Following is my trip report.. It’s pieced together from various daily emails so the tense may change and it may seem a little choppy but you’ll get the gist. Hope you enjoy and that it’s helpful for someone!
Saturday - Trip in was easy and uneventful… flight seemed quick compared to our last trip a few months ago to Rome. We arrived early, sat on the runway ten or fifteen minutes, moved quickly through immigration and our baggage was coming around the belt as we walked up. Rented a small car from Empress… they’re a local outfit as compared to the big chains like Hertz so you give up some American style “customer service” but we like to support local business too. Stormy day with a few showers, a lot of clouds and insane wind like we’ve never experienced here before. Found Captain Olivers with no trouble by looking for Dawn Beach and the Westin signs… it’s so good to be back in warm weather, smelling that sea air and feeling the warm winds. Just the sight of palm trees is an amazing thing to someone from Chicago! Our room at the Captain’s…. quintessential Caribbean. Big white washed cathedral ceilings, gorgeous balcony looking out through gingerbread to palm trees and the masts of the ships in the harbor. Sitting outside you hear the sounds of the wind rushing through the palm trees, the peeps of tree frogs, and the gentle chimes of the masts in the harbor. Went down to check out the bar and some of the complex… its so remote yet there are so many different places to see… We did decide to check out the famous Saturday night seafood buffet.. It was amazing. Phillipe was the perfect host and he has done wonders with this place. The lobsters were already split so all you had to do was pull the tail meat out with your fork. We each only had one but you could have as many as you wanted.. Don’t know how they make money on that!. It is reservations only because its so popular. Everything else was great too… tender pork, bbq’d ribs, all kinds of sashimi, lots of interesting things I don’t know the name of, but very good… artichoke bottoms topped with veggies in a cream sauce.. melted in your mouth. Chocolate mouse, pear and apple tarts, goat cheese. Its clearly a Saturday night destination for anyone who knows about it… We walked around awhile afterward.. They have exotic birds including a toucan and a rocked off area with sea turtles and sharks… its right off a narrow walkway with no roped off sides or barriers… A kind of widow’s walk to take you to the ocean front rooms and the petite beach. There’s a floating dock to swim out to and a ladder that takes you down the side of the rocks into the water.. Palapas and chaises.. A sun deck. Not really a great spot for swimming though. That pool with the glass wall is actually pretty big.
We decided to skip Friar’s Bay for the full moon party. Didn’t know if it would still be going on because of the crazy weather and didn’t want to make the trip if not. Maybe next time. We went down to the famous Dinghy Dock… I ordered a planteurs punch and get this - it was actually too strong for me. First time for everything I guess. It’s a cute waterfront place for some snowbird types and regulars. Can’t wait for the $2 pour your own happy hour from 5p-7p every day.
Sunday morning we went for a drive to see what was nearby. A lot to explore. I’m sitting at the ship wreck bar by Maho right now staring out at the raging waves in the bluest water I’ve ever seen here. Hope the pics do it justice. Rob (husband) is off walking somewhere, probably went down to SBB. We drove back there.. Caravanserai is VERY nice - what‘s done of it anyway. We were shocked by the developments over by Cupecoy… too bad it looks like a ghost town though. Breakfast at LaSucriere. Ham and cheese croissant for Rob, ham and cheese quiche for me, split a chocolat croissant…all sublime. When I tried to order an almond croissant, she told me they didn’t have any, but by the time we went back inside from the waterside terrace, they had a whole case full of them.. So I had to have one…the MOST amazing pastry! It was hot from the oven. Words cannot describe so I won’t even try. Rob also got an unreal fresh pineapple pastry to go too. And of course the island’s best baguette for later. We’re off to get some provisions for the week today while we’re on the Dutch side.
Karakter is definitely the new hot place to go. It’s all Dutch run, so its efficient, well-priced, cute staff that all speak Dutch, nice employees, great drinks. The chairs and umbrellas are free if you have a drink or food from them. They’ve got a beautiful spot on a huge expanse of unused beach. They bring everything down to your chairs like at Orient. Clean bathrooms. A sign that said, “spend your last day on the island with us - take a swim, take a shower, take flight. We have a secure spot to store your luggage.” VERY smart. We plan to go back this week, especially Friday night for the Live Jazz and tapas happy hour.
