Flight to SXM – Everything went very well. Preprinted boarding passes at home, arrived about 2 hours early and used a kiosk to check in for our 7:02 AM US Airways flight from PVD to CLT. Security was well manned, no lines at all. Connection in CLT was incident free and we arrived in SXM on time at 3:00 PM.
Car Rental: Used Kenny’s Car Rental again. What a breeze. Leslie was waiting for us and we were on our way in minutes. During our stay we had a slow leak. Leslie changed tires and everything was fine. When it was time to return the car, he met us at the airport as promised and we concluded another pleasurable deal.
Traffic – Terrible is not is strong enough a word. On weekdays the daytime traffic from the airport through Simpson Bay area is more of a parking lot than a traffic line. It takes about an hour to get from the airport to the Tropicana Casino area. Traffic going the other way is very slow, but at least it moves. Traffic coming out of Philipsburg to the airport is also horrible in the early evening. Government has announced some improvements they are starting. Cake House Road has been paved and is a one way from near the rotary where Bush Rd and L B Scott Rds join (near Mark’s Place), over the mountain to Union Road (near Johnny B’s Under the Tree).
Accommodations: We stayed at our timeshare in Mary’s Boon. Find the place to be getting cozier every time we visit as they are adding a couple more units. Staff is well known to us and very friendly. Appreciate Internet access capability in lobby as well as book library.
Food:
Tried to stock refrigerator by shopping at Ram’s in Cole Bay on the road to Marigot. The shelves had a lot of emptiness and we were turned off. Tried the new Maho Food Express at the rotary across from the Royal Islander and found it pleasant to the American shopper. Had what we needed and prices were o.k. Given the traffic situation, it was a lot better than trying the Super Grand Marche.
Breakfasts:
Kissing Fish (at The Summit) – excellent. Chloe & Thierry have a great new kitchen to cook in. Downer: They have lost their Internet access capability.
Mary’s Boon – excellent
Ric’s – very good
Turtle Pier – very good, especially when you can have steak and eggs at night after a long day of thirst quenching
Chinese Restaurant at The Caravanserai – nothing special
Lunches:
Turtle Pier – very good as one is amused by the dozens of 4 foot long tarpon swimming around.
Banana’s – very good
Baywatch – excellent, especially the mussels.
Ric’s – can’t beat it when the Patriots are winning (don’t recommend the Philly steak though)
Dinners:
Baywatch – normally not open in the evening, but had great food at the TTOL party
Uncle Harry’s – yet again, the best filet mignon we have had.
Le Cottage – excellent atmosphere with good food at good prices for the French side.
Peg Leg – very good steaks, Shawn is always a pleasure. The addition of Valet parking really helps.
Turtle Pier – very good, people are great
Mary’s Boon – great food, great atmosphere
Le Santal – UGH! Advertised as a 5 star restaurant, it may well have been once, but the service was 2nd class, the food was nothing special and did not even approach coming out at the same time. Waiter was overheard making a snide remark about our choice of wine. Finally, one of the Crème Brule dishes was soupy and not caramelized. Waiter insisted that it was the proper way to prepare it even though the others were o.k. Prices were more than double what the same items cost at other fine places. This could have been a great evening, they just screwed it up. A shadow of what it maybe once was. If you insist on trying this place expect to pay at least $100 a person without the gratuity.
Laguna – excellent meal in an equally excellent setting.
Pizza Pasta – very good, very busy. Get there before 7 or you had better have reservations.
Lee’s – we like to eat at the bar and chat with Steve, very good grilled food.
Jimbo’s – if you like Tex-Mex, this place gives Ric’s a good run for the money
Watering holes:
SSBB – multiple visits a must on any trip
Bikini Beach Bar – always a good time. Elisa has now made the place Budda-full with a taste of her trip to Asia, a swix foot high statue. A highlight of one visit was the appearance of old friends, former bartenders Geoff and Rashid. Geoff is now living in Spain and Rashid is a salesman in a store on the outskirts of Marigot.
BBB – inexpensive and friendly
Shrimpy’s – a new place behind Hot Tomatoes – the cheapest beers we had, $1.50 each (we don’t do Carib)
Hot Tomatoes – too windy, spoils a great atmosphere.
Jewelry: DK Gems, Deepti and her brothers. Need I say more? They run a first class operation.
Return flight – Checked luggage in the morning (US Air counter opens at 10:30) for our 5:10 PM flight to PHL. MAJOR MISTAKE: entered the Departure Terminal around 3:15, jammed with people taking earlier flights. Should not have entered terminal until 4:30 PM. Flight left late, but arrived in PHL on time. Then things turned sour:
Waited on tarmac for 20 minutes as there was somebody at the gate.
Immigration a breeze, no lines at all.
Only one of four pieces of checked luggage arrived, making us the last to leave the baggage carousel.
Customs was simple, again no lines.
With about an hour to go to catch out 10:25 flight to PVD, we hit the wall. There was a line at least 100 deep at the Security checkpoint to reenter the terminal, with only one Security machine being manned. Our plane had left by the time we got through.
US Air issued us vouchers for a room and food at the Ramada Inn and tickets for a morning flight. There were dozens of people in the same boat, many of whom did not get a food voucher. The Ramada had extra people at the check-in counter and kept their kitchen open for sandwiches until midnight to accommodate us. It appears that this is a nightly occurrence.
Since we only had hand luggage, checking in for our morning flight was very quick. Upon arriving in PVD we found that all of our luggage had made it with us. The strays had been sent to CLT by mistake, but forwarded quickly enough to catch up with us.
Bob
.
