This is broken out into the first week and then the GREAT, the GOOD and the UGLY. It’s Paradise – there is no bad, it runs immediately to ugly.
Brought down 2 girl friends, Martha and Laurel, this trip. Hubby was the Protector of the Harem! We all sat together on Continental out of EWR. Plane was packed, it was early planning that had us 1-2-3-4 across. No problems, a bit bumpy but landed early and we picked up our car From Mickey , Tropical-Tropicana, at the airport and phone at Royal Palm. THANK YOU SHARON (we have always passed on the info and this year took our own advice and used Sharon, fabulous service!) We will repeat. Continued on to Pelican to book into the room we exchanged for. Requested that we be allowed to use the room, which we knew was vacant since our friends had informed us of that the day before we traveled, which we would be moving into the following week. We own weeks 16 and 17. This led to a saga which is still ongoing and not pleasant –suffice it so say this fits in the UGLY category.
Got into our room and then we all hit the beach for the rest of the afternoon. Dined at Peg Leg’s Pub, as wonderful as ever. Ran into Jack and Capt Neil. The girls were impressed. Wonderful food and camaraderie.
Tuesday took us on a circumislandgation, ( loosely translated as a drive around the island)to Phillipsburg to shop (Grand Marche), then up through the Dutch side to Orient (love the new road!), down to Cul de Sac, through Grand Case, around Galisbay to Marigot, through the Lowlands, past Cupecoy and the Mediterraneanvillagemyaxxmonstrosity, through Mullett Bay, Maho and Simson Bay back to the Pelican. Exhausted from our travels, we changed, fixed lunch and partook of sand gravity until time for dinner at Le Ti Sucrier (GREAT) in Nettle Bay. Beautiful view of the Lagoon, quiet and charming. Excellent service and food,
Wednesday was Orient Beach Day. Baywatch, shopping, swimming, people watching, and a late afternoon snooze on the beach. Finally awoke to meander over to the lolo’s for dinner. Extremely relaxing. Learned that Pelican had Wednesday night movies for kids – we felt we qualified since we had 8 between us! Can’t remember the name, but it was fun and relaxing….a theme for this week.
Thursday, slow start more sand gravity and then went into Phillipsburg ,late, to Kay’s to see our jeweler – Sam K. After much hemming and hawing Martha decided she was worth it and made Sam a very happy jeweler. Great bling and an extraordinarily good price. We toddled on up to the Dinghy Dock for Fabila’s TTOL party. What a hoot. We meet some new faces and were pleased to reminisce with IslandGem, Mr St Martin, Fabila and many others (brain’s gone – we were on island for 3 weeks). We completed our 2nd circumislandgation due to warning that the Carnival evening parade started at 8 in Phillipsburg. Of course the Harem Protector got us a little off course, but we saw more of Oyster Pond and came back through a very empty Marigot. Dinner at Jimbo’s was both a lovely setting and very good food. That Asian Tuna is just awesome, and Steve does love his Cheeseburgers.
Friday we sailed on Celine with Capt Neil, and the girls learned what noodite bathing is……Neil’s food is simply the best meal on any boat in SXM. We saw 2 dolphins carousing along side us as we cruised back toward Creole Rock. Laurel managed to get her camera to photo them. It was very exciting and truly a blessing to see such gentle creatures having so much fun making people ooohh and ahhh! I know that one dolphin winked at us!
Saturday was the all girls cruise on Random Wind. Since the girls, plus two from SXM who are long time island friends are all sailors and we had NO destination in mind – we asked Trevor, (pronounced trevah) to just sail where the wind blows best. We don’t want to touch land until tonight. Grinning we headed off wing and wing for Anguilla. Then spotted a large sea turtle and turned to investigate. It was suggested that we give Christina a break and anchor for lunch in Baie aux prunes, near a good snorkeling area. Trevah threw out some bread to the water gods and the little school of jacks went into a feeding frenzy. We were swimming with the jacks as they nibbled at the bread and our fingers. Way cool!!!! Then back to sailing with the wind. We did not want to return, but Trevah said he had to bring the boat back. We all had a wonderful, relaxed, all girl day. Poor Trevah learned a few things, but he is sworn to secrecy. He’s a good sport, the day was Estrogen overload! I highly recommend it.
