Hi folks. Before I begin, a little about me for the new folks. My family goes back many generations on SXM on both sides (via my grandfathers. both grandmothers are from AXA). My parents currently live in Colombier on the French side, where they were both born (aww, cute, right?). My parents retired back to SXM in 2004 and I grew up spending summers there and return as often as my life allows. That said, a little about my quick trip to check on them:

Flights
I flew from DCA to MIA, met by brother there a we flew together on American to SXM. Our plan was surprisingly full. I listened in on as many conversations as I could (i'm not a creeper, promise), and I'd say a good chunk of these folks were checking in on their properties. A few were in transit to AXA and St. Barths, and it looked like some were coming down for vacation.

Airport
Landing at SXM, my heart broke for the first time of many, seeing the damaged buildings. Stepped off the plane old school style and waited for our bags under a tent. Put the bags on a short "ramp" thing, and walked to immigration. They do ask where you are staying. Picked up our bags and went to customs where they jokingly ribbed us for bringing down a bunch of frozen meat. We were on our way in about 20 minutes of landing...mind you all this was taking place under tents/temporary structures.

Right as we walked out, we say a man holding a sign with our names - one of Michael's employees at Unity. He took us to their temporary home - by the simpson bay police station. Filled out paperwork and were on our way in minutes, as usual. Michael said they like many others lost many cars, but they have some (ours was damaged, but it ran and had AC so who cares!) and they are open for business. I could have just driven my dad's car, but I wanted to give them some business.

Driving Home
The drive to Colombier was mostly me and my brother saying "oh my God". I've seen the pictures, so I knew what had happened. But there is something about seeing it first hand that hits you in the gut. We go home via the causeway thru St. James and Marigot.

For those who've been to Cololmbier, you know that it is one of the greenest, most lush vegetation you'll find on the island. Driving thru, you could be deceived by the new greenery growing. But I know what was there, and it broke my heart again. Beautiful mature tree canopies stripped bare. Houses I never knew existed in the hills, exposed to the world. Homes missing roofs, homes destroyed. If I was looking for positives, I finally SAW the goats way up in the hills that I always heard from my parent's porch.

My parents were lucky. Their actual home received little damage - some messed up gutters. Their property had more damage - fencing, beautiful fruit trees gone. Everyone kept saying "you should have seen it after Irma. It looks great now". I can only imagine...

Driving Around
This trip was spent running errands for my parents and seeing my relatives. We did drive up to paradise view - one of my favorite places on the island. Someone posted a picture of the restaurant earlier - the building is there but heavily damaged. Bernadine's is gone as are most of the little shacks on the left hand side.

Grand Case. I don't know what I can say about GC except that is currently doesn't exist save for Sky's The Limit. I read that La Villa is now open (it wasn't when we were there) and I saw them working on Talk of the Town. The beach side restaurants were all damaged or destroyed. When not with my family, this is where we would spend most of our time, so it was particularly hard to see this. My aunt who lives in GC on the main street lost her roof and everything in her house. But like the people of SXM, she is strong and already rebuilding. This time with a concrete roof.

Hope estate was a mess as well. Carrfour in Cole Bay was severely destroyed. I didn't realize half the roof had collapsed in. It made me realize how often we would stop here to shop. Super U in Marigot is open, tho my mom doesn't love their meat selection. Grand Marche in Great Bay was pretty well stocked. Thankful I missed the armed robbery that just happened.

Oh, a note about safety. I never once felt unsafe, but I only went out once at night. My parents claim that one of the reasons they don't want to come stay with us in the states is they don't want to leave their house unattended.

We took my parents out to eat dinner - their FIRST TIME eating out since the storm. We went to Pineapple Pete's - my first time. It was packed! Izi across the street was packed too. I remarked that if you looked at Pete's and right across to Izi, you could almost imagine that no hurricane had hit. Lee's, Toppers and a few other restaurants are open in Simpson Bay. I definitely felt like that section of the island was coming back to life faster than the French side. (my limited view of things, mind you)

Looks like most folks had power and water back (again, just what I've seen). No clue when they'll get phones/TV/internet back. How my parents haven't driven each other crazy yet is a miracle. EVERYONE I talked too is beyond traumatized from this storm. To hear my mom say that from 5am - 8am she thought they were going to die broke my heart. My uncle had to hold a door closed for 2 hours by himself, because he knew that if the wind knocked it open, his house would be severely damaged. I worry about the kids who lived thru this storm - I hope both sides are factoring in mental health healing in addition to physical rebuilding.

"So Should I Come Down?"
My two cents on tourists coming back. My friend who has never been wants to come down. I told her to wait until next high season 18/19. I think for repeat visitors, you can come down sooner than that if you ADJUST YOUR EXPECTATIONS. I cannot say that enough. If you NEED 5 star treatment everywhere you go, if you need drink/chair service at the beach, if you need every restaurant option open to you, for the love of god DO NOT GO DOWN ANYTIME SOON.You will be disappointed. This island has been thru the worst imaginable hell times 20, and it desperately needs your tourism dollars. But it doesn't need your negativity, your demands, your out-sized expectations. If you are a more laid back person who can deal with island time on steroids, being creative with how you spend your time, and won't be freaked out by seeing damaged buildings and people trying to rebuild their homes and lives, then yes, book that trip in Feb. SXM needs you and will welcome you. That's my 4 cents, really.

Sorry for the long report. SXM (and AXA) is more than a vacation destination to me. It IS my home.

Thanks for reading. And thanks to Carol and Eric for this site. During normal times it kept me connected to home. Post Irma it was often the ONLY information I was getting about SXM.