So! It's done and we have another great trip all wrapped up and stored away in our book of happy memories, and what great memories they are. We enjoyed spending some serious one on one time with our soon to graduate granddaughter, and then some more time shared with one of our adult daughters and another granddaughter. Special moments, all and reflecting back on another wonderful trip makes me realize once again just how very well blessed I am.

We had a great flight down on AA and once again, another typical JB experience coming home. I won't go into a lot of details, but IMHO, they could mess up a one car funeral, but since AA doesn't offer a non-stop HOME in our timeframe, I guess we need to just suck it up and deal with JB. But they will be hearing from me soon! Not that they much care.......

We had great rooms at the Towers made even better by the resort staff and coupled with Jeannie's pre-stocking of groceries, and a very positive car rental experience with Best Deal, even if not the normal airport service we typically are accustomed to. Our dining experiences were all excellent and we explored a few new places this trip and said our good-byes to some old friends we've known for thirty years.

We didn't shop - I tried but just didn't see anything that excited me. In the end I think we declared $300.00 on our customs form but only because I thought they might put us through the ringers if we declared no purchases over a three week trip.

I think the highlights of our SXM time, beyond having family spend time with us, would probably be our day of sailing to Anguilla and our day at Anse Marcel along with the beach time, cocktail hours and dinners we were able to share with long-time island friends. You guys are all the best and we enjoyed every moment of our time with each of you.

And surprisingly, as much as I love Mullet Beach, our new go-to beach for this trip became ElZafiro on Simpson Bay Beach, and nicknamed EZ Beach by us since so many people pronounce it differently.......we had breakfast there several times and lunch and drinks, too. We met Nicole whom I believe is one of the owners, along with her beautiful little eight month old daughter, Bella. What a cutie pie she is......

The weather was drop dead perfect our first week and all things in consideration the second week and a half weren't too bad either. The traffic seemed lighter this year in the timeframes we were on the roads and we missed the Sargasso seaweed and the Sahara sands that prevailed over our entire trip last April. We saw Saba - briefly and occasionally - but we did at least see her and know she's still out there somewhere even though she spent most of our trip shrouded in clouds and heavy skies.

The golf course was a mess when we arrived and not much better when we left and still the players came. The SXM Open was played the first weekend we were there and there seemed to be a good number of participants. You might ask, "Why?" and I can only say, "I haven't got a clue!"

Some things in SXM don't seem to change at all and if they do, they just seem to get worse. The suicycles prevail everywhere roaring up on you and passing with death defying accuracy, often scaring the daylight out of the unsuspecting driver. The section of road through Maho Village was freshly paved right after we arrived. Two days later they ripped up huge sections of the brand new pavement to install speedbump/crosswalk combos. I guess there was some logic to this approach, but again I ask, "why?" And the garbage!! OMG!! It was everywhere along the beach at Mullet and some of it was actually in the new trash cans provided by St. Maarten Pride, that were all sitting unemptied and over-flowing. If I understand the situation as it was explained to me, new government contracts were awarded for garbage collection but the companies that got the contracts don't have garbage trucks. Really? Can that honestly be right? And then there's the dump!! OMG! The dump. It was on fire last April and this year was an instant replay. For those who haven't experienced it firsthand, it's absolutely disgusting. I'll never understand why fixing this isn't the A number one priority for those in office and God bless the people of the island who have to continually cope with this health issue, not to mention the stench of it all.

But the bottom line for me is St. Maarten-St. Martin won my heart many, many years ago, and with all her warts and wrinkles - we've all developed a few over the years, haven't we? - I love her still. And as one trip ends, I eagerly await the time I can start planning for the next one to begin. There are some things that never change. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />