Trip Report –
Visited the island from 4/8 – 4/21, myself, husband Ken, and children Lyndsey (13) and Riley (6), plus my cousin and her boyfriend (both 22)
Had two weeks back to back at The Towers at Mullet Bay, and rented a loaded white 4 door Corolla from Lesley Bruce of Kenny’s Car Rental. It was very nice having the power windows and locks!!! And not having the lock on the shifter but built into the car!!!
Went to the TTOL party at Los Gauchos very low key and nice, decided to stay there and eat dinner, had a good meal and the kids enjoyed it.
It was a very busy trip for us as we had my cousin and her boyfriend join us for 7 nights, I got very lucky and they didn’t spend it in my living room, we were able to get them their own room right below us for the week, it was perfect! We had a two bedroom and they had a one bedroom, I love SPACE!!!!
Visited, Friars Bay Beach(1), Pinel Island(1), Orient(1) and Mullet twice, also spent 2 days in town shopping and did the Tango to Prickly Pear. (Had intentions of going to Anguilla, and doing the Zip Lines at Lotterie Farm – Next Year!!)
Prickly Pear was not what it used to be! The weather was CRAPPY, and they still ran the trip, either loose the money or go, so we went. It rained, poured and was cold! Now I haven’t done this trip in 14 years, the island is the same, but they no longer provide you with beach chairs, if you want them you have to pay for them.
We had good meals all over the island, Los Gauchos, La Gondola, Pineapple Pete’s, Antoine’s, Kangaroo Court, Friars Bay Beach Bar, Rosie’s on Mullet, Johnny’s Under the Tree (good but like Rosie’s and Lido’s ribs better, but he has grilled shrimp that are very good!!), Bikini Beach Bar, Boathouse, Paris Bistro, Sugar Cane Café, Carlos Bella Napoli, and my favorite, Moulin Fou! It’s up behind Cheri’s and is worth the trip! Ate in a few nights also, I shipped down in a soft sided cooler a ham, turkey breast, keilbasa, meatballs, and a frozen lasagna I made up in a cardboard pan and then used one of those seal-vac machines on it! It was perfect, So we used the ham and turkey for sandwiches, and had meatball grinders, subs or hoagies (whatever you call them) one night and then lasagna for Easter diner!!! Just didn't feel like going out! Also, and this may be old news to other Towers owners, but if you go down to the lobby either around 7:45 or 8:45 or leave your order the night before, a pastry truck comes through, so we got fresh baguettes and croissants daily without leaving the building!!!! And they were just $1.00 each! Now if they would deliver the Herald as well!!
Also forgot to add our evening in the rain at Spinnakers!! It was after the rainy boat trip and decided to watch the "Yachts" come in in the rain! Had a few beers and 6 orders of french fries and one order of great spicy popcorn!! Kids love watching the yachts, expecially that one with the helicopter!
Had a great evening at the Sugar Cane up at the Atlantis, nice atmosphere and it was fun watching the NJ Devils with the division! (Thanks Carl for letting us keep the TV on and not have to sit through American Idol!!!)
We found traffic to be as bad as people have mentioned, it took us an hour and a half to get from The Towers to the Simpson Bay Yacht Club!!! A truck carrying Rum dumped its load on the Cole Bay Hill and backed up traffic all the way to the airport, and then the bridge went up! We were heading over to Irina’s to meet up with her and Barbara and friends, we should have turned around and said forget it! But thank goodness for the snacks I packed!!!
Went to the Casino Royale maybe four times and walked away with over $2,000.00, not to bad!!! Husband won most of it playing craps.
Having the USS George Washington in was interesting!!! We went shopping in Phillipsburg on Saturday April 15 and it was a zoo from the Greenhouse up to the St. Rose Arcade area! Tried to get some good shots but the zoom on my camera died, so didn’t get much.
While on Orient there was an Easter Egg Hunt at Bikini, and if you spelled Bikini, you were in a drawing to win stuff, well; my 6 year old son won a belly shot and a bottle of rum!! Needless to say we gave it to the Sailors and Sunshine that works there gave him a $40.00 credit at the shop next door!!! (Thanks Sunshine!! Let him try to explain that one in kindergarten!!!)
I played golf once, just 9 holes, it was fun, but it’s sad that my son and I had almost the same score!! My husband who is a big golfer was too serious for us!! He went out a few more times without us and still enjoys it, even though it’s not the best! (He still thinks we are going back in a few weeks for the St. Maarten Open, it’s a Charity Event and has played in it the last 3 years, just not good timing this year)
Didn’t have any problems or felt uncomfortable at all in regards to crime, (didn’t take the I-pod to the beach!!!), on several occasions left things unattended at Orient and Mullet without a problem. And those that are questioning the nudity changes, we spent an entire day on Orient, (Bikini Beach – clothed!) and I explained to my cousins the whole C/O thing, we saw ONE nude walker the entire day, maybe because it was Easter Monday, I don’t know, we were there from 9:30 – 5:00! So maybe things are changing???? Or it could be just because it was a holiday. But the Club O area was packed.
It was a great trip, our room was 801 at the Towers, it looked out over the beach and saw Saba almost everyday, it also let us know what the beach was like, and if it was rough, we would go elsewhere!!! Can’t wait till next year or sooner!!!!
And NO Andrea, I was NOT at SSBB drinking for free!!