March 5 to March 19..Traveled with my good friend and neighbor, Deb and we had a very relaxing, fun-filled vacation. Who could ask for more? This report is long and the days start to get pretty repetitive later on, so my apologies for the boredom in advance! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Blush.gif" alt="" />
Air: Left JFK on the early morning flight AA flight #667--on time takeoff from NY and arrival in SXM…Flights home were an entirely different story. We were scheduled to fly home on 3/15--arrived at the airport to check-in to discover that our flight had been cancelled. No explanation, no reason. We were of the opinion that since the flight was pretty empty--not even half the seats were filled--that was the reason for cancellation? So, at this point we had returned our rental car, rental phone and checked out of hotel--no place to go, stay or any idea of what to do….AA rescheduled us for the early afternoon flight the next day, Friday, and without asking they gave us vouchers for the Maho Sonesta for the night, voucher for dinner that night and breakfast the next morning and vouchers for taxis to and from the airport. We were so freaked out about the cancelled flight that we didn’t even think to ask for anything, so we thought that was a nice gesture on their part anyway. The next morning we walked past the front desk at the Maho, and there was a sign up that AA had cancelled all flights to and from NY because of snow in NY! Inquiry at the front desk and we were told that AA was not rescheduling by phone and that we had to go to the airport and reschedule and we should go ASAP as everyone was heading there to beat the mad rush. Off to the airport, where AA tried first to put us on the later flight that day--which we tried arguing with them that how could they plan on later flights when the snow was only getting worse in NY and they had already cancelled the first flight of the day? They insisted that the flight would go out later, we argued that it wouldn’t, and in that five minutes the second flight filled up with no seats left…(that flight never did go out that day either!)…and they had wanted to route us through Puerto Rico, which we had NO interest in….okay, what about Saturday or Sunday? No, all flights were filled to capacity and the soonest they could get us out was Monday afternoon….or we could sit in the airport and hope for an opening for the weekend. We decided to just book the flight for Monday instead of hanging in limbo and not know what we were doing and headed back to Maho to reserve our room for the next three days….Oh, poor us--stuck in paradise for another three days while our husbands dealt with the snow at home! My husband asked me if we planned it all this way on purpose to extend our stay? Not so, but we managed to “suffer” thru the extended stay!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/usflag.gif" alt="" />
Car: First time renting with Mohamed of Panoramic Car Rental, a sponsor here. He was waiting for us as we exited the airport, car and price as quoted. Were told to leave the car at the airport when departing if he wasn’t there, but we did end up catching him there when leaving. Pleasure to deal with, Mohamed is a keeper!
Phone: Rented again thru Sharon Harris, another sponsor. Phone worked great all over the island, and nice to be able to keep in touch with home and to have when traveling at night--just in case! When we got “stuck” at the Maho, we called Sharon from the hotel and since we didn’t have a car at this point and had returned our phone earlier in the day before our scheduled departure, for a very small and fair fee, she dropped off a phone for us that day at our hotel lobby--and extended our rental fee from our original rental date to a full 2 week rental for a most reasonable fee. Deb and I had made three credit card charged calls from the airport-- and later from the hotel-- to tell husbands not to make the two hour trip to the airport to get us and then where we were and when we would be home--at an outrageous fee of $35 to $42 per call! Now I know why I always rent with Sharon. Thank you Sharon for your help and your great service!
