Hi all-- just returned from another fabulous trip in Paradise. The weather was gorgeous every day, except arrival day, when it rained. I will break this report into categories for easier reading:<br><br>Maho area:<br>The Royal Islander looks great, with plenty of trees and new umbrellas. The beach is a little sparse, though. The Good Life Spa in the Maho Hotel is state of the art, and offers great massages, and a nice gym (free to Royal Islander residents). The Maho stores and restaurants looked great, and several are offering a 10% discount to Royal Islander residents, including Pizza Pasta and the Perfume Store. Be sure to ask area merchants about this.<br><br>Beaches:<br>Maho -- narrower than last year; can only fit one row of chairs on beach at high tide; steps are exposed at base of stairs; water was calmer than prior years<br>Mullet Bay -- beautiful wide, sandy, and clean<br>Orient -- narrow by Pedros and parts of Kon Tiki, but fun and happening as always; Bikini Beach had great live band<br><br>Bars & Restaurants:<br>Sunset Beach - great burgers, hot dogs, and $1 shots<br>Turtle Pier - best ribs this trip, by far<br>Ric's Place -- watched Jets game in this comfortable, open atmosphere; excellent bloomin' onion, didn't care for ribs<br>Pizza Pasta (Maho) -- great thin-crust pizza and red sauce<br>Mary's Boon -- shrimp night -- fun and excellent as always<br>Brasserie de La Gare - great people watching on Marina -- very good pizza, unfortunately out of escargot that night<br>Le St. Germain (Marigot Marina) -- excellent crepes!<br>Pedros (Orient) - OK ribs, not as good as prior years<br>Sebastiano's --wonderful Italian food as always--great pasta<br>La Rosa Too -- very disappointing -- osso bucco tasty but fatty; terrible service; out of many dishes on menu; new owners seem to be absentee-- place run by waiters <br>Mario's Bistro -- best meal of trip as always; excellent duck, excargot, and chocolate cake <br>Cheri's -- my daughter likes it, so we go-- same show and mediocre food as last year<br>New French Bakery in Simpson Bay - excellent croissants (regular and chocolate) -- had to work out extra hard in gym those days <br><br><br>New excursions for us this year:<br><br>Americas Cup Regatta -- DON'T MISS THIS; 14 from our group signed up for this sailboat race out of Bobby's Marina in Phillipsburg. Each person is given a job, and you actually sail the boat to the finish line against another boat--VERY EXCITING!! We are definitely doing this again next year with an even larger group -- what a blast!!!!<br><br>Anguilla -- took ferry from Marigot; arranged in advance to swim with dolphins (new since May)-- my daughter liked it, but I found it overpriced at $105 per person; sat on Shoal Bay and listened to live music; snorkeled off beach at Shoal Bay-- not bad; lunch at Uncle Ernies-- good ribs, but not close to Turtle Pier's; glad we we saw Anguilla, but won't be back for a while-- nothing much there but hotels.<br><br>Pic Paradise -- discovered this high peak thanks to this board. You drive up a steep, narrow, windy road almost to top. Get out at stone wall and walk a dirt path in woods to top. Great views of Orient Beach-- unfortunately, we couldn't stay long as it was getting dark, and we didn't want to get caught in the woods up there in the dark. Worth the trip, though.<br><br>New Years' Eve:<br>We always go in a group of about 35 to a Maho restaurant. This year we catered in to our suite from Pizza Pasta and watched the street action and beach fireworks from the balconies. Usually around 11 pm, the street gets full of people, and the cars get stopped. However, this year, the people didn't crowd the steets until midnight, and the traffic passed though all night. There were plenty of people in front of Cheri's and Casino Royale at midnight, but just nothing like in prior years.<br><br>I guess that about sums it up. Overall, another fabulous trip, though short at 10 days. Oh well, I guess I'll just start the countdown to next year. <br><br><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Administrator on 1/22/02 05:02 PM.</EM></FONT></P>