Here’s our May 25 through June 2, 2010 SXM trip report.

Flights
Flew on US Airways from Providence, connecting in Charlotte and then to SXM. The trip was uneventful and we landed on the island ahead of schedule.

Flight home was long. We encountered no problems in SXM, but the Charlotte airport was closed due to thunderstorms. Circled the airport for a while and then had to fly east to Raleigh-Durham to re-fuel. We were concerned about missing our connecting flight as we did not have a long layover, but our Providence flight was delayed a couple of hours, so we made it home in the wee hours of the morning.

Car Rental
Travel Rent A Car, a TTOL Sponsor. It was our first time renting with them as they were running a special that included a free tank of gas and a cell phone. We were met at the airport and the rental car, a white Toyota Yaris with French plates, was parked in the airport parking lot. Quickly signed the rental papers and we were on our way. The car was clean and in good mechanical shape (important to Marc), so we wouldn’t hesitate to rent from them again. Stephen isn’t quite as quick with replying to email as other sponsors we’ve used in the past, but he will generally get back to you within a day or so.

House Rental
“House 4”. This stand alone house is located in a residential, gated community in Pointe Blanche called Monte Vista. It sits high on the hill, overlooking Philipsburg and the cruise ship terminal. It’s an easy 15 minute drive to Orient Beach and the drive into Simpson Bay at night wasn’t too bad either. The owners, Alan and Royce Samit, are a pleasure to do business with and their home is clean, comfortable, nicely decorated and beautifully landscaped. We loved the private pool and spent a lot of time in it. The pool was especially worth it since the weather for half of our vacation wasn’t ideal. Our stay at House 4 was so enjoyable and relaxing that we will be renting the house again in August.

Friends
Our good friends, Ann and Roger, were on the island for the first half of our stay. We enjoy their company and we had many laughs all week. They were able to spend a couple of afternoons with us at the house and Roger grilled a fantastic lunch of steak, chicken and fresh vegetables (my favorite meal of the week). We met up with Bill and Elaine a couple of times during the week also – it was so nice to see them again. We also met TTOL members Berne and Gary, and Susan (Yellowrose) and her husband Wallace, “The Governor”, on Orient. It was so nice chatting with all of you!

Weather
Let it be known that Carol Hill is not the only person to bring rain to the island. It’s usually the case with me too – LOL! As has been reported here the weather was a mixed bag, and probably the worst weather we’ve had in 20 trips. We arrived on Tuesday and that’s when the rainy weather started. Most days were very cloudy and hazy, so the supposed beautiful ocean / island views from our villa were virtually non-existent.

Beach
Every day is pretty much the same – arrive at the beach around 8:30 and leave the beach around 1:00 PM. The only beach we visited this trip was Orient, where we usually sit near in the back row, near The Perch. The beach was somewhat crowded and the chairs are set up so close together it was tough to find a spot to pass through to the ocean. The end of May is a lot different from last August when I counted only 30 umbrellas set up at Club O. A good change: The yellow umbrellas are now set up early in the morning at Club O; so no waiting until 9:30 or 10:00 for shade!

Dining / Bars
Didn’t go out too much this trip, which is so unusual for us. We enjoyed our stay at the house so much we happily cooked in more than we normally do.

Chesterfield’s - 1st night on the island. I had the coconut shrimp and escargot (both very good) and Marc had a tasty peppered chicken dish. We met the owner Jeff, who lives next door to the house we were renting. He graciously sent a free drink our way, which we didn’t need at that point, but it was truly appreciated!

Loterie Farm - Lunch here is always a wonderful treat and one of my favorites. We both had sandwiches, which were tasty and huge! I originally ordered the lamb sandwich, but it wasn’t available, so I ended up with fried catfish which was excellent. Marc had a spicy pork sandwich which was very good also. Price was about $40 and included one delicious Mojito and a large bottle of water. The restaurant was very busy on a Thursday afternoon.

Greenhouse Happy Hours: we visited both locations, and the Simpson Bay location was very busy on Monday night. We sat at the bar and received great service, despite the large crowd. I forgot the female bartenders name, but I think she said she was from Columbia. She’s a very hard worker and makes a teriffic Mojito!