Hotel: We stayed at the Residence de la Plage #38 on Orient Beach--small apartment. This was booked thru Sandy Molloy, a sponsor here on the board--Sandy is the best, not the first time I‘ve used her services, nor will it be the last-thank you AGAIN Sandy!! Place was perfect for us this trip. Room is on the third floor-no view of the water or beach as the grounds and trees are pretty overgrown and block any view, but you could HEAR the water. We sleep and shower in our rooms, not cook or entertain on vacation, so this was fine with us--not a problem. We were just steps behind Bikini Beach Bar, Orient Village right across the street and pretty much all you need right there if you don’t want to travel. Apartment is decent sized, full kitchen, large frig with ice maker, stove, microwave, anything necessary for cooking small meals available. We aren’t interested in cooking on vaca, but if you need to, it’s there. Living area with two couches, one a pull-out, large enough closet for all clothing with safe inside, bathroom on first floor. TV French only, so never watched much! Second floor, with narrow steep stairway heading up to king sized bed, dresser and two night stands. Neither of us made it up to the second floor until the third night or so, because of too many cocktails and being afraid to try to maneuver those steps for bathroom availability! I finally started making my way up there after a couple of nights of the couch killing my back, but Deb stayed on the first floor for the duration of our trip for easy accessibility to the bathroom during the night. Believe me, those steps are wicked!! The air conditioner is upstairs and we were told when we were first shown the apartment upon arrival to turn OFF the AC during the day when not there or it might have trouble keeping up. Well, that wasn’t happening because we were sure to come back to a steaming hot place! We kept it running during the day on medium to keep the place cooled off. All was fine until our second to last night there when I woke up to one side of the bed soaking wet with water leaking from the above AC unit. A stop in at the rental agency on our way to the beach and it was repaired upon our return. Cleaning lady came in every fourth day to clean and refresh towels, etc. Plenty of towels to get us through each visit and a broom available for us to tidy up in between as well. Worked out fine for us. Check in and out was simple and easy--gave our name, got the keys and then dropped off keys when leaving. Great price for a decent place right on Orient. We were pleased.
Maho for our last four days: Hotel is big--we were given a room on the 6th floor overlooking a rooftop and Cheri’s across the street. Large bathroom, two double beds, coffeemaker, no frig. Cheri’s is loud and the evening parade outside loud also. Guess for our first free night, we couldn’t complain much. Beautifully landscaped property, nice pool with swim up bar. Very friendly staff, except for bartender at pool--Ramone? Unfriendly and unsmiling. Balcony outside had bird’s eye view of planes taking off from the end of the runway--interesting! But don’t leave your doors open too long, the jet fuel smell was horrible. Room a little moldy, musty smelling. Internet stations at hotel, for $5 you could get 30 minutes--which worked great too, so we could email our bosses to tell them we wouldn’t be back to work until Tuesday--oh again, woe is us!!---and keep in touch with AA online and keep confirming our reservations home. We had lunch at the outdoor restaurant the first day, not bad. Hung around the pool all day, met some fun people. Picked up phone that Sharon had left at the lobby for us. Took advantage of our free buffet breakfast from AA the next morning--great made to order omelets! And decided that we needed to get back to the beach, so rented a car at the front desk thru Hertz until Monday morning, then headed back to the beach! Reasonable rate for room for three days, but definitely not a place I would stay in the future. Not a bad place, just not my style--too big, too loud.
Beaches: It was so convenient and easy, we never ventured to any other beaches this trip except for Orient! Beautiful weather our entire trip--except for the last three days before our original scheduled departure--constant rain and blowing winds. Rainy days on the beach are just awful--for us anyway. With not much else to do, we just kept bouncing from bar to bar and drinking all day on the beach to test everyone’s recommended concoctions! Met lots of fun people, lots of laughs and glad I remember as much as I do! Our livers are dying. But with our extended stay, Friday finally cleared up and Saturday and Sunday were gorgeous. So we got our extra three days of great weather back in the long run. Life is a beach!! We rooted our behinds on the beach every day at Brice Paradise--Brice is a great guy who owns and operates the place, with his girlfriend Emily and another girl Natalie running drinks and food and taking care of us throughout our stay. Every morning we would arrive to our chairs and umbrella set up and waiting for us with our free drink whenever we were ready. The entire crew there are the best--fun, great people--thanks to you all!!
Monday, 3/5: By the time we arrived at Orient and checked in, was late afternoon, so we threw our suits and shorts on and headed to Bikini for a few welcome cocktails on the beach. Our apartment had coffee for us, so we picked up some soda and milk and snax at Tap 5 to get us thru the evening and next morning. Dinner that night was take out pizza from Le Pimente in Orient Village--fabulous pie!
