TravelTalkOnline Forums Trip Reports (Read Only) SXM Trip Reports and Photos Fun in the Sun Part 4

Nov.28- We started the day with coffee on the balcony and then David cooked breakfast. It was a glorious day with clear sky and lots of sunshine so we decided to spend the entire day on Simpson Bay Beach right in front of the villa. The beach is lovely and clean here with no seaweed and easy access into the water. It is also very private and quiet and nice for reading and listening to music. You do hear the planes landing and taking off occasionally, but we love that !

Later in the afternoon lunch consisted of some snack food and a few cold drinks on the beach.

Tonight we had arranged to go out for dinner with Annie to Grand Case. We picked her up at 6:00 P.M. and just missed the traffic in Simpson Bay so we were lucky. We crossed the causeway and went through Marigot with no traffic either, so we arrived in Grand Case very quickly.

Our dinner venue was Ocean 82 tonight and it was an excellent choice!From beginning to end, the food and service was spectacular. We were seated right by the water due to a cancellation, so we were fortunate. The restaurant was full and all tables had been reserved so a good idea to make reservations if interested in dining there. Annie had the mahi mahi, David chose the lamb shank and I had the garlic shrimp. We each had a different dessert which were all delicious. My grand marnier soufle was a real treat! We also enjoyed sparkling water and a bottle of pinot grigio with the meal. We all agreed that this is a wonderful restaurant with efficient staff, great food and attractive decor, and one we highly recommend.

We brought Annie home afterwards and we went to the Dunes Casino for a few hours of mindless pleasure before concluding the day.


Nov.29- We were wakened to sunshine again this morning so we ventured off to Orient Beach to have breakfast at Cheryl's. It was so nice to be welcomed by Cheryl and Roger and settle in to enjoy that amazing view! I had the western omelette with home fries and coffee and David had the traditional American breakfast with eggs, homefries, sausages and coffee. Cheryl's Place looks good and all the damage from the storm has been repaired with new steps installed at the front entrance off the beach. The seaweed has diminished on the beach and there were a few rows of chairs in most places.

After a leisurely breakfast, we journeyed on to spend the day at the Anse Marcel Beach. It was incredibly beautiful there with miles of sand and crystal clear calm water. We were entertained by a local family with five lovely children playing in the water and on the beach and enjoying a lovely day together. It was so relaxing and peaceful; we were almost transitioned to another land! The adjacent Riu Palace Resort seemed to be have lots of people staying there and they had lots of chairs positioned on the beach and all were filled. There were announcements that a new restaurant was opening at the resort tonight.

We had snacks and drinks for lunch on the beach under the palm trees and enjoyed the water for most of the afternoon. We left around 3:30 P.M. and made a couple of stops in Philipsburg to pick up a few things and then went to Mark's Place for dinner.

I was really craving ribs and intentionally did not have a big lunch so I would enjoy them there. Mark's ribs are fall off the bone delicious and I think one of the best on the island! You can still order all you can eat ribs for $18 but we both had the regular rib plate which comes with about three large slabs of baby back ribs and two side dishes $15.....more than enough to tease the palette and fill the tummy! We both had beer to drink and no room for dessert. The staff is always friendly there and the service is good.

We came home and enjoyed the cool breeze on the balcony , relaxed with a cold drink and now will see what transpires for the rest of the evening.



Nov.30- Wow another month is gone!

The good weather continues and since we have a function to attend later in the afternoon, we decided to make this a Beachside pool day.

My personal chef cooked a delicious breakfast and afterwards we used Skype to connect with the children and grandchildren. We do miss them when we are away for a month, as we are spoiled having them living close by in Ottawa. We managed a connection, although not a good one, but it was nice chatting for a while.

We spent the rest of the day lounging by the pool and enjoying the refreshing water. The pool here has been very quiet since our arrival and most times we are the only people there. We had a light lunch before getting ready to go out for a party with friends.

Brad and Lora, some TTOL friends, had organized a cocktail party at their villa in Oyster Pond so we set off about 4:00 P.M. to go there. Brad had sent us some excellent directions which we really appreciated. Otherwise, we might still be driving through the Oyster Pond hills in search of Villa Victoria!

It was a lovely evening with wonderful food catered by Fabulous Feasts and a nice assortment of drinks. Enjoying the friendship of others, while overlooking the panoramic view of the island, was very special.

We left about 8:00 P.M. and made our way down the hillside to the lights of Philipsburg and Simpson Bay. We stopped at the Hollywood Casino for a couple of hours and then went to the Red Piano Bar where we listened to the music of Susan Irwin and enjoyed a few drinks with friends. This was Susan's last night to perform there and we were so glad we were able to make it.

We got back to the villa about 2:00 A.M. and drifted into dreamland with visions of another lovely day dancing in our heads!



Dec.1- The sunshine continues and after coffee and a big breakfast, we settled in to spend the day on our beach in paradise. The view here never gets tiring and the quiet beauty that surrounds us is so enchanting!

The morning passed quickly and after lunch we continued our relaxing day on the beach. At about 4:00 P.M., we decided to shower and get ready for Happy Hour at the Buccaneer. This is always a great spot to watch the sunset and tonight was no exception. We stayed there until dark and then went to Maho to do some shopping.

FIG was our destination for dinner tonight since it was right in the general vicinity and had good reviews. We were not totally disappointed, but a bit underwhelmed. It reminded us of a local cafe at home with very simple decor and "home cooking"....nothing fancy, but tasty with friendly service. We both chose the pork loin and it was served with a small salad and mashed potatoes and vegetables. We shared an apple crumble for dessert which was also very tasty.

We ended the evening at the Dunes Casino and pretty much broke even tonight.




