Trip Report – February 2002<br><br>Since we stayed on the island for a longer period of time we will just post some “lists” and our reactions to the island and the trip. (We have now been home almost 6 weeks so this is a little overdue!)<br><br>Flight: Uneventful but seemed long from Chicago to San Juan.<br><br>Rental Car: Kenny’s and paid about $675 for four weeks with a Toyota Corolla. Very good service and I would use him again!<br><br>Lodging: The whole time at Pavilion Beach Hotel on Grand Case beach. Loved it and plan to go back again. Really couldn’t think of a thing to complain about (except maybe that there was only one English-speaking TV station; but we didn’t watch TV anyway.)<br><br>Beaches we tried: (some many times) Happy Bay, Bay Rouge, Cupecoy, Pinel Island, Friar’s Bay, Bay Long, Plum Bay, Mullet Bay, Maho Beach, Great Bay, Kimsha Beach, Orient Beach, Dawn Beach, Scavenger Beach, Grand Case Beach. (Favorites were the first three)<br><br>Restaurants: Sebastiano’s, Chez Martine, Mary’s Boon, La Cottage, La California, Portofino’s, Il Nettuno, , Boathouse, Cheri’s, SSBB, Lee’s Roadside, Ric’s sportsbar, Mr. Busbys, Papyago’s, Kon Tiki, Kakao, Everyting Cool, Zee Best; and a number of beach bars and Lolos. (Enjoyed all of them except maybe Il Nettuno; favorites were the first four)<br><br>Things we did and saw: Snorkeling trip to Prickly Pear on Heinekein Catamaran; Day trip to St. Bart; Butterfly Farm; shopping in Philipsburg and Marigot; Pic Paradise; saw the forts; SSBB to watch the planes; but mostly spent time on the beach reading and relaxing!<br><br>Joys:<br>1. The beauty of the beaches and the views from the mountains. Spectacular!<br>2. The food purchased in groceries and restaurants that we could take home to eat on our balcony. Full meals! (Our favorite meals were carry-outs eaten on our balcony, particularly from Portofinos and La Bounty—heavenly)<br>3. Easy driving to anywhere (except for rush hour traffic in Marigot and Phillipsburg).<br>4. French desserts and pastry – wow!!<br>5. Our hotel was a delight and so were the people who worked there. Five stars!!<br>6. Staying in the Grand Case area. We were minutes from restaurants; 8 minutes from Cul-de-sac and Orient; 6 minutes from Friars; 15-20 minutes from Baie Rouge or Cupecoy; and 30-45 minutes from Philipsburg (depending on the traffic).<br>7. Side trips were fun—will do a few more next year.<br>8. Relaxed atmosphere on the island. So refreshing!<br>9. Met people (mostly other Americans) at beaches or trips that we befriended and met them for dinners. Lots of fun!<br><br>Disappointments:<br>1. French restaurants – Food was delicious but, (in our opinion) way overpriced! <br>2. Snorkeling – really only a few places to snorkel and they are fair, at best. If you’ve snorkeled anywhere else you will probably be a bit disappointed in SXM.<br>3. Golf course in terrible condition (but we had been warned about that)<br>4. Were “propositioned” and “flashed” by locals at several beaches and made us a bit uncomfortable early in the trip. Learned to ignore!<br>5. SXM Lobster – was really looking forward to lots of lobster but was expecting something more like Maine lobster. Tried it several times but was tough and not nearly as tasty.<br>6. Intended to attend the TTOL Sunset Cruise but our trip from Prickly Pear was delayed and did not get back to SXM until too late.<br><br>Surprises:<br>1. Beaches are prettier than we could have imagined.<br>2. Towns and airport area are more crowded and “dirtier” than we imagined. (If you haven’t been to other Caribbean countries you could be very disappointed.)<br>3. Beaches are smaller in length and, for the most part, narrower than we expected. <br>4. Food in the French restaurants was good but not great and way overpriced. (Maybe we were expecting too much!?!?) We may be spoiled by the restaurants in our home town.<br>5. Stores (Food Center; Cost U Less, etc.) carry everything you could want. Don’t need to bring anything from the states. Just like shopping at Sam’s Club. On the other hand, shopping at a place like Match Supermarche in Marigot was a cultural experience and I saw no labels that I recognized.<br>6. People don’t spend long hours at the beach. Many would arrive after lunch and leave before 4 p.m. Beaches were pretty much deserted by 4:30 p.m.<br>7. The island is smaller and everything closer even than we’d imagined.<br>8. Saw rainbows almost everyday!<br><br>Dumbest things we did: <br>1, Traveled through Marigot at Carnival time and got stuck in the parade. Sat still for almost 3 hours!!!! <br>2. At SSBB was filming the people being “sand-blasted” by the jet draft of the 747 and said to a man nearby, “those people must have a screw loose to do that.” He responded, “the one in the blue suit is my wife.” I apologized but he said he agreed with me even though his wife did this every year.<br>3. Tried to walk from Dawn Beach to Scavenger through the surf and got hammered by a big wave and thrown into the rocks. Got cut and bruised in a few places but provided entertainment for scores of people.<br><br>Already have plans and reservations to return next year! Thanks again for all the help from this board!<br><br>Karden