Tuesday, 3/6: Headed off to Grande Marche in Phillipsburg first thing in the morning to pick up any necessary supplies for our stay. I had inquired about Veuve Cliquot champagne here on the board before departure and found it here at Grande Marche--more than we pay here at home, but wasn’t interested in searching the island for bargains and wasting precious beach time, so we picked up half a case here while shopping and headed home to drop off groceries and hit the beach! Breakfast at Baywatch with Adrian and Andy and then settled in on the beach for the day. Met a great couple our first day here--Eddie and Barbara from “Bahston”--what fun, nice folks! Met Eddie at the bar at Brice’s , he introduced us to his wife and we ended up hanging out with them throughout the rest of our trip--great laughs we had! Our new nicknames from Eddie were “Lulabelle” and “Buttercup”. They know practically everyone on the beach--they stay on island from the end of January to almost the end of March every year--no sympathy for them here!! Headed to Grand Case this evening for Harmony Night. Arrived early, parked easily in a free lot and headed down the street. Lots of vendors--Deb bought a beautiful wood wall carving, I purchased a couple of oil paintings and a cute little bamboo purse. Lots of people by the time we left--couldn’t get near the lolos to eat there were so many people! Had a couple of beers while walking and people watching, made reservations for Thursday night at Tastevin, headed home before the parade or bands even started and grabbed take out pizza from Tap 5 for dinner--another great pie!
Wednesday, 3/7: Tap 5 croissants and off to the beach. Lunch at Baywatch--marguerita shrimp and mussels a la Andy while sharing a table with a couple from Wisconsin. I went parasailing with Eddie this afternoon--what a blast! Got a foot massage from Michael on the beach--if you see him in his red Hawaiian shirt, go for it--very enjoyable! The French military were apparently having practice maneuvers in the area, saw lots of them around with their machine guns patrolling the beach. A couple of guys were going by us one day and there was a group of young girls having their photo taken while standing in the water--one of the guys jumped in the water with them, boots on and machine gun in hand, and had his photo taken with the girls--his partner just stood on the beach with his gun, shaking his head at him…We cracked up…End of the day and we stopped by Bikini with Eddie and Barbara for a last drink on the beach. Showered and went down to Taichi in Orient Village for takeout sushi, which was fabulous!
Thursday, 3/8: Breakfast at Baywatch--great omelets and bloody marys. Lunch @ Pedros--good ribs, fun band playing. Beached all day. Headed to dinner at Tastevin--lots of military on the airport road--couple of guys came out of the bushes on the way there in full camouflage and painted faces--scared the devil out of us! They were all marching up and down the entire airport road…Dinner was expensive, but very good with great service. Waiter remembered me from two years ago, very sweet. Began with asparagus wrapped shrimp which we shared, Deb had lobster I had a beef filet with baked brie on top--all fabulous! Champagne throughout dinner, profiteroles with a chocolate and raspberry sauce, 3 crème brulee (chocolate, violet and pistachio) and cappuccinos and frangelico and amaretto topped off the meal. After all we had eaten during the day, we were in severe gastric distress by the end of this evening! Headed home and crashed on the couches tonight--couldn’t get any further!
Friday, 3/9: Tap 5 croissants for breakfast (which I must say were okay, but nothing compared to the ones we had gotten last year at the bakery on the airport road!). The girls working here are not very friendly--would a “good morning“ or a smile kill you?? This was probably the only place on the French side that we encountered anyone with bad attitudes. Everyone we met elsewhere were friendly, helpful and SMILING!! Great chicken wrap at Brice’s for lunch was shared and takeout spaghetti dinners from Le Piment that evening.
Saturday, 3/10: Ran into Phillipsburg to pick up another phone card--no one in the Orient Village area had chippie cards available! Stopped at Cost u less and picked up some supplies and an insulated beach bag for transporting cold drinks to the beach. Back to the apt. to pack up cooler bag with beer, champagne and ice and onto the beach. Breakfast again@ Baywatch and growing our roots deeper into our chairs on Orient--these days are pretty much repetitive and most enjoyable. Our ideas of what vacation is all about--doing NOTHING!! Shared champagne with Barbara on the beach and had another lovely day. Barbara and Eddie had made reservations for us to join them at dinner tonight at Bajatzu’s in Maho Bay. Great choice!! We met up at Buccaneer Beach Bar for a cocktail before dinner and met another lovely couple there from England. Moved on to Bajatzu. We all had filet mignon with different sauces--garlic herb, Roquefort, and ????--think the best steak I have ever had in my life--could eat it with a fork alone if you wanted, it was that tender! Dinner served with salads and choices of potato or rice with vegetables. Excellent meal, reasonable prices, fabulous, friendly staff who all came over and introduced themselves and chatted with us as did the owners, who bought our table a round of drinks. Lovely, relaxed, fun dinner. We moved on from there to the Sunset Beach Bar where Percy Rankin was playing some great reggae. Left here and went to the Red Piano bar at the Pelican--fun piano player and singer, great time here! An older gentleman asked Eddie how he got to be so lucky to be having fun with three women with him, and Eddie and the rest of us went off on a spiel telling him we were all Eddie’s wives and had 15 children between us--all in good fun. So that started an entire role playing for the duration of our trip. We were all being very silly, but having such fun. Ended the long night with a drive back to Orient at near midnight. Driving back and forth at night from one side of the island to the other isn’t great fun, but we never had any bad encounters or trouble anywhere.