Sunday back to Orient for Andy’s Mussell’s. Oh yum. From here, it all gets a little foggy as my job as cruise director was drawing to a close and the sand gravity was screaming – come, lay down, have a nice massage here on the beach (thanks Shantay – Orient) read a book, swim, rest, enjoy. Martha left on Monday and Laurel left on Tuesday.
BEACHES: We tracked down Chloe and Thierry and scooped them up for multiple trips to the beach at Cupecoy, Baie Rouge (just as beautiful as ever!, great clear water for snorkeling) and Orient. Water was the cleanest and clearest I’ve seen in years. Snorkeling was wonderful, though the water temp was cooler. Beach was returning at the Shore Pointes end of Cupecoy, as were the little tidal pools, which were fun to sit in and watch the little fry.
Had dinner several times with Bill and Elaine, Chloe and Thierry, including one with Elizabeth and Dave (ISLANDGEM) and Ron and Carla and Ric. Please brain remind me of all the TTOL names – uh uh, not happenin’. You know who you are, and we are all still loving the memories of the great food, laughs and general giddiness. What a wonderful group of people.
RESTAURANTS: Peg Leg’s Pub, Le ‘Ti Sucrier, Pineapple Pete’s, Topper’s by the Sea, Halsey’s (yes, please, more Lobster Bisque – for dessert is just fine!!!!), Jimbo’s, Lolo’s, The Stone (OMG those steaks are delovely, delicious, delectable and otherwise out of this world)
We moved to White Sands Beach Club for our last weekend. What a little gem this is. Right behind the airport – but I really wasn’t bother by noise. Right on the water Simpson Bay – White Sands Beach Club is walking distance to Mary’s Boon and Karacter’s, yet seems very private and secluded. We’ll stay here again. Could use some upgrade, but for us it was just right after the mess at Pelican.
UGLY: Attitude of the Fr (?) bartender at the New Pelican Marina Residences lobby bar, not once, but twice. Unwarranted rudeness does not go a long way toward making an owner feel welcome. The attitude of Sr Management was equally unwelcome. We were locked out of the timeshare we own AND for which we were fully paid, not just once, but twice during the last 2 weeks. We were hounded by the GM regarding our use of the room week 15, even after we explained the “mix up. Twice individuals came to our room at 10pm at night or later and demanded entry (which we denied and called security). Security was less than punctual and not very concerned. We have loved the convenience of Pelican and its staff – not this trip. We have been Pelican owners for 10 years and have NEVER been treated so abysmally, that along with the increased assessment and continually increasing maintenance fees have us rethinking our continued ownership. We have so many wonderful places to stay, for less, without unwarranted surliness. We are still waiting to see if the trade we were promised actually comes to fruition. Our vacation was not ruined, because we have so many friends on the island and really only slept at Pelican. But it certainly left a bitter taste in our mouths, specifically toward Pelican’s new Management. The Marina Residences may be very nice, but they won’t be selling many with their “holier than thou” attitudes. I don’t care how personable the Sales Manager may be. We were very happy to move over to the White Sands Beach Club.
GOOD: weather, traffic died down after Easter week, beaches were clean, The Spice lady is now up at Orient, as many petites fours as we can swallow from Royal Market in Nettle Bay, croissants from Café Atlantico. Free wifi with breakfast at the Simpson Bay Yacht Club and really nice people to chat with. Hey Tom, thanks for the coffee. Free wifi at Jimbo’s with calming atmosphere during the day, and yummy sushi grade ahi tuna sandwiches. It never rained on our parade, there was always a beach without the rain!
GREAT: The Stone, Halsey’s, (Best Lobster Bisque and best Casear Salad on the island IMHO),Peg Leg,(Just loved the food, staff, ambiance) Andy’s Mussell’s at Baywatch ( yeah the ones in the shells not the oddahs… Really sailing on Random Wind and sailing trips on Celine. Seeing dolphins and Sea Turtles up close . All the TTOLers we met along the way. Much love to Bill and Elaine and Chloe and Thierry and all my Kim Sha Beach and Mullet Bay Beach morning meeting buddies, you know who you are and you are loved.

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Ann & Steve