Sunday afternoon… bought our stuff for the week at that new Green Market in Simpson Bay.. Lots of Volvic, snackie things, yummy nocciola cookies, Presidente, Absolut Mango, OJ, etc. They only carry New Zealand butter though, so we picked some up on the French side :o) Prices were pretty good in there and they had a lot of fresh produce, etc. Island version of a twee Whole Foods, kinda. After bringing our groceries back to the room, we headed down to LeGalion to check it out. The absolute worst road on the island is even worse. Unbelievable. Tons of kite surfers with all that wind and the beach was PACKED. Sunday is local beach day, but even so, it was jammed. A lot more services there now, but its totally trashed like Mullet. The water was really stirred up from all the wind, so we didn’t plan to swim anyway… not sure if we’ll brave that road again. You really risk damage to your rental car or a flat tire by going down it. We sat in the shade for a long time and just took it all in.. it was such a gorgeous day. Lots of doggies and puppies running around everywhere and a lot of them on leashes now. Lots of signs saying dogs are welcome but must be leashed.
Went to Dinghy Dock for Happy Hour… it filled up but wasn’t too crazy. Most everyone was having beer, so not a lot of that whole mix your own drink thing going on. It’s a really nice place though. Some obvious yacht owners, but mostly crew types there and definitely locals. Cute Aussie bartender and waitress…
Didn’t go for dinner anywhere… I’m too full of beer, margaritas and a “green eyed monster” shot. Yuck. Don’t ever try that one. Apple Pucker and Crème de Menthe. We just decided to go for a swim in the pool.. We had it to ourselves and could hear the ocean waves crashing on one side and the live music from the restaurant on the other… wind is dying way down so maybe tomorrow will be a swimmie day. The ferry from here to St. Bart’s is $80US each so I doubt we’ll do that… plus taxi ride on St. Bart’s and it supposed to be so expensive… I just don’t know if its worth all that when we have so many other good things to do here and on Pinel. Tuesday night in Grand Case is supposed to have some parade thing…
This resort is really charming and very French, but you know that can be odd for a spoiled American. Dislike the bathroom set up. European baths tend to be either very luxurious or kind of an afterthought… there is a tiny little room right inside the front door with only a toilet - and a window that opens to the outside and no real way to close it so you have to keep the door closed all the time so mosquitoes don’t get in. And then across the hall from that is a room with two sinks and a shower from 1952. Same weird window in the shower so you have to keep that door closed too. I’m glad we’re staying here and the location is amazing with all the yachts in your view, etc. but I don’t think I’d do it again.
Monday morning… had the buffet at CO’s restaurant… Good croissants and cappuccino, but the rest is just okay. Not worth the $15 per person. Before breakfast, there were a couple of heavy downpours that sounded really nice while I was out on the balcony reading before Rob woke up. There’s nothing like the sound of rain in the palm trees, is there? Add to that, the boats in the harbor bobbing around and the masts dinging… so blissful. The rental car had trouble starting so we drove over to swap it out. When we drove up, we were greeted by the owner’s two chubby golden retrievers who demanded MUCH love, petting, and belly rubs. Super friendly boys. We figured since we were already on the Dutch side we might as well do some shopping so we hit Rima - disappointing. All the necklaces were chunky, gaudy, cheap. Rob got a pair of sunglasses I think.. Then we hit Pburg. Saw Norman at Sona and bought a Yurman KO and he threw in a Coach wristlet. I may go back and buy a Louis suitcase.. He always remembers us and gives us great deals and my suitcase fabric is ripping and the zipper is screwed up so I just may come home with a new one. I buy a lot of designer bags, etc. and know the good knock offs and this guy has the best inventory and prices that I’ve ever seen. Consistent year after year. Stopped in at a perfumery and bought some great stuff that’s very hard to find in the states. We had lunch at Taloula Mango’s.. Had a good salad with an amazing creation that I’ll be duplicating soon at home - rounds of baguette topped with honey and a thick layer of goat cheese, broiled to get meltie and then sprinkled with walnuts. OMG. Plus they had live entertainment on the beach - I love the steel drum reggae bands that take any song and make it their own. It’s hotter than hell here.. No breeze today, just hot and humid from all that morning rain. Tomorrow will be a beach day I think… We drove over to check out Dawn beach but I think all the access is taken up by the Westin. Super ugly and utterly lacking in charm up close, BTW. Someone we met said the casino over there had a total of six people in there. It’s frustrating that they’ve ruined that beach in my opinion - I know many would disagree but this is MY trip report :o)
Happy hour at DD again tonight… when I went to pour my own rum the lady next to me told on me for not pouring in ENOUGH and the cute Aussie tending bar took the bottle away from me, poured MORE in and said in his accent, “now THAT’S respectable”… It’s a lively place tonight! We walked over to Quai Ouest for pizza and it was awesome.. Very crisp thin crust, buttery, goat cheese of course, VERY good. I’ll be having that again before we leave. We’re going to check email then head down to Orient Village for gelato or crepes, etc. Nice breeze kicked up..
