Aloha all!
We have been back for a couple weeks, not much time to report back on island so will try to do this in bits and pieces highlighting the good that we got to experience. We spent 8 nights on island, and we toured the island one day and while we wish we had more time this trip we did get a good picture of both sides. Our heart goes out to all those that live on island and all they have and are going through, it is an overwhelming amount of work that has been done and still needs to be done. Pretty impressive in areas on how they have recovered and that is mixed with areas that have a lot left to do.

We stayed our first week at La Vista in one of the cottages, something we had always wanted to do and finally got our chance. La Vista Beach is back open and looks like nothing much happened, the La Vista property above is coming along. The cottages were open and some of the units in the most recently built structure above were open. The further you get towards Flamingo the more work that needs to be done, that building was hit pretty hard but they are making progress. The pools were open, deck mostly repaired and the office area is up and running. Kudos to their hard work.

We spent our final night at El Zafiro, we ended up in an upper two bedroom unit and it was simply fantastic. They have worked their tails off and still are to bring the place back to where it was or better, I was very impressed. We are already working on adding some nights there for our November trip. The biggest mistake we made is that based off of previous trips we did not eat here earlier in our trip and waited until our final days. We had a breakfast, lunch and a dinner and all were excellent, it was a very pleasant surprise. Breakfast was good, lunch was very nice and dinner was simply fantastic. Looking forward to more time there on our November / December trip.

Dino has a winner in Emilio's, very nice setting in a great historic building and excellent food and drink. We were warned that it is expensive, we didn't feel that it was overly priced at all. The food of course is excellent, the cocktails are among the best on island. Creative and very well done. Really enjoyed the evening we spent here.

The Palms is still one of our favorite hang outs, a place that is we frequent on each trip and did so again this trip. They also have worked their tails off getting the place back up and running. The house ground sirloin burger is my favorite burger on island and the spicy lasagna as well as the drunken ribs are on our must list each trip. Greg and Jo do a great job of making people feel welcome, even if we do not eat there we often will stop by for a cocktail or three.

We got to spend some time with Lal and that was fantastic, Lal's Curry in a Hurry is still serving the same great food and they now have a bar set up which we had missed from his place closer to the airport. Simply love his food, and pretty fond of Lal as well.

Dany's at Cupecoy has been one of the places that has upped the game and the only unfortunate part was while on island that side of the island was getting very heavy wave action. We spent a couple days there and enjoyed every moment. Still one of our favorite places to relax and forget about the rest of the world.

In our drive around the island we did not spend time on Front Street so can not comment on their progress but at least they are getting ships in. Orient was hit pretty hard as you all know, but it was nice to see that some have started on rebuilding. It is heartbreaking to see what has happened, and how much needs to be done but they are moving forward. Our hope is to sit at La Playa in November and see Bruno smile again, be able to enjoy a day there and walk the beach and relax and enjoy a few fantastic days.

I am certainly not a contractor but I do a lot of my own home remodeling and I can not help but to look around and think about the tens of thousands of man hours that will be needed to get back up to anywhere close to what it was prior to Irma. I get a bit annoyed with the people that can't understand why their place is not back up and running by now, it is just not that easy to not only find the labor but the supplies have been slow to come in. Have patience people.

I probably would not suggest to somebody that has not been to SXM before to go for their first time but we did run into some and they were having a great time, but if you are an island regular I highly suggest you find the time to make a trip and put some money into the economy, they could really use it and you will have a great time. We missed some things that we previously got to enjoy but it was still a great trip and will probably be in our memory as one of our favorite trips.

Cheers,
T

For years, we have gone out to really nice lunches--Dreams, Kakao, etc. However, this year we are struggling to think of places that would suit that mold. Would prefer someplace with at least a view of the ocean, although it's not an absolute necessity. Any suggestions??

I bought to much stuff so i need to buy a small wheeled carrying n suitcase. Where should I go? I am staying at Belair until Friday June 1. I have a car. Thanks.

The Hunt for the Ultimate Cocktail: Category 5 Plus: Hundreds of smashed bottles of the finest liquors and only a few intact ones left... our resident mixologists had to be truly creative during the first days after Hurricane Irma hit the island this past September. They had to come up with some new cocktails with very limited resources. Who could blame the bartenders for naming their concoctions 'Category Five Plus' or 'Irma Special'? Suddenly we have a few Cat 5s too many around and need to find out which one deserves the name. Category 5+ Hurricane Irma is part of our history, we made it through and we don't mind vicious Irma to be remembered as a drink causing a serious hang-over.
https://www.st-maarten.com/index.php/poll

The Irma Burger... Sirlion/ Chuck, handmade patty, homemade French bun...

OMG I want that burger!

https://www.facebook.com/sxmtoppers/videos/10156353882104481/

And there you have it.

https://www.thedailyherald.sx/opini...er-have-a-serious-debate-about-integrity

Hey all. For folks in the DC area, I was searching flights for November and the United non-stop is showing up on Saturdays again. How real do you think this is? I'm hesitant to book and then have them switch me to a flight via EWR with either a ridiculously short layover or an overnight.

Anyone have suggestions for dinner in RoadTown that is within walking distance to the Moorings Base?

Good evening all from Atrium,

trip report may 20 - may 27.
Day 1. Arrived from Toronto, direct flight with Westjet. Flight was uneventful, arrived on time. we went very fast through customs in the temporary airport (read tent).
got a taxi and arrived at Atrium in no time.had lunch at greenhouse and dinner at buccanner bar. the girl at buccanner mixed my order. for a burger and ribs plus 3 beers we pay ~$70. i found that a little expensive.

Day 2.breakfast at Zee best. amazing as usual. then we went to Philipsburg to asses the situation. a lot of stores are in recovery mode. there are too few turists on the island. we saw some activity becsuse there wasone ship in. dinner at sale and pepe. food was excellent, service was fine. one custoner complained he had to wait too long for the order. the place was packed.

Day 3. Tuesday. Breakfast at zee best again. lunch we decided to try pizza del sol, which is across sale and pepe. thin crust, excelent taste but the ingredients were from the can. then we treat ourself with a delicious ice cream at gio's ice cream. the were in maho before irma. in the afternoon we went to maho. it is a ghost town. 3-4 stores open and couple of restaurants. la rosa too will be open in june of this year. we felt very sad becsuse maho was our home away from home. since we enjoyed sale and pepe so much we went again. this time we had to wait over an hour to take our ordrer. nobody from the staff made eye contact with us. it was so bad that the customers around us told the staff that we are still waiting to place our order. food was delicious again, but we are taking the business somewhere else in the future.

Day 4. Wednesday. breakfast at top carrot, one of our favorite place. we dont recommend to try the ginger shots. it should be illegal. it taste aweful but it makes you super healthy. quiet day at the beach. dinner at beirut restaurant. the place is nice and clean. i ordered rack of lamb and Nora had whole red snapper. the fish was delicious. i ordered the lamb medium rare but it came medim. the taste was very good. the baclava desert is a must.

Day 5. Thursday. breakfast at Zee Best, then we went to Philipsburg to buy a ring for my teenage daughter. this proved to be more difficult than i thought because she is tipical teenager. we bought the ring from touch of gold. very helpful and acomodating people. this time the city was empty sine there were no ships in port. we had lunch back in simpson bay at little jerusalem. shawarma was delicious and huge. we will come again. dinner was at bavaria restaurant. food was tipical german and was tasteful.

Tomorrow is another day. to be continued.

Had dinner tonight in the village at Sao. Asian restaurant, very good. Owned by the same gentleman that owned Kakoa. Said they would begin rebuilding soon and expected to be open in November . Hope so.