Dec.2- We had arranged to take Annie to breakfast at the Yacht Club Today so we set off early to Mary's Boon to pick her up.

We all had a lovely breakfast and watched the yachts come through when the bridge opened. It is fun to dream about owning one, but we definitely would not like to think about the maintenance involved with one of those. We decided we are more than happy with our much smaller boat at home!
After breakfast we went to Market Garden and Prime to get a few things on our list and then took Annie back to her unit.

We had lunch at the Islandgem Cafe today and tried to use up some of our fridge items. We indulged in cold meats and fresh vegetables with wine and cheese which satisfied our hunger.

We spent the afternoon at Beachside catching up on a few things and I managed to post Part 3 of my report with a couple of attempts. Today, I discovered that moving my computer to the bedroom seemed to work better. Amazing how many things seem to work better in the bedroom!

We were invited to a party at Marty's Gyro hosted by Sharon Harris, aptly known as Queen of SXM, so we met with a group there at 5:00 P.M. It was especially nice to see Sharon as she had been off island for over a month visiting family in the USA. We enjoyed the evening...complete with good drinks, hot appetizers and good company. A few showers passed by while e were there, but luckily Marty's is covered so we all escaped getting wet.

We spent the rest of the evening with Jeannie at Lal's enjoying Indian food and talking the night away. We closed Lal's at 11:00 P.M. and dropped by the Dunes Casino on the way home to help carry out some of the cash they so badly needed to dispose of. It was truly a fun day and one of the
few we have left!


Dec.3- Today is our last full day on the island so we must make the best of it! We commenced the day with a full cooked breakfast.... toast, scrambled eggs with cheese, juice and coffee. The sun was shining brightly so we deided to take advantage of our last day on the beach here and settled in to our loungers until noon time.

We packed up and went in to Philipsburg to have lunch at The 12 Meter Restaurant since theey were closed the last time we went there. Well, they were open today and my craving for their delicious fish and chips was finally satisfied! Actually we both ordered the fish and chips and a couple of cold beer to wash it down. A perfect lunch overlooking the beautiful yachts there!

Afterwards we stopped by to say good-bye to our friend, Dave at Happy Hour Tours. They have made some major improvements there and they were busy today with 6 ships in port. We stopped at the market to get a few last minute souvenirs and then went back to our villa to relax for a while.

About 5:30 P.M. we went down to the Dream Pool Bar for my last frozen mango coloda and to catch the sunset which was spectcular tonight. We chatted a while with Marty and Lori and then went over to the Dunes Casino to cash some traveller cheques and tantalize a few machines.

We got home around 9:00 P.M. and cooked a late dinner with all the goodies we had left in the fridge. We still have left over potatoes for hash browns in the morning to go with our eggs so we planned very well! A nice bottle of red wine added to the meal.

Now it is time to pack for our flight home tomorrow. After a month here we feel ready to leave as we have had time to relax and do everything we really wanted to do. As the saying goes, you must leave if you want to return and so we will leave with joy in our hearts and look forard to another trip in the future.

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Dec.4- Departure Day!
We got up early to enjoy our last coffee time overlooking the turquoise waters of Simpson Bay Beach. Today we were surprised by the arrival of new neighbours anchored not far off our beach. The luxurious Eclipse, the wonderful mega yacht, is a sight to behold! We watched it from the balcony and took some pictures while enjoying our morning view.
We then had breakfast consisting of hash browns, eggs, juice and toast to give us the strength needed for our long travel day. We tidied up afterwards and packed the left over food and drinks to give to friends and then it was time to finish packing the last minute items in our luggage.

Check-out time is 12 noon so we packed the car and were ready to leave then. Our tradition on departure day for several years has been to meet Bill and Elaine for lunch at Buccaneer. Today we had also arranged to do that and Annie joined us as well. We were looking forward to our usual food choices there as we wouldn't be eating dinner on the flight. We were soon informed that the food we remembered was no longer good there, and so we decided to order some chicken nuggets and fries instead. How could they mess up something that simple? Well they could and they did! Both the chicken and the fries were very greasy and relatively tasteless. None of us could finish our plates. They definitely must have a different cook as things just aren't the same there! The BBC's made by Wanda were still the same and delicious, so we filled up on them and enjoyed the good company until it was time to leave and take the car back.

We arrived at the airport in lots of time to check our luggage and get through security. Our flight left on time and we arrived in Toronto about 30 minutes early which was nice. We waited for two hours for our flight to Ottawa so we were not rushed as we had to claim our luggage and go through customs there. We rechecked the bags and we were at our gate fairly quickly.

Our flight to ottawa left at 11:30 P.M. and we had a baby sitting directly behind us that screamed all the way from Toronto to Ottawa! It is only a 45 minute flight but that time seemed like eternity! I guess the parents thought the baby might sleep for the duration of the flight, but that little fellow was having none of that! We arrived on time and we were soon on our way.

We opened the airport doors and we were greeted by a light dusting of snow on the ground and below zero temperatures. My flip flops were in a state of shock hitting the cold ground and my toes were teased by the frigid air encircling them. Refreshing for sure!

We rolled into bed at 2:30 A.M. and were soon fast asleep. It felt good to be back in our own beds again ! Upon our return from vacations, it is always good to be reminded of the comforts of home and to realize how much we truly do appreciate them.

It truly was a wonderful month on our favorite island! We partied with friends, enjoyed wonderful food and drinks, viewed glorious sunsets,had private time on our peaceful beach, and really did everything we had hoped to do. Now we look forward to the Christmas season with family and the commencement of a New Year. The months will roll past, and it will soon be time to make plans to do it all over again next year.

Thanks to all for taking the time to read my report. I hope you will gain some knowledge of the island and that you will continue to visit and enjoy this paradise we all love!

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