Trip Report Part 1 Nov 2020 –
I want to start out that we are thrilled to be here, life is good. I have not written a trip report in several years but I figured I was due to contribute.

I travel a lot as many do, over 100k miles per year average in the air, I would say I am a seasoned traveler. I found the passengers on our flights to be the loudest and rudest I ever recall, and pretty much on every flight. We were in first class on AA all the way from Portland Oregon to Dallas and then onto Miami where we spent the night and then onto SXM arriving Thursday 11/19. The flight attendant staff was OK, not super friendly but acceptable, but what they had to put up with passengers simply amazed me. People flat out would not listen, including getting up while taxing to use bathrooms and get into the overheads. Completely ignoring the flight attendants. But we got here. I will say that also while it was worth it, I can see why people would not make this trip with all the Covid requirements and for us having to have them before we got on the jet in Portland it came down to one hour before we boarded the jet. Yes, at the airport waiting for the approval from SXM and you need it from the first flight in your itinerary. Stressful, maddening, and had me wondering if it was worth it. Had there not been so many people that we were looking forward to seeing on island as well as a pile of money that went into this trip we probably would have changed plans and just gone to Mexico. But I encourage you all to suck it up, it will be getting easier and this island seriously needs visitors. I would also note that out of the four couples that will make up the November Gang this year, every one of us had issues with the testing and approval and much of it was down to hours before departure before it was solved. I was stressed for us, and the other couples, not the way to start a vacation.

Enough of that, on to the positives. We have three plus weeks to spend here, and we wanted to have some nights to unwind after what has been a very stressful year for all. So I decided this trip with our three nights to begin we would stay at Le Petite where we have always wanted to stay. We took a cab here from the airport and will not have a car until Sunday when we move to Royal Islander. Just a note, I am the travel planner, it is my job to make sure MJ is comfortable and not without and I am pretty damn good at it. We went a bit big and took the one bedroom unit which I think is about 900 sq feet and has a double width balcony with stairs down to the beach. This is simply luxury, spoils of working hard and I would add that the staff is super. We have stayed in some pretty deluxe places over the years as well as some pretty large places but this is in the top tier of all places. The hotel provides a shuttle to dinner which we have taken advantage of, first night was La Villa. We really enjoyed it, it is top notch food and drink but not stuffy at all and in fact I would say casual. Very fun evening and would not hesitate to return.

Fyi, our heavy schedule includes waking up, making sure the door is unlocked so they can bring us in the breakfast pastries and coffee provided, and then making sure somebody keeps an eye on the beach and ocean to make sure it doesn’t go anywhere. It is a skill I think I can master. We will walk the beach making sure while on patrol that the beach bars are serving decent cocktails and might do a food check and so far we can state that all is good in Grand Case. Tough life, I hope you appreciate our efforts.

Le Petit which usually is pretty much sold out year around has us here, that is it until Saturday where another couple arrived. We heard that it was either only eight rooms or eight people staying at Grand Case Beach Club, again this island needs us, people are starving.

Our second night we wanted casual, were thinking pizza but not sure and it was suggested to us since we were waffling that we try Rancho Del Sol since it has lots of menu options, we had driven by the place I don’t know how many times but never stopped. It fit the bill, not going to say the food was off the charts good but it was good enough. Service was excellent and the view is pretty awesome. Nice to be able to have a shuttle driver so we did not have to think twice about having cocktails a plenty.

Final night of our nights at Le Petit, went to Le Cottage for dinner. Ummmm, fantastic and among the best meals I have had on island. We have had many great meals on this island, will not decide on a best ever but this was on the list. Started with cocktails, old fashioned for me and a martini for MJ, fantastic. Mussels and a goat cheese salad to share to start, have never had better goat cheese which was done three different ways. MJ had the Tuna and I went with the Filet Mignon, seriously good on both. Desert was a Baked Alaska type dish as well as a Souffle that was excellent as well. This was all done with wine pairings and then another glass of a Bordeaux at the end.

We did not take any pictures at dinner, just enjoyed. We will try to post some of our Le Petite and beach photos later.

We will be finishing our time at LTC here in Grand Case on Sunday as the party begins with our other 6 friends that have also arrived now. Only 3 weeks to go until we get voted off the island!
Cheers! TB