This is the first time we've posted a trip report and it got a bit long. Anyway, here it is.

Going and coming
Continental flight 818. Left on time, even though full. Landed about 25 minutes early. Smooth all the way. Craig form Pack-lite was there with our phone and Michael from Unity makes the car rental thing a breeze. Continental 874 back to Newark. No problems, on time arrival. Immigration, baggage claim, Customs and rechecking baggage for the connection to Detroit took a total of 30 minutes.

Accommodations
Our timeshare at Pelican is a one bedroom in the upper B building on the 4th floor. Wonderful view of the sunsets. A lot more spacious than the Marina residences. Yes it’s a bit tired, but we love it for the size, view and location. Hopefully they will be able to refresh this building this year as they did with the lower B building last year.

Activities
Mostly Baie Rouge, Cupecoy or the pool. Went to Marigot shopping one day. For us vacations are about relaxing and doing nothing more than anything else. Sand Gravity really got us this year and it was great! Read lots of books on the new Kindle

Meals
Breakfasts on the balcony, with fresh bread from the new place here- Bon Appetite. They bake it on site about every two hours. A nice selection of other goodies too. Lunches were mostly sandwiches made in our condo and taken to the beach, or eaten on the deck with a glass of nice crisp white wine or a Carib.
Lees – Got there at 7pm, no wait and very good service. Snapper fillet, boneless BBQ chicken and 2 specials – Wahoo with coconut shrimp. We were all very pleased. Lee’s Snapper can’t be beat, IMHO.
Bon Appetite – cocktails and appetizers – grilled vegetables brushed with pesto and olive oil. VERY nice. The pesto is made in-house. The drinks are VERY reasonable.
Café de Paris - a new place on the Port Royal in Marigot. Service was attentive but slow as they were very busy. Rib-eye for two, Mahi Mahi with Creole sauce, and Mozzarella Tomato salad and 4 cheese pizza. Well all loved everything. Total bill with a bottle of wine was $130.
Granduca – This is a new, very stylish, White tablecloth Italian restaurant in Maho. We were very impressed. Great food. Caesar salad and caprese salad both spilt. Caprese was the best we had on the island. Linguini with clams, lasagna, Italian sausage with spaghettis in marinara sauce and tagliatelli with shrimp in a fresh lemon sauce. Everyone loved their food.
Alexanders – serves as the employee cafeteria at Pelican, but also open to the public. House made onion rings for an appetizer, Creole mahi mahi and Creole boneless chicken breast. Both came with a dinner salad and beans and rice. Very simple and nice. With 2 diet cokes the total was $33.
Jimbo’s – Enchilada platter ands burrito platter, both pulled pork. Very tasty, esp. the pork filling. Came with a bite of salad, refried beans, yellow rice and cornbread. With 2 diet cokes it came to $42. They were not busy and service was fine.
The Hideaway at LaVista – a lovely setting overlooking the infinity pool. Great service. We shared a caprese salad. Chicken breast stuffed with ricotta and spinach with a tomato sauce. Pork tenderloin in a piquant mustard sauce. Both were served with vegetables, a few cheese tortellini in alfredo sauce and a piped potato puff. But entrees were delicious and portions were large enough o take home leftovers. Total with a glass of wine and a diet coke and tip was $62.
Bistrot Caraibes – Absolutely outstanding as always. For us, it doesn’t get any better. Endive salad with blue cheese, Goat cheese baked in a crepe over salad with smoked duck breast, Veal scaloppini gratineed with blue cheese, rack of lamb in an herb crust. We shared the warm chocolate cake for desert. It truly is amazing, never had better and we have had similar desserts all over. With two glasses of wine two martinis, the bill was $159 before tip. Service was impeccable. Homemade spiced rum with the check was a perfect end to a great evening.

General Observations
The new “Midas” roundabout helps a great deal. The new Market Fresh grocery store in Simpson bay is a happy addition. It’s not nearly as big as Le Grand Marche, but it is bigger than I anticipated and has a very good selection of most everything. Prices seemed about the same or even cheaper (Ketel One vodka for instance). Very odd weather. Much more humid than ever before and hotter. One day it was so humid it was almost foggy, and no breeze at all that day. Ocean was like glass. Only had rain the last few days and then mostly at night. Always cleared up by mid morning. The new development – Porto Cupecy – is beautiful to see, but HUGE! We still love the island and can’t wait for 11 months to pass so we can return!