We planned on spending 6 short days, travel included, on SXM from 7/25 - 7/30 since we just spent a week there at the beginning of May. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending upon how you look at it, our trip was extended by 3 days because of the volcano eruption on Montserrat.<br>We tried to check in at AA at the airport on SXM on 7/30 - Monday morning at about 10:00 a.m. only to find a line that was almost out the door. Of course, the sign behind the counter said that all flights were "On Time". They just neglected to post on what day. After about an hour they finally announced that all AA flights out of SXM were cancelled and, depending on any further eruptions, they were not sure when service would resume. They also announced that they would not be paying for anything but that the Maho Beach Hotel would provide rooms for $95 per night. We decided to check in their and then figure out what we were going to do.<br><br>For the first part of our trip we stayed at The Summit Hotel on Simpson Bay. What a nice place - it was so peaceful. We had a waterview studio, 11A, that overlooked both the pool and lagoon. It was spotless. Since this was supposed to be a quick trip we brought some food from home and ate on our deck 2 nights. In hindsight thank goodness we did!<br><br>We visited Baie Rouge, Dawn Beach, Plum Bay and, of course, Orient. Because of the Tropical Wave, which has now been named Barry, blowing through the waters were rough and it was pretty windy. <br><br>We ate dinner at Bar de la Mer for the monster shrimp, Le Cottage because the staff is so nice and Lee's because they really made us feel welcome. Lee, ChiChi, Henry, Rose Keisha, Raquel, Ricky etal are the nicest bunch of people. The fish is so fresh and the ribs and chicken are so good - I'm getting hungry just thinking about it all!<br><br>We went to visit Neil at The Peg Leg Pub and things are really coming along. It is going to be great once it's open - which should be very soon. We were hoping to be there for the Grand Opening! The bar area is big and he will have seating both indside and out. Neil sent a copy of his new menu out on his mailing list. If you didn't get one we can send you one. We also spent alot of time at the Sunset Beach Bar. Heidi, Althea and the girls are a great group to party with. Try to go on Rainbow shot night. It doesn't happen often but it is definetly a night you don't want to miss. Make sure that when you are in SXM you visit the new SSB manager Marcus/Sally. Tell him Danny and Jamie from NYC say hi. Neil's last day was either 8/2 or 8/3. When we left on 8/3 he was supervising the construction of the new deck which is to the left of the bar if you are facing the ocean next to the bathrooms.<br><br>We ate lunch at the SSB, Baywatch on Orient, Lee's and Goodfella's. Do you all agree, can you get a bad meal on SXM?<br><br>After our initial shock at the airport and then the long check in at the Maho we realized that we really had to make the best of our situation. We made a couple of calls home to make sure the 3 kids were okay with Gram & Gramp. Then called to make sure the business was okay and then went from there. AA could only guarantee us seats if we waited until Thursday. We could try and get on any plane befor that if we wanted but we would have had to be at the airport for each flight. We decided to wait until Thursday and it seemed as if we were off to round 2 of our trip. We tried to fit all we wanted to do in 6 days and left out so much! We were then able to spend more time at all of the places we love. We went to Orient on Tuesday - and - because she is such a great person - Cheryl invited us to Andy's Surprise 60th Birthday party at Banana's on Wednesday night. What a terrific time we had - Andy was truly shocked. We got to meet so many of their friends, both locals and visitors like us. Dale and Bob from Banana's provided the greatest appetizers - we will definetly be eating there next May!<br><br>We really have to say that this was our best trip yet even though we were stranded for a little while. <br><br> As most of you have already stressed, you feel as if you are going to meet your "friends". Thanks to all who post on this board for the information we used. We know that we have left some things out and we will post them as we remember but if you have any questions please fell free to contact us.<br><br>After writing this I feel that Tropical "Depression" setting in.<br><br>To all - Enjoy your trips!<br><br>Jamie & Danny<br><br><br><br><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Administrator on 8/8/01 02:48 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
.
