We are now on Statia visiting with family, but I thought I’d post a couple of pictures from our last few days on SXM.
On Friday, we were able to get Dany to grill us a couple of lobsters and sides which we ate in his bar at Cupecoy… we brought along a bottle of champagne…. It was heavenly as always. We went back to our hot tub and then poked around Maho to see what we wanted for dinner. We ended up at Mr. Chow’s (what most of you would call the former Cheri’s, though we started coming after it was gone). We got a couple of cocktails, chicken-truffle gyoza dumplings, Mongolian beef, and smoked duck fried rice. I thought it was pretty good, not great, although my husband really liked it. It was a beautiful place and good service. The bar looked really nice – I’d like to go back there for a cocktail.
Saturday was our last full day on the island. We decided to take a couple of chairs and head to Baie Rouge. It was our first time there and a beautiful beach. One very brief shower we weathered in the car… the second one (after we’d been there about 3 ½ hours anyway) we decided to head back to the villa because we were heading to Le Pressoir. It was the right call, it rained harder and longer this time. After watching the sunset at Long Bay, we made our way over to Grand Case without incident and the bartender actually helped us find a parking spot. They were quite busy as expected. This was one of our very favorites last trip, so we were excited to try it again. It was still good, but not quite the divine experience we had last time. The dirty martinis were fine, but not exceptional… Gil said he made them last year, but this year he had a bartender.. he thought he maybe shook them too much (?)…. I got the Prix Fixe menu… lobster bisque, la pluma, and chocolate royal dessert. My husband got the lamb. It was not my style of bisque – it was very dark - I prefer the creamier type at Ocean 82. The lamb was tender and tasty and I really liked the unusual flavors of the pork, wrapped around the duck and topped with pineapples. All in all, a very nice evening.
Sunday, we expected to have to pack up and find something to do. I’d made arrangements to have our Airbnb host store our bags. Turns out, he didn’t have someone checking into our unit until Monday, so he let us stay until we needed to head to the airport at 4:30. It ended up being a crazy day due to the fire. We headed over to the gas station we are familiar with, near SAX and realized traffic was completely stopped due to the fire. Turned around, went to Zee Best (blue berry muffin, Chocolate Almond Croissant (this is the best I have ever eaten… never been to Paris, but these are just divine… my husband promised to take me back next week for at least one more!!) and the roast beef sandwich w/horseradish sauce to split for a picnic at the beach (it’s big!)). Headed to the gas station at the edge of Cole Bay to fill up and by the time we finished the Simpson Bay traffic was backed up to that round about. We were so very thankful for our spot in Terrabasses because we just did another loop on the roundabout and headed back through Marigot and Sandy Ground. Went to the beach, cleaned up and headed to the airport in time to wait for an hour for the power to come on so they could process us through security. I understand they have generators, but they didn’t turn them on for over an hour…maybe conserving fuel costs? It was late in the afternoon. Still made our flight without incident… even with all the crowds and traffic, one of our best trips yet!
Our observations on reservations: We made reservations this time every other night… the restaurants I specifically wanted to go to. The other nights, we just went where sounded good. We were never turned away. We are a party of 2 and tend to eat late. We noticed there were tables available if you were willing to eat late. Reservations at Ocean 82, Le Bistronome, Le Pressoir. Walked in to Spaghetti House, Sublime, Mr. Chow. That being said, if there’s somewhere you really want to go, I’d make reservations early.
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