Sunday, 3/11: Tap 5 croissants and back to the beach! Lunch @ Baywatch, mussels a la Andy (but, of course) shared between us, then a Caesar salad with scallops and a grouper burger--all great as always. Andy made a bulls**t deflector from a plastic plate to wear on our ears for when Eddie is around, and everyone got a kick out of that! Went down to Pedro’s for a while and listened to another great, fun band who got all of the audience involved in their little show--lots of fun. Don’t remember dinner this evening? Hmmmm…my mind is beginning to fade…my liver is shot…
Monday, 3/12: Breakfast @ Bikini--great omelets with baguettes and the beach is calling again. Life is tough. Another of Brice’s chicken wraps with the BEST French fries! for lunch. Showered up at the end of the day and trip to the Lady C (with atrocious traffic backed up for MILES due to a fire somewhere!) to meet up with Marybeth, Donn, Sheila, Susan and Andrea for drinks and dinner of pizza. Sorry we missed seeing BobD and Bette again this year--hope you are both doing well! Lovely evening, nice to see everyone again! Moved on to Lee’s to meet with Barbara and Eddie for a drink, then back to the Red Piano Bar for more drinks and fun!
Tuesday, 3/13: Rain off and on all day with no let up in sight that morning, so we decided to head into Phillipsburg for some shopping. Breakfast on the boardwalk, with two HUGE lizards for company next to us (I could barely get thru the meal, as I am deathly afraid of even those tiny green creatures, let along these big buggers!!) On to shopping! Went to DK Gems International, our first stop. Inquired as to whether Deepti was in, as I had met her two years prior when I purchased some diamond earrings from her. One of her brothers was in the process of telling us that she wasn’t in that morning, when in she walks and came right over to chat and help with our shopping. She was awaiting a call about her soon to be nephew or niece’s arrival, and told us she may have to leave at any moment. I purchased a pair of diamond earrings that I have been wanting and Deepti also talked me into a lovely diamond ring--love them both! Now to Deb--who, on two previous trips that the two of us took last year to Barbados, had purchased her jewelry there and had no intentions of buying today. She spotted a beautiful diamond bracelet that was a perfect match for a necklace that she had! Deepti and I quickly talked her into this purchase and we both celebrated with glasses of champagne! We came back 45 minutes later, and my ring was resized and the clasp on Deb’s bracelet tightened up and ready to go. Thank you again, Deepti--a pleasure to do business with you again. Went to Rima’s--our first visit there--and purchased some cute dresses and other quick bargains, then back to the rainy beach. Even the rain couldn’t keep us away! Went to Bikini and hung out for a couple of drinks, then switched to cappuccinos with frangelico and amaretto on the side to try and warm up! Got wet from the soaking walk to the beach and it was chilly and breezy--everyone walking around with pants and sweatshirts on--never seen it like this on St. Martin in any of my previous March visits! Dinner that evening at Cote Plages in Orient Village. Champagne throughout the evening, but of course! Began our dinners with a goat cheese & bacon salad and then a crab ravioli in a light cream sauce--both wonderful! Dinners were fettuccine carbonara and a beef tenderloin with a melted camembert--both, again, wonderful!! Chocolate mousse and crème brulee with cappuccinos completed the meal--fabulous!
