We had an uneventful flight(the best kind)via Continental from Newark to SXM, arriving early at about 12:20. Dorsette from Original Car Rental was there to meet us. He provides decent cars at reasonable prices, and extraordinary customer service.<br><br>I will begin with a note for owners at The Towers at Mullet Bay. We spent 4 weeks there, changing apartments every Saturday. They make the moving process as painless as possible and we get a different perspective each week. The furnishings in the efficiency unit are starting to look a little worn, as this unit is almost always in use. Other than that the place is looking fine. While we were there two new bartenders, Claudia and Roxanne, arrived. They are charming and attentive. They now serve burgers, dogs, fries and a few other lunch items at the bar. There were plenty of pool chairs in good condition and James is still dispensing towels with a smile. Janice no longer works there and Mary-Jo has taken over some of her duties while still running the activities desk. The beach chair situation has gone from bad to worse for Towers residents. The have about 15 chairs that are reasonably safe to use. The rest are wrecked. We discussed this with Clarence, the manager, who pretty much told us that if we didn't like the chairs he could have them removed so that we could patronize the chair rental people at the beach bars. He could take a lesson from Dorsette on providing customer service.<br><br>Beautiful Mullet Beach was our home base. At first there was a high drop off in the sand before getting into the water, but that changed daily. The water was warm and for the most part very calm. The beach was the subject of a clean up sponsored by the Disney Cruise line during our stay. Cruise employees and local service groups including SXM Pride were among the workers.<br><br>As this was our 8th trip to SXM, we felt it was time to finally see Pinel Island. It was a beautiful day with warm, calm water, except for the torrential downpours every few minutes in the morning. After these minor interruptions we enjoyed a lunch of ribs and chicken accompanied by the obligatory cold beers and Tings. It was interesting to watch the waves hitting the sand bar from several directions at once. We also visited Le Gallion beach for the first time. The sight and sound of the waves breaking in the distance made an interesting background for the extremely warm, calm and shallow water at Le Gallion. There were people there doing what I think is called kite-srufing. Wow! That is quite an exciting sport to watch. I thought wind surfers were fast but these kite surfers made them look like they were standing still. Actually, some of the inexperienced wind surfers WERE standing still or going backward.<br><br>Eight of us went last Monday via ferry to Anguilla. When we arrived the first person we met was Bennie, a primary character in "A Trip to the Beach" by the Blanchards. We did not want to rent cars and drive on the left, so we arranged with Bennie to go to Shoal Bay and then have a quick look around the island. He dropped us off at the beach by Elodia's restaurant. Friends who have been there as well as to Uncle Ernie's felt that Elodia's food was just as good, less expensive, and the beach was much quieter. The water was calm and warm with a little patch or coral for snorkling about 20 yeards from our beach chairs. The tour included a quick look at a few hotels and a stop at the Cuisinart Hotel to walk around and see the beautiful gardens. Very nice. Over all, the island is much quieter than SXM. A nice place to really get away from it all. Bennie is pretty entertaining, and if even half of what he says is true, he must be one of the most successful people on the island.<br><br>The island looks as green as I have seen it since the huricanes. Numerous agencies as well as the government have been working on keeping the place clean with obvious results. I don't remember seeing any abandoned cars. In spite of the drop in tourism there seems to be a lot of building going on, especially on the Dutch side. There is a new shopping mall in Marigot that is causing quite a lot of talk among the shoppers. It is not really complete and has only a few stores open at present, but it is a very classy affair.<br><br>Since we were there for four weeks we made an effort to eat in fairly often. The kitchens are nicely equipped and my dear husband loves to cook as well as to entertain, so on the nights we did not go out I had the luxury of relaxing with a good book and a drink while waiting for dinner. This turned out to be a good plan. Instead of the usual 4 or 5 pound per week gain, I only gained one per week. We had four wonderful meals at Mario's. Martine and Didier treat every group like they are the only customers in the place (How do they do that?) but I think that once a week may be too often to go to any one place there, with so many other good places to try. Sol e Luna is becoming one of our new favorites. The food, the service and the ambiance are all top notch. The all-appetizer menu at Le Piccolo is fun. If your group is willing to share, you can get a taste of a lot of different things without filling up too much. I sampled pizza at La Belle Epoque at the marina as well as Pizza Pasta and Mamma Mia in Maho. All were good but the paper thin crust at La Belle Epoque won first prize. We had good food at reasonable prices at the two restaurants we tried in the Atlantis Casino complex: Moroccan at Casa Blanca and French at Le Montmartre. The food at Spartaco was fine, but we went with a very large group and it seemed like we were there for hours. Grand Case was our destination only once during our stay for a couple of reasons. Traffic is so heavy on the island that it takes an hour to get there from the Towers. Also there were some articles and letters to the editor in the Herald during our stay indicating that the police are not responsive to the complaints of citizens there about habitual criminals. They allege that a known "crack head" is causing a lot of problems, and photos were shown of vandalism to rental cars. We had a very nice meal at Rainbow anyway, and did not feel threatened at any time. While walking back to our car at about 9:30 p.m. the street was nearly deserted, with only a few restaurants looking busy.<br><br>The crepes at Le Saint Germaine are wonderful, as is the warm welcome we always receive from Patrick upon our return to the island. The continental breakfast at La Croissanterie lured us away from Zee Best quite easily. Two croissants, fresh squeezed orange juice, butter, jelly and coffee, tea or hot chocolate for $6 (and a view of the marina thrown in at no extra charge), without the traffic (car and pedestrian), the smell of sewage or Zee Best's shocking exchange rate of one dollar for one Euro. <br> We also enjoyed the crepes at Richard's in Simpson Bay. The new deli at Cupecoy is getting rave reviews. The proximity to the Towers is a plus, but the quality of the food is what everyone is talking about. The Village Baker provides the usual quality bread and pastries, but it is worth going there just to see the girl who works there. They could use her picture in the dictionary to illustrate the word "cute". [img]/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]<br><br>The theater at Maho was showing a magic/variety show that was entertaining. The goofy juggler was my favorite act. [img]/images/icons/rofl.gif[/img]<br><br>The golf course is very green but needs some serious maintenance, which does not seem likely until that whole legal mess is resolved. The cost for charter owners at the Towers is $36 to ride 18 and $19 to walk. I don't remember the prices for others, but it seemed exorbitant for the condition of the course. The new carts are fine, but there are not many.<br><br>This is the first time we stayed four weeks and I wondered if it would be too long. [img]/images/icons/doh.gif[/img] Now I am wondering how to to extend to at least five!![img]/images/icons/grin.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/grin.gif[/img][img]/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]<br><br>