Tuesday morning… headed down to Orient and grabbed breakfast sandwiches at a little French Market.. Then went and rented chairs at Bikini. Very windy again today. Felt great but made the water too wavy for me and stirred it up so we just dozed in the chairs and listened to the crashing surf. And of course watched the freak show/parade. Naturists are one thing, but there is always a handful of people who just TRY to shock the unwitting first timers. Topless or skimpy suits are one thing but seriously? Male genitals aren’t that pretty and when you go deliberately flopping on through obvious groups of family tourists that aren’t suspecting it, you are just trying to make others uncomfortable. Clouds came and brought the rain so we headed over to the Lolos for lunch. Talk of the Town was even better than I remembered. We both ordered the “plate of food”… ribs, chicken, three sides. Best grilled plantain I’ve ever had! We decided to check out the water at Mullet. It was PACKED but it had big swells and the water was perfect! Clear and blue… we just threw our towels on the sand and only stayed for the swim. I got a little Mullet exfoliation as I tried to exit the water - knocked me on my [censored] and dragged me around screaming for a little while :oD The tow was really strong - it was sunny but looked stormy by Saba so I think it was really kicking up the surf. We had enough sun.. even with spf 50, we got a little crispy. It’s just so incredibly HOT. Probably going over to Big Fish for dinner tonight.. Across from Busby’s.
Big Fish was awesome! It’s a cute little place in the marina across from Busby’s. Upscale and has an East Coast fusion kind of feel. Had the Hurricane Shrimp appetizer and it was burn your lips off spicy but had amazing flavor. It hurt so good! Rob had mahi stuffed with cod in a curry and I had scallops in a lobster sauce. The chef creates the rest of the sides to go with your entrée. It was all incredible. One of those meals you don’t want to end. We shared a piece of crème Brule cheesecake that was dense, rich, perfectly vanilla. Highly recommend this place.
Wednesday - Checked out L’Embouchure to see if it would be a doable walk to the sandbar but there was no way to avoid a deep stretch that went over a lot of sea grass. Strong rolling tide too would probably knock my [censored] down so we decided to cross that one off the list. There was a guy out there looked like he was a local collecting shells maybe to make jewelry? He waved and we’d honk and wave as we drove by every time we saw him as we drove by after that and he’d wave back - nice. We rolled into Marigot, got lucky on a parking space by the West Indies Mall. Walked around in there for the first time. Meh. I walk home down the Gold Coast/Mag Mile every day after work, so upscale shops don’t interest me on vacation. Stopped at a little French deli/café for breakfast (Deli Spoon). Rob liked his omelet and loved his French Press coffee. I ordered a ham, cheese, and egg crepe foolishly thinking it would be like Zee Best. Breakfast FAIL. Wheat crepe, not even a hint of sweetness. The “egg” was over easy and not scrambled - YUCK. I gave most of it to Rob. Oh well… we walked on to DeBruges. Oh, this place is heaven. Bought a few loose pieces only because it was so hot. Didn’t eat all of those, though and sadly, they melted into one lump in my bag. Tragic. We then stopped by Atlantis Casino so Rob could play and I could check my email on the free wifi. Went over to Ocean Club to see about a unit for purchase…Then we went over to SBB. I’ve never seen so many freakin people on the beach at Maho or swarming around SBB. It was PACKED with cruisers. I guess that big Oasis was in town today… jesus. Busloads of these idiots just standing on the beach. Lots of old people too. Oy vey. We had free “shot” of the day coupons from our car rental place.. The bartender gave us full size drinks.. Something fruity with three kinds of rum. We had lunch there and it was still really good… nice big wedge fries, Rob said his burger was as good as always and my chicken teriyaki was very good. We headed back to CO’s after that and I went down to finish my book by the sea. Went to DD for HH and had a fun French dude bartending. There are definitely “regulars” in there. Either people who live on island or some that stay in the Oyster area for about a month. A great group of friendly fun people for sure. Dinner at Captain Oliver’s tonight… WOW. Very good. We both had the St. Jacques… scallops, shrimp, grouper in a creamy sauce.. Fingerling potatoes, spinach mousse, carrot mousse, rice in the shape of a pyramid, white asparagus, steamed broccoli and giant carrot coins. Rolls with pumpkin seeds.. Very good. And the best crème brulee I’ve had - a thick topping of sugar. SO good. Live music every night.