Wednesday, 3/14: Rainy again today. Headed down to Brice’s with only good thoughts of sunshine and hot sun, but it wasn’t to be. Bar hopping today on Orient all day. Rain started coming down pretty good at one point when we were at Brice’s, and we all jumped out to help Brice and the girls bring in all of the chair cushions and furniture. When done, Natalie placed a bottle of banana flavored rum on the table with cups for everyone and the crew and all of us proceeded to just about drink the bottle dry. Rest of the day and evening are pretty much a blur--I do remember Deb bringing back a pizza to the room after I had passed out, getting up and eating and the rest I DON’T WANT to remember. Let’s put it this way: I will NEVER drink banana flavored rum again  on top of all else that I drank that day, the sweetness definitely did NOT agree with me…blechhh…..
Thursday, 3/15: Our original departure day…Rain again, so makes us feel a little better leaving in the rain, rather than a beautiful sunshiny day! Were on the beach by 7:30, hoping to catch last minute rays, but rain continued. Breakfast and goodbyes @ Baywatch, said all of our teary goodbyes to Brice, Natalie, Emily, Eddie and Barbara and all of the rest of the great people we had met during our stay. Checked out, went to airport and from previous reading about our Maho stay, will continue report with….
Friday, 3/16: After all day at poolside at the Maho, our second dinner at Bajatzu. Began with crab cake appetizer, and a lobster cocktail--heaven! Deb had mahi mahi, I had the filet --the best again! Great dinner and a walk back to hotel for an early night.
Saturday, 3/17: Croissants at bakery on Airport road--these are just fabulous!! We’re in heaven and on to Orient---we’re baaack! Everyone’s jaws dropped when we returned to the beach this morning! The sunshine was back in full force and more surrendering to sand gravity….ahhh, life IS a beach!! Lunch @ Baywatch, fun this afternoon at Pedro’s again, then the drive back to Maho. Met with Barbara and Eddie tonight at Sunset Beach Bar for more Percy Rankin--some dancing, drinks and LOTS of laughs and fun! Even got Barbara up and dancing, which both she and Eddie said she never does…
Sunday, 3/18: Croissants at bakery again--we are awful creatures of habit, aren’t we?! Back to Orient --our last day again! Stayed all day on the beach and Andy had prepared 2 orders of mussels for us to take home with us--vacuum sealed and ready to go! Packed them in ice overnight in our hotel, as we had no frig, then in suitcase for the trip home. Our husbands finally got to enjoy the mussels we kept telling them about--wonderful--thanks Andy and Cheryl!! Said another round of goodbyes to everyone and promised to be back and meet up with all next year--as long as our flight got out tomorrow! Went across the street to Pizza Pasta that evening and ordered takeout. Sat at Cheri’s for a couple of champagne kisses waiting for our meal, and met a couple from Boston who arrived their first day too early to check into their hotel and then proceeded to Orient with everything they had in the trunk of their car--and had everything stolen, including credit cards and money! Not sure why someone would do this, as I wouldn’t leave a credit card in my car at home, let alone on vacation, but they knew they made a mistake and were dealing with it as best they could--by drinking heavily with what little cash they had until their friends were arriving! Picked up our takeout--is this place under new management? Staff very unfriendly--didn’t even acknowledge us when we entered. Food was okay--nothing to brag about like I had with my first visit there about 3 years ago. We shared a large salad and a dinner of spaghetti with meatballs--nothing special.
Monday, 3/19: Breakfast buffet at Maho--nice buffet, I must admit, seeing as I’m not a big follower of buffets--returned phone to Sharon, who wasn’t open yet, but a quick phone call and we left it at the front desk of the Royal Palm. Returned car, checked out and got to airport early to ensure our seats on flight. As much as the extended stay was enjoyed, we HAD to get back to work and life! New airport is great! Nice shops, places to eat or grab food to take on flight, bars and smoking room available. We did some liquor and cigarette shopping, purchased all we could carry and we were off! Homeward bound…..finally!
We thoroughly enjoyed our vacation--relaxation, great weather, lots of laughs. Not much green this year as it has apparently been very dry. Lots of fires spotted on our trip. Were told of a car being stolen from behind Pedro’s one day , but never encountered any problems of our own anywhere. Can’t wait to return! Happy travels to all…. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Cool.gif" alt="" />
