I guess this delay was caused because I'm still on Island Time. This report is about our third trip and our main goal was to just relax on the island and enjoy the beaches and sunshine. This trip was also our first visit traveling by ourselves, so the enjoyment was even better. <br><br>We left Philly on time, with only one small incident. We were able to check our luggage without waiting in line since we got there so early. However, Tracy's carry on was searched and a small pair of scissors were confiscated. No big deal! We had a direct flight to SXM where we made up our lack of sleep from the previous night.<br><br>We were greeted by Marius at the airport where he had our "white" Mazda waiting for us in the parking lot. Apparently, our arrival was preceded by a horrendous downpour and Marius warned us about some flooding in the Mullet area. We did go through some deep waters before we finally arrived at the Ocean Club a little early than the normal check-in time, but since our room was ready, we were able to get in and change into our shorts. Not wanting to navigate through the flooding again, we went to the shops along Sandy Ground to pick up some essentials. <br><br>Each day was pretty much a repeat as we spent some time on the beach and the rest of the day exploring the island. Since I was always a passenger in our car, it was rather adventurous learning to drive around the island. We were able to visit Cupecoy, Mullet, Orient and Pinel Island beaches, and after three years, we finally found Dawn Beach (Thanks to Barbara and the rest of this board for directions). <br><br>Some of our new discoveries that we learned from this board was the Butterfly Farm, the Zoo, the MaDouDou factory (closed the first time we tried) and Zee Best for our morning crouissants (sp). Our dining experiences were our normal standbys (no new ventures this year). We ate at the Turtle Pier, Bananas, the Boathouse (excellent grilled lobster), and of course, Talk of the Town. All our meals were excellent which makes it difficult to not return to them again in the future. We had planned to try Citrus, Bliss and Peg Leg Pub (Sorry Neil), but just never got to them because of our "short" week. <br><br>Other than our time on the beaches, the highlight of our week was our day at Pinel for snorkeling. We saved that for our last full day on Friday so we had something to look forward to. On that particular day, the island was not at all crowded. We did notice some erosion from the previous years we've been there, but the rest of the beach is still as nice as ever. <br><br>Went to Phillipsburg and was approached near Bobby's Marina with someone who handed us a coupon for a free "Island Music" CD if we bought $10.00 worth of quarters at the Jump Up Casino. We aren't big gamblers but we thought we'd give it a try. Fifteen minutes later, we walked out of there with our free CD and $50.00 richer. <br><br>Weather was perfect for the week with just some brief showers almost every morning, and mostly sunny and pleasant for the remainder of the day. After enjoying 80º temperatures for the week, it was difficult to return to Philly on our direct flight home, and be greeted with 41º temperatures. However, return fligh and security was just as uneventful as our departure. Other than long lineswhich did move, we had no complaints about any of the airport procedures. <br><br>We had such an enjoyable time doing nothing, and keep wondering whether we should try to extend our weeks' stay in the future. One week is just not long enough to spend in Paradise.