Thursday morning we went down to that little French market in Orient (Tap 5) to grab breakfast and sammies for Pinel. Love the croque monsieur - the French way they do Ham & Cheese all over down here… they use square white bread with a little ham and a lot of good white (gruyere?) in the middle, then they top the sandwich with more cheese and broil the whole thing. They warm them up for you and it’s a good, inexpensive breakfast or lunch.. I see big trays of them all over in Marigot’s cafes too. Some unrelated things we’ve noticed this trip - the mountains are the greenest we’ve ever seen them, very lush. Maybe they’ve had a lot of rain in the past few months? With that I suppose would be the plethora of mosquitos. I’ve never seen so many damn mosquitos. Rob must have 25 bites on him - he looks like he’s on Survivor Oyster Pond. They don’t bite me as much, but are annoying. We’ve used the hell out of bug spray too - doesn’t seem to matter. We’ve also almost gone through a huge bottle of spf 50 but both keep getting a lot more sun than you’d think. It’s weird…. Like it’s an extreme climate, even more than usual this time, although not as hot as one time we came down in April. THAT was unbearable. Anyhoo, we couldn’t recall when the Pinel ferry started running or how often it went but I DO recall that they are consistently running late for the morning’s first run and you have to wait for EVER so we took our time, got to Cul De Sac around 10:10a and sure enough there was a line of amateurs standing in the blazing sun all the way up and down the dock. I went and sat in the empty little house with the shade and the benches with the locals. They didn’t get moving across until almost 10:30a. BTW, since about a month ago, they have a giant catamaran taking you across.. It fits about 200 people SRO. We were the first boat over and our group took up every set of chairs, etc. New loads of people came wandering by about a half hour after we were there looking for a spot… it was the most packed I’ve seen that place and I can’t blame this one on the cruisers. Mostly French and seasoned American visitors. We’re always here in high season, so I’m not sure why the crowds. Anyway…the water was beautiful but there were more spots of that dark sea grass than I’ve ever seen - maybe tied to the green hills and excess mosquitos? Everything is in a big growing season? Rob didn’t see anything snorkeling around the rocks past Karibuni, not even a fish. Side note - I see a kite surfer in Florida got eaten by sharks yesterday - they said he was SURROUNDED by them… Holy crap. Anyway.. We parked ourselves on the far side, new beige chaises and brown umbrellas and they charged $20 for the set. I noticed Yellow Beach had a sign saying $15 or Euros and it was for the set plus two welcome drinks. Interesting that wasn’t out when we first arrived. Oh well, the extra $$ is worth it to sit on our favorite side with the easy water access and favorite view. Going back over we had the old ferry boat and there are so many extra boats using the docks these days they tied up next to another smallish boat and we had to walk boat to boat to get off the dock. I thought for sure I was going to do another face plant, but voila I did not. Went back to the room to hide from the rest of the day’s most extreme heat and shower. Headed over to the Dutch side for dinner at Pizza Galley/Lady C. There was a sign up for Thursday night all you can eat ribs for like $15 I think at the Lady C, but we were there for pizza damnit! Got the yummy bare naked plus goat cheese and Rob had sausage and goat cheese. It was nomtastic as usual. No breeze that night, not even out there on the Lady C after dinner. It’s all or nothing this week apparently. We headed over to Maho to do some walking around. Got parking by the Driftwood Beach Bar.. Walked back through Maho’s pool area. They’ve really kept it up nice and I’d like to go there again I think. I just recall the room smelling strongly of mold and I swear that smell gets in your stuff and you NEVER get it out of some things. Maybe they have upgraded the rooms since then.. Anyway, everywhere on the island is a crapshoot. I have different expectations so I don’t worry about the small stuff but I can see how so many places here get negative reviews from fussy travelers who are expecting Disney. Rob got a little lucky in the small Maho hotel casino - won $60 and off we went. Walked down to the shops, saw where they put Bamboo Bernies upstairs, went in the Pharmacie to get Benadryl gel for all the buggie bites. The show was just starting at Cherie’s so I hung out by there while waiting for Rob to go get the car. When there’s no breeze at night, the humidity is stifling so I was happy to sit and wait. Next, we headed over to the Gelateria in Simpson Bay that used to be Where’s Ivan. They have the BEST gelato on island! It turns over a lot because of how busy they stay and it’s that really nice dense, stretchy almost kind. I consider myself a professional gelato taster after October in Italy. Had coffee flavored and it was fantastic - not quite like a coffee with cream, but had a strong black coffee taste. Nom nom nom :o) They rock the pretty desserts in there too - it’s a good thing I don’t stay closer to this place.
