPORT PART TWO – November 1-December 7, 2022

The weather is improving. After a week of constant coughing, I went to the doctor in Maho; arriving at 7:45 a.m., I was already third in line. The regular doctor was on holiday, but the substitute was funny, nice, and diagnosed bronchitis. He prescribed four meds and said I would be feeling better in a few days, which I was.

ACTIVITIES

Enigma – It’s always a wonderful day when on the water with Neil. Neil has hired Captain Dean to handle the sailing end of the trip and is “retiring” to manage the business and social media. He is still on board and is able to socialize with us more, and it’s a nice change. His son, Johann, did the cooking which, as usual, was wonderful; cute Sylvia rounded out the crew. Once we stopped at Creole Rock, Neil took the dinghy back to Simpson Bay to purchase rice, which they had run out of and was integral to the paella. The water was a little rougher than usual at Creole Rock, but it was still fun to splash around. After lunch, we headed to La Samanna for more splashing in the water. The trip concluded with BBCs, and it was a great day.



Loterie Farm – A day at this nature reserve is lovely and relaxing, so I organized a group of eight to enjoy a cabana for the day. I had not been in a cabana before. While it’s intimate and makes for great social interaction, I missed not having a lounger. Our service was top-notch all day, very attentive. Food was also excellent. That's our cabana on the right where the SXM or Bust! white flag is waving. A nice, fun day with friends.





Rendez-Vous Lounge / Dany’s / Café Rembrandt – The “jazz brunch” at Rendez-Vous was calling me. There used to be a lot more jazz at this event, but it’s now more pop, soul, and R&B. Still, the musicians are good, and it’s a pleasant atmosphere. A lady who recognized me from TTOL came up to introduce herself, saying she is a lurker here. So Lurker Linda, if you are reading this, it was nice to meet you and your hubby. WendyK was also there. After the music ended, WendyK and I, who had just read a Facebook post by Todd saying he and MJ had arrived on island and were at Dany’s, headed across the street to Dany’s. Todd and MJ were still there, and we enjoyed a drink with them for an hour.

I then had to leave to get ready to go to Café Rembrandt, where the acoustic guitar trio Tres Hombres was playing.



This was my first visit to this venue. While I enjoyed the music (even if it wasn’t jazz!), it was uncomfortably crowded. It was nice to see so many friends together, however, and thanks to BillandElaine for inviting me. I was starving by the time I arrived; unfortunately two servers didn’t show up, and there was one gal serving the entire place. It took a very long time for my food to arrive (others, also hungry, left to eat at Mark’s Place); it was a Dutch dish of mashed potatoes and kale with smoked sausage. Good, but a very large portion.

It was a fun day seeing/meeting people everywhere I went.

BEACH

Anse Marcel – We had thought about going to Coco Beach, but it is closed on Mondays. Thus, it was back to Anse Marcel. It was pouring rain in Simpson Bay when we left as well as along the way. There was talk of bagging the day. However, by the time we arrived at Anse Marcel, the sun was back out giving us a glorious day. We played in the water, commenting that it seemed rougher than normal. For a couple of hours, we enjoyed the beach and water, and then the skies opened up. We ran up to the covered area next to the restaurant, where our lunch table was already set up.



I had another chicken and mushroom entrée with a macaroni side that was delicious. I love properly cooked chicken that’s so tender you can cut it with a fork.



After lunch, we headed back to the beach for a while until the next squall arrived. That was a signal the end of our beach day was nigh. We had a grand time and were glad we didn’t turn back.

Grand Case – I found parking on the street but would have used the $5 lot had I not and settled in at Les Temps des Cerises. The water was high and was under my lounge chair for most of the day, but the sun was out with no rain. I had a fairly uninspired beef dish for lunch; not bad, just not great. It was a nice day in the sun, and the doggie next to me was cute.





EATING

Jax – This had to have been one of the best evenings of the trip. One of the things I love about the Horny Toad is meeting the other guests. Two couples traveling together from South Carolina were in the two rooms next to me for one week. They hadn’t rented a car so I suggested that once before they left, they should let me drive them somewhere for dinner. I invited another friend of mine who was on island, and we went to Jax, which was participating in the Flavors of Sint Maarten program. It was one of those evenings where people just “clicked.” We had a really great evening of conversation, excellent service, and wonderful food. My appetizer was lobster escargot-style followed by a filet mignon and crème brulee.





Balls and Wine – I had three appetizers: Kanin Crunch, panko-breaded crab sticks; Tequenos, Venezuelan cheese sticks; Jang Jang ribs, Asian-flavored pork ribs. The first two were excellent. By the time the ribs came along, I wasn’t very hungry, and they didn’t really speak to me.





Chesterfield’s – Met a group for dinner and ordered baked shrimp. The potatoes and vegetables were outstanding. The shrimp were accompanied by a crabmeat stuffing and bearnaise sauce and were so-so. Someone else in the group ordered the duck, which looked amazing; I’d like to try to make it back to order that dish.





Altro – They continue to have a fixed-price, three-course dinner for $36. There are five items in each category (appetizer, main course, dessert) to choose from.



I chose baby tomatoes with fried mozzarella, asparagus risotto with shrimp, and roasted pear. The tomatoes were incredibly tasty, and that app was fabulous.



I was sitting outside; while I was eating my main course, a heavy rain started. All the servers ran to bring the chalkboards inside, and I was left standing there, finally carrying my food inside without any assistance from a server. Sometimes solo diners become invisible. It left a really bad taste in my mouth, but the food was excellent.

RANDOMS

Pretty sky after a sunset.


Youth sailing club in Simpson Bay.


Double rainbow over Beacon Hill.


Another glorious sunset.


Nighttime at Horny Toad.


Tree trimming at Horny Toad.



Two more parts to come, probably after the holiday.

All I can say is "I'll have what she's having". Great report and food pics!

Nice report. 👏

Nice report and pictures again. Thanks!

Nice report! Well, maybe we will try Jax on a next trip. Didn't care for Bajatzu (sp?) that was there before, heard good things about Jax so might go if we can sit outside.

Todd just so you know you might want to walk by before you reserve an outside table at Jax's. There is a walkway out front of all the second floor establishments and the Jax tables are outside their front door in this walkway so you could have people walking by to other places. I believe they have a couple of tall bar tables by their outside bar. Sublime has outdoor tables also, but Sublime is at the end of the second floor establishments with a stairway in this area to the ground floor which you would use to enter Sublime, so not much through traffic.

Linda, terrific reports and photos ! I enjoyed being with the friends at Loterie Farm, which was new to me and a total delight !

I'm glad you could join us, Don!

Hi Linda, it was lovely meeting and talking to you…….hopefully our paths will cross again!!!!

Another fantastic report Linda. Love all your photos.