Trip review 2013 April 28 - May 8 - Better late than never?! After 6 trips & writing notes, I promised myself I'd post a trip review for this one!
Pics can be seen here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/tpozphoto/sets/72157633891125524/

6th trip, celebrating our 6th anniversary. We honeymooned on SXM & AXA, and have been back to SXM for each anniversary, except for one. We're 34 & 36 & enjoy the food, lounging & not doing much of anything on vacation (hence the lack of activities in my report!)
I'm a wedding photographer, and I photographed a destination wedding while I was on island. Here's a link to their wedding & their day after photo session if you want to see - Irina+Tim's Destination Wedding - Irina+Tim's Day-After Wedding Photos

TRAVEL
US Air flight from BWI-CLT, no issues. CLT, stuck on plane for 2.5 hours while they fixed an engine problem, bumpy start, but we arrived! Super quick customs & luggage. Cab ride to Grand Case Beach Club, passed a bad motorcycle accident right by the causeway.
Checked in & great 2 floor 1br 2 bath oceanview room in room 709. Partially obstructed view by palm trees, but worth it to have 2 bathrooms. Wifi worked great & unit was clean & very comfortable. Tv upstairs - the volume was awful. At a level 1 it was barely audible. At level 2, very loud. No in between! Nice to have the sound system/iPod docking station which also charged our i-devices. In the upstairs bathroom, there was both a European and a US plug. Refrigerator was smaller & a pizza box had to be angled just so in order to fit in freezer. Oven was in Celsius & had to figure out conversion to cook pizzas. Tuesday morning - earthquake @ 2:50am!
View from our room

View from Room 709 at the Grand Case Beach Club


Sunset View from 709 at GCBC

GROCERIES
Simply in Hope Estates (mostly french foods & we had to rely heavily on pictures to determine what stuff was!) - $176 for 3 bottles cheap champagne, 3 bottles cheap wine, 6 pk big bottles of water, 6 pk small bottles water, case of Carib, assorted cheeses, crackers, chips, pint Etna ice cream, 2 two liters coke zero, 8 pk coke zero cans, liter Capt Morgan, Guavaberry rum, twix ice cream bars, ice cream bars, deodorant.
Jeannie delivered groceries after a mixup with the order. 2 pizzas, 2 bottles moscato, 1 OJ, 1 ma Doudou Guavaberry, 1 Cracker Barrel cheese, salsa, Box wheat thins, 2 liter Sprite, 12pk Carib, $150 incl tip & delivery fee. Expensive but nice to have it delivered.

MEALS
Piazza Pascal - bruschetta, linguine di Napoli - abundant seafood, light, fresh & simple. Veal piccata - superb. Bottle of tosti Spumante moscato. Donna & staff are awesome & welcoming. $100 total 1/1
Le Pressoir - foie gras&beef ravioli (yum!), veal trilogy (special), artic char (special), house dessert-pear, ice cream, chocolate shell & chocolate sauce with pop rocks. Amazing meal. $152 + tip
Sunset Cafe - sautéed shrimp in coconut curry sauce & Sea bass special - both delish.
Sunset Cafe - crispy goat cheese salad (special), ham& cheese panini (special). Both delish.
Sunset Cafe - grouper filet & Italian panini, both very good.
Sunset Cafe - caprese salad & shrimp cocktail (both just ok) + Beef Tenderloin which was really good. $62 + tip
Moulin Fou - Carafe red wine, glass muscat, spicy tuna roll, phyllo wrapped lamb, sea scallops & shrimp - everything SOOO GOOD. ($120+tip)
Scooby's (lolo's) - Carib & rum punch. Plate of ribs, coconut shrimp platter. Both good. $32 1/1
Scooby's - garlic shrimp platter, ribs platter. 2 Caribs $31+tip. Today we noticed the addition of big black dick to the drink menu!!!!
Dinner - on the way, stopped back at scooby's for a $3 shot of BBD. It was AWFUL - I think they must keep the bottle on the stove, as it was served hot - no ice.
Spiga - turlo salviano 2010 (cab, merlot & Sangiovese) - good! Beef carpaccio (wouldn't order again - no truffle taste, mostly tasted like straight oil). Tagliatelle bolognese (veal) & pork tenderloin. (Pretty good, I like piazzas better). Maple Syrup cheesecake (AMAZING), and the Creme Brulee/Panna Cotta dessert. $141+tip 1/1
L'Auberge Gourmande - special app - shrimp & scallops in a puff pastry with lobster bisque around it +side salad, lobster bisque, Dover sole, special-stuffed chicken w/goat cheese & spinach. (More spinach than goat cheese). Bottle of hermitage wine that we ended up taking back to the room with us. Amazing meal!! Dover sole (deboned tableside) was incredible w/almond butter. $173+tip. They have a "passport program" with bistro caribes & ocean 82, if you dine at all 3 you get stamped & a bottle of rum. Supposed to get a complimentary drink too at each place.
La Crepe en Rose - Nutella & a Nutella with banana. Delish!! $8.50 (they are closed Saturdays & Mondays)
Ocean 82 - Very welcoming hostess. Sat at waterfront table but ungodly hot & fans weren't cutting it. Lobster ravioli in chicken & truffle broth. (I didn't taste any lobster, chicken flavor overwhelming), the beef tenderloin (amazing!!) & the fish pot stew (good but overwhelming lemon grass flavor) The dishes were insanely hot & they radiated heat back onto us. $128+tip
L'Escapade - The rolls were the only ones we were served warm on this trip & were good, But only 1 per person. Lobster Bique (good), Escargot (hubs loved), Lamb shank (really good - cooked 18 hours @ 75degrees), I had snapper & shrimp special. Creme brûlée for dessert was outstanding. $117+tip. 1/1
Piazza Pascal - seated upstairs with a nice breeze. rained a bit but pulled down curtains to block it. bottle of tosti moscato Spumante, glass of Bordeaux, insalata caprese (really good), spaghetti carbonara (delish!!!), veal chop (hubs said fave dish of the trip). Tiramisu for dessert. Seriously, everything amazing!! Pics with Donna & Pascal. $106+tip. 1/1
2nd dessert at Le Crepe en Rose, Nutella & a nutella&banana. $8.50
Side note :: we went to Canoa, and were seated outside, but there was an unbearable smell that instantly made me feel ill, and unfortunately we had to leave.

While on island - we had Caroline Ross do an "Anniversary Session" for the two of us!




Fantastic weather (except for the day we did our photo shoot which was supremely hot & humid!) & amazing foodage. This was our most enjoyable trip yet & I'm already working on the hubs to make up for that year we missed by coming for New Years