Another side note - we decided this is our last stay on the French side most likely. We’re happy to have found a new area with a few places we will make destinations on the next trips like Dinghy Dock, Captain Oliver’s restaurant (as long as Phillipe is still here working his magic!) and Big Fish is a definite WILL DO again but we just tend to spend more time on the Dutch side. I love trying new places, and I can totally see why people love the Oyster Bay area but I think we have short attention spans and need more options. Also, the Dutch standards are closer to the American standards for comfort and whiny as that may be, I’m someone who cares about that nonsense. No one can argue that the French win the food, wine, and style categories, but if it’s about accommodations, we’re going Dutch. See what I did there? Despite our disdain for cruises, they really cater to our short attention spans and need for a soft bed and high thread count sheets. Rob has pointed out that if we shelled out to stay at a higher end place on island, we’d get that too so we may just do that next time. We were talking about how everything is relative here. Whomever thinks they’re the biggest fish on the island is soon outdone by the next greatest thing. It happens everywhere, like in our neighborhood in Chicago too… talking buildings here. The Sapphire people were snotty to the OC people, then along came Rainbow looking down on Sapphire. Then up went the Cliffs to mock Rainbow. Now Porto Cupecoy is snarking at the Cliffs. Those last three all went up with “residence ONLY” promises and now Rainbow and the Cliffs can’t sell enough “hotel” rooms. Economy related I’m sure, but there you go. At this rate, we’ll be able to spend three months a year here when they start taking Section 8 - LOL! BTW, we ducked into Porto Cupecoy to see what was open yesterday and the only thing seems to be a nice little “grand” marche. Not sure how fresh their inventory will stay because it’s such a ghost town, but it looks pretty. Lots of parking too.
Friday morning we headed into Phillipsburg to finish some shopping. Got a little lucky in one of the Casinos and had lunch at Barefoot Beach Café - it was pretty good. Ended up buying more than we planned so we headed back to the room to drop off and cool down. Went back out to Karakter in the late afternoon… love that place. They have all kinds of chairs and tables set up on the beach… giant pillow cushion things that people lay on in the sand. Interesting drink menu and the tapas menu looked good but didn’t start until 6p so we didn’t try it. Karakter is definitely where the beautiful European non-French people on island go. A lot of Dutch being spoken and its great people watching. Super friendly staff. They play nice downbeat chill music and better than half of the crowd is drinking wine, delivered by the glass or with the bottle in clear ice buckets.. Rose seemed to be popular with the boys and girls. Then we headed over towards Maho to watch the sun set since it’s not a clear view from Karakter. It was a beauty… you get the sun rise on the French side, but we managed to be around for a couple of sun sets anyway. We then headed over to try the new Bamboo Bernies location in Maho. The space is cool and we sat outside which was nice, but the menu prices were really silly. Fried rice for $20+? Ridiculous. Anyway, we were there, so we thought we’d try it. Appetizers were good - Rob had a tuna roll and I had vegetable pot stickers. Both really good. Ditzy French girl waitress was annoying and mostly absent but it was tolerable. I ordered the chicken curry special and Rob ordered grilled mahi. He liked his at first but I was having a hard time cutting through mine…it was tough. Tough to chew too.. Then I started poking around the center pieces and found it wasn’t done. Rob then noticed his mahi was rubber in the center. Ew. I had a mouthful of rice that was kinda crunchy but I didn’t think much of it. BOTH of our dinners were way undercooked. We pushed our plates aside and waited (a long time) to be noticed by someone, anyone (they had maybe ten people in the whole restaurant). I asked for a manager and the man who came over said he was the manager, so I explained that my chicken was not properly cooked and had to SHOW him. When Rob demonstrated that his mahi was also raw, he said, “do you like it WELL done?”. Dude. Mahi is NOT Ahi. You do NOT serve that raw. Wouldn’t you think the MANAGER of a sushi restaurant should know that?? He asked if we wanted something else, which we didn’t. It took about 20 minutes for some other brand new waiter to come over with the bill for our appetizers and drinks… he said, “I don’t know what happened, but people are angry and this bill is very very cheap”. WTF? Maybe THIS is why Bernie’s restaurant in the old location never had more than half a dozen people in it. Naturally, the tip was already on the bill for the vacant French waitress as well. We used to LOVE the bar at the old Bernies and the beach BBQ they did and this new space was really cool. We loved our appys… but they’ve been in business a long time and should know better. Very disappointing for our last night on the island but that’s the way it goes. You never find the great new things without uncovering a couple of stinkers in the process. Sadly, I spent my last night up and down with a little raw chicken inspired food poisoning. Thanks Bernie.
