Just went to SXM for 4 days prior to going to St Barths. This is our 18th trip. Live near NYC and go out to dinner all of the time at the best, so we know what we are doing food wise.

Arrived on Continental direct from EWR. Checked in in-advance and was offered 1st class upgrade for $100pp. Trip starting good! Was expecting major security delays, so car service advised us to get to airport 3 hours in advance. I was happy about 1st class since that would allow us to go through the Elite lines. Security delays never happened so we went from our house, checked in, through security and in Presidents Club in 1 hour-3 hours before flight!

Flight was on time and were met by Yanchi, the porter. My wife is convinced he runs the airport! He actually knows our bags and pulls them off before I tell him to. Mikey from Tropical/Tropicana was there to meet us with a cold Carib. Off to the office on Billy Folly Rd. across from the Atrium. Since I email all of our info, I was out of the office in about 1 minute. We have rented from others in the past, however, Mikey’s service is over the top, great cars and reasonable. I don’t understand why everyone does not rent from him!

Checked into the Atrium to see all of the same smiling faces and directly across the street to the convenience store for water, Carib and some wine. I was surprised this store was open as nothing else was. Did not even unpack. Went to the new Greenhouse for some Mojito’s during Happy Hour. Walked over to the Pelican Marina building. It was very impressive-the pool area was great. I feel sorry for the people who lost their views, however.

Mario’s for dinner. I thought it was the best restaurant on the island (see Chantecliar). The Fois Gras, duck and duck Pad Thai are the best I have ever had. We are recognized there by Bobby, Didier and Mario. Everything was over the top. I rate it a 10 out of 10.

Next day, up early for a trip to Orient. Stopped by the new Palm, it looks great and the restaurant menu looks excellent, however, had to go set up shop at Coco Beach. We are creatures of habit. Had a fresh fruit platter and some champagne and orange juice-all is good. Davey is leaving; however, Christopher is very capable. FYI-Sophie said that her nude section was opening the next week.

Always do Bikini Beach the first day. Nice to see Elisa and Vanessa. Always have Pad Thai and Yum Nuar salad and a giant pitcher of Sangria. Awesome!

Walked out of Bikini, wife went one way, towards Coco for her nap, I went the other way towards Andy and Cheryl’s new place to say hello and have some vodka and lemonades with Ross. Was feeling pretty good. Cheryl made Adrian drive me back to Coco, not sure I would have made the walk. Probably would have had to stop in the middle for a nap. After my nap, wife drove back to get ready for more eating and drinking.

Happy Hour at the Greenhouse and BBB, a little blackjack at the Dolphin-and off to the Marina for dinner at LaBelleEpoque. Pre dinner Martini at Bali Bar. Always do the Carpaccio and Escargot. Was just bragging to wife about the great service we get on the island when all stopped! We have been going to LeBelleEpoque for 15 years. I made reservations for 8:30. We had to wait 20 minutes for our table and the waiter did not even acknowledge our presence for ½ hour. I was just getting up to leave when he came over and then gave us attitude. Told the owner and he gave us attitude. Stayed and ate anyway, on vacation, can’t stress. Food was great, however, service killed the meal.

Back to Orient for the day at Andy & Cheryl’s. Set up camp and started with 2 dozen clams on the half shell. We’re Jersey Shore people! Excellent! The new place looks great, kitchen clean, more tables. They need some memorabilia! These are the greatest people anywhere. They know I like my Vodka and lemonades in the afternoon, so they stopped on the way in and bought me some special hand squeezed lemonade! Had Mussels a la Andy for lunch-best mussels I have ever had! Andy “forced” us to try some other dishes, i.e. linguini with clam sauce, special Sunday gravy, etc. All excellent. Had a massage right in front. Napped. Life is good. This is one of my favorite places on earth made even more special by Cheryl, Andy, Ross and Adrian. I heard another patron say “where else can you eat this good in this setting and be insulted by Andy”. Truer words were never spoken. The only compliant I had was that it should be named “Cheryl and Andy’s”

Back to Atrium, happy hour at Greenhouse and BBB, a little blackjack and off the Marina again for dinner at Chanteclair. We have not been to the Chanteclair for years, however, one of our friends told us the chef from L’Astrlobe at Esmerlda had moved there and it was now excellent. Since we always enjoyed L’Astrolobe when staying on that side, we decided to give it a go. WOW! From the wine list, we had an 83 Bordeaux, to the dinner and dessert, it may have been one of the finest gourmet experiences I ever had! Fois Gras and duck again along with a number of other dishes I don’t remember. I rate this a 10.5 out of 10.

We were there over a holiday when no cruise ships were in port, so the traffic was not bad-it was like the old days. Everyone, including Cheryl said how slow things were on the island. The island itself was very green. A big presence of Gendarmes in the Marina and a lot of new roundabouts. Construction (a lot unfinished) everywhere is ridiculous!

A lift to Esperance Airport by Armando from Tropical and off to St Barths.

On the way back, I arranged our flight from St Barths to arrive at Juliana at 10:00AM. I figured that we could check in (no such luck with First Class this time) and go to the Sunset Beach Bar for lunch, watch for our plane to arrive, and go through security for our 2:00PM flight back to Newark. We aborted that plan when we saw the line for passport control and security. We were also informed that every bag would be hand inspected and every passenger would be patted down at the gate prior to departure. We decided to bag Sunset Beach Bar and just go to the gate. Glad we did. We had plenty of time, but would not have been able to do Sunset Beach Bar. Checking bags and pat downs went smoothly, however, after that we were put in a little holding area which was hot and uncomfortable.

All good, however, will probably be just stopping in SXM for a few days on our way to St Barths or Anguilla in the future.