Ocean Club Bar & Grill - We drove over to Cupecoy early in our trip for the Happy Hour and met owners Ken and Jayne. What fun loving and friendly people they are! We enjoyed a couple of drinks with friends Ann and Roger. Bill and Elaine showed up that night too. The drive over to Cupecoy was long, but definitely worth the trip and we’ll be back, for sure.

Dinghy Dock – still a favorite of ours. I ordered the mussels special, which was delicious, and Marc had the ribs. Listened to music by Gianfranco and enjoyed the wonderful company of Bill and Elaine and we met Berne and Gary that evening. Dinner and several drinks were under $50.

Palm Beach - Orient. Beautiful setting! Had lunch here on Sunday – the one day when the skies were blue and it wasn’t hazy. Very busy and we sat at the bar (our choice). Beautiful setting! I ordered a duck salad and Marc had a club sandwich. Both very good and nicely presented. We each had two glasses of rose. Bill was about $50. The view from here is fantastic and weather-wise, was the best day of our vacation.
(I noticed that the waiters at the bar were washing their sunglasses and their hands in the ice buckets before the buckets went to customers. I know this ice is only to keep wine / beer chilled, but I thought I’d send the warning out just in case you’re thinking of using “bucket ice” in your personal beverage.)

La Plantation Restaurant – Orient Bay. Our first time dining here. Great service from Didier and the food was very good and beautifully presented. I ordered a lobster dish and Marc had an excellent filet mignon. Two dinners, a bottle of wine and bottle of water was a little over $100 with a $1.27 exchange rate.
Note: The restaurant has a lovely setting in front of the hotel pool, but the pool was very busy when we were there around 7-8 PM. Getting splashed on and watching men doing multiple handstands in the pool cut down on the romantic setting a tiny bit, but it’s not the fault of the restaurant, and we’d definitely go back.

Antoines – Front Street. Marc and I both did the price fixe dinner special. I can’t recall what we ordered, but, as always, the food was good. The service was a bit “off” that night. Our waiter stayed at our table and chatted with us almost the entire meal. And then when we finished dessert and wanted to ask for the bill, he was no where to be found.

Toppers - We were going to go dine at The Boathouse one evening, but they were burning incense and Ann developed an immediate allergic reaction to the smell. So we crossed the street to dine at Toppers. Marc and I split a brisket dinner and Roger had the meatloaf dinner. Both meals were good and truly what we consider “comfort” food.

Hilma’s Windsor Castle – Love her salt fish and Johnny cake sandwiches. The meat pies are good too!

Shopping
Other than lots of food shopping we did very little shopping for souvenirs / trinkets. I bought several crystal bracelet / earring sets at Sang’s and a Dread I “Share Dem” CD (purchased on the beach at Club O). That was it! We never shopped in Philipsburg, and I definitely have to visit DK Gems on our next trip.
The Fresh Market in Madame Estates (across from the Bowling Alley) is a nice grocery store, in my opinion. They had a very nice selection of French Rose wines in the $4 - $8 range.

Misc. notes: The mosquitoes really liked me this trip, despite repeated spraying with OFF. Marc wasn’t bothered with bug bites this trip – which is unusual.

Love the new roundabouts – especially the one dedicated to “Ta Ta, The Bus Driver”.

Places we tried to visit but were closed:
Kenneth’s Restaurant in Orleans appears to be permanently closed, as their big sign is gone. They were always busy when we ate there in the past and the food was very good. I wonder what happened?
Lal’s Curry in a Hurry – We missed our Indian food fix and it’s always a pleasure to sit around the bar and chat with Lal.
PJ’s on Middle Region Road – we found this place on last year’s trip, and it seems to be closed now. Hopefully chef / owner Paul Joseph is just on vacation.
Gutside – stopped by on Thursday, but I forgot that they’re only open Fri/Sat/Sun. Ann and Roger tried to stop there again on Friday for lunch, but they were still closed.

That wraps it up. So all in all, it was another wonderful and relaxing trip and our next trip is only a short 10 or so weeks away. Can’t wait to get back to the island!