Saturday morning and time to leave. We headed out early because we weren’t sure how traffic would be, how long it would take Empress car rental to get us to the airport, etc… We ran in to LaSucriere for last minute yummies for the trip home, just barely made it across the bridge before it went up. As a matter of fact, a police car passed us with lights on zigzagging through traffic JUST to get across that bridge - LOL. We didn’t have any trouble returning the car or getting a ride to the airport. Waited about 30 minutes for the United counter to open up and we were ahead of the long line that formed. They cancelled the DC flight and maybe Charlotte too so people all around us are scrambling to try to get anything they can back to the states. For once, it’s gone smoothly for us however. Went through immigration and security easily. Since the hubs are having trouble, we were informed that our plane is delayed.. At this point its only by two hours and that’s nothing compared to all those who’ve been cancelled. Times like this REALLY make me appreciate this new upgraded airport!! We’ve got a beautiful spot right in front of the windows that look out on the sea and the runways. I’m watching the palm trees sway and listening to the music from the Rum Jumbie bar where Rob is knocking back a few and making some new friends, I‘m sure.. We‘ll just have lunch here and chill. We debated the merits of taking a taxi out somewhere nearby like Karakter or Maho, but decided we‘ve got a nice comfy, cool place with a great view and everything we could need right here. We packed so much running around into this trip, we joked that this may be the most relaxed we‘ve been all week! I spent some quality time in my favorite airport store - DeBruges to pick up my sister‘s b‘day present and some wonderful things for myself too. The MOST amazing chocolate on island, or just about anywhere. Beats the crap out of Godiva. I used to think that Belgian Chocolate shop on Old Street in P-burg was good, but last time I tried them, the chocolate had bloomed and this time we went in and the place smelled very strongly of bleach. It was nauseating and I’m sure the chocolate would have absorbed that odor so we left without buying anything.
So overall, the things we learned this time…. We’re Dutch side people, not French although we admit it does have its charms. We will never rent from a local car rental place again. Did I mention it wouldn’t start one morning and we ended up switching cars, then the new one died going down a hill? Big Fish is one of our new favorite restaurants. La Sucriere should be visited more often. Never take a second bite of tough chicken (I was up all night regretting the “benefit of the doubt”). Always go with a Jeep or something with better clearance because the road to LeGalion is THAT bad. We couldn’t risk going a second time in that stupid rental car. SPF 50 isn’t enough when you’re out in the sun between noon and 2:00p.The hustlers in P-Burg are so prevalent (due to all the cruisers, I’m sure) that it almost feels like Jamaica. “Hey sweetie, let me braid your hair”. Although they are friendly and go away relatively easy, there are just SO many of them. I probably was solicited over 100 times by the ladies selling towels, hats, jewelry, braids, etc. No music vendors, which I would have liked to see. Only a couple of the cute Frenchies with the scratch offs this time and at least they’re funny. Two girls by Caravanserai would pretend to cry because we wouldn’t go do the pitch that day.. Cute and funny but just short of annoying. It was a great trip and two years between visits is too long.
Au revior and a bien tot!
