Our 7th trip in 9 years, it was particularly good to see familiar faces on the beach and on the Club O volleyball court. We stay in Orient, a bit up above the village, quiet studio. To say we were happy to be here this year might be an understatement, we might have even jumped for Joy <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />

Had some great food moments this year,good meals at Le Piment, La Table d'Antoine, La Playa (up on the top deck for lunch), L'auberge gourmande in GC (seafood duo):
Also great buckwheat crepes and hand-cut fries at Max's place in GC, for a cheap date night.
We enjoy grocery shopping on SXM. Super U is good; we visited the Carrefour in Cole Bay for the first time, and with the exception of good Douwe and Egbert coffee, found selection mediocre and prices to be high; Petit Casino gets a semi-bad rap for having "beach convenience store prices", and for the most part I think this is wrong - their prices are so close to the other places, that it's a vacation non-issue. More and better stuff in there than most would suspect... unless of course your expectation is that they should carry all US brands for you (Doritos, Kellogs, budweiser...) - which DO tend to be expensive!
For those not in the know, reserve your rotisserie chicken at Macaron (pastry shop connected to Yellow Sub) in the morning, pay and tell them when you will pick it up. Great stuff!

Joy did beach combing in Grand Case, while I sipped a cool one on a beach chair

Had frequent early-morning rain, but little during the day; almost enough beach time <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" /> and some nice late-afternoon colors:

Overall, another great vacation!
One last note: Mobile passport (smart phone app) really can get you through customs and immigration faster!