Addendum: I’m leaving the above report in tact so I don’t let the tone be changed by the events that have taken place since I signed off. It’s Sunday morning and I’m once again back at Princess Julianna International Airport. As I mentioned, our flight was delayed by two hours. We boarded the plane and were told that something was broken on one of the equipment doors so we had to wait for maintenance. We taxied…. Then turned back. The captain told us that a navigation system was malfunctioning and since we’d be flying over water at night, it was crucial. He kept us updated which was appreciated. By the time the system was fixed, we were at the mercy of the island airport staff to tow us back to the runway… he told us the hours the crew had been on duty and that there was a chance we’d violate the FAA rules about how long they can work… we were down to 8 minutes… still the airport staff was not responding to our urgent situation to get us out. Time was up. The captain then tried to get us cleared to fly to a closer destination in the US so we could switch crews and continue to Chicago. United eventually denied that option. So after a couple of hours on the runway, we were bussed back to the terminal and had to pick our luggage out of a pile before boarding busses taking us to the hotel Mercure in Nettle Bay. Guess I had to eat my words about not staying ever again on the French side, n’est pas? The airport staff was utterly clueless, unhelpful, and completely unprepared to handle this. They would not address the crowd with information, it was only trickling through the lines as we all waited and waited. “Island Time” is charming when its your bartender - but when you need a professional to step up? Not so much. The crew and the First Class passengers were taken to Great Bay Maho. By the time we reached the hotel Mercure it was about 9:00p. We were told that we could go to the restaurant on the beach for dinner by 10:00p. We schlepped our luggage up three flights of stairs to a room where the bedroom was up another set of stairs in a loft. A/C is used sparingly and was completely off and the room smelled strongly of mold. Again with the strange French bathrooms. Glad we had converters since we were on that side already for the week, but many did not. So we went to dinner and more or less joined a wedding party that was in full swing. It was totally surreal… it felt like we were in the middle of a movie. Full band, balloons, decorations everywhere. But the United 780 group were all at a section to the side… the waitress was sweet and was a good sport.. She came around telling us, “I don’t know why I’m coming around, because you have no choice. You’re getting Caesar salad and mahi”. No other options… no where to get anything else so… luckily we like those options and don’t have fish allergies. We then headed back to the mold cave to sleep for a few hours as we were told “breakfast” was at 5:45a and the busses would load at 6:30a for 7:00a airport arrival, and a 9:00a flight. The hotel wasn’t all that bad and the bed was very comfy. Breakfast was croissants, cereal, coffee from a machine. The bus showed up at 7:00a and we stood in line at the airport. The only people besides a handful of dumbfounded workers is our group. The First Class passengers who stayed at Great Bay? Their bus never even showed up this morning so they all had to take taxis at their own expense. We stood at that check in counter, the ONLY people in this airport for over an hour before they even could figure out what to do with us. Last night we were told to KEEP our luggage stickers on. This morning they told us to remove them and even threw some away. Then we were told to put them back on. Everyone is in a pretty good mood, considering we’ve all kind of given up since there’s not much anyone can do at this point. NO direction from airport staff once again. Captain Roger from our plane sent the crew ahead to prep the plane and addressed us all giving us updates, apologizing, telling us everything he did to try to alleviate this situation. Very compassionate and seasoned pilot. Major Kudos are going to United about this man. He stayed around and took questions from the group. So naturally, Rob and I are in Amazing Race mode and were strategizing how to split up and get ahead of this mess. Even though the ticket agents were trying to assist the Firsties first, we managed to get through first… finally. As we, the first ones, walked away towards security, the entire group erupted into applause and wild cheering. HILARIOUS. So it’s now 9:22a and only a fraction of the pax are at the gate. IDK when we’ll make it back to Chicago. Here are the lessons I’ve learned in the past 24 hours. Never skip doing laundry on vacation because you have “just enough clean clothes to get home”. Always pack extra doses of medication beyond what you think you’ll need. Never throw away your toothbrush, travel deodorant, travel toothpaste, last bit of conditioner, etc.because you’re “going home anyway and have all your stuff there”. Never buy expensive liquor in the duty free area thinking you can carry it on to your plane from the gate. Never buy expensive chocolate gifts in the air conditioned duty free area thinking it won’t see the tropical temperatures again before you get home.
These things happen and you accept the risk of inconvenience when you travel to wonderful places. However, the more unpleasant the experience, the heavier the cons are when weighing your options next time.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain
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