We arrived on St. Maarten on November 27th and left December 4th.
The Good:
1. Attended the “I LOVE MY ISLAND DOG ASSOCIATION” event at Bikini Beach on the 27th and met Bruce and Kim. Nice event and a worthy cause to donate to.
2. Had great meals at Spiga (2 meals-1st day and last day), Spicy, Piazza Pascal, Pineapple Pete, Peg Leg and the Stone. Met the “Head Pineapple” Pierre (Pete) and he is a nice guy.
3. Orient Beach was still one of the nicest beaches, with warm water and lots of sand. Spent most of our time at Kao Kao. We went to Palm Beach on the day that there were 5 cruise ships in Philipsburg. The Palm Beach was good, but expensive.
4. Meet up with old acquaintances Anne Mary, Tom, Lou Anne, Tim, Peggy, Mark, Mya, Janet and Tim at the Sunset Bar and Grill. There were a lot of free drinks.
5. The weather was good but not great: no rain but a little windy.
6. Picked up some alcohol and gifts to bring home from Gulmohar’s. They have a great scotch selection. They also had a great gift idea with do-it- your self Ma Dou Dou jars, just at rum.
7. Also picked up some common alcohol to bring home from the Prime. Great prices but they have reduced the amount and types of alcohol they are carrying for retail sales.
8. Eat breakfast at Zee Best most mornings and loved their pastries.
The Bad:
1. Through Interval, we were scheduled a nice room in the “B building” and the Pelican management assigned us a room in the “C building”. The fact that it was the furthest room away from anything, had a leaking air conditioner and had a toilet that leaked didn’t help our evaluation of the Pelican.
2. The car from Thrifty was not as good as it could have been. Every time you started up it sounded like three kitty cats in a gunny sack (fan belt issue).
The Ugly:
1. The boat people from the cruise ships who come to the beach, that light up their stinking cigars and then plop down and gawk at the topless sunbathers.
2. The roads to Friar’s beach: holes so big that you bottom out.
3. The rest room at the Mullet beach: it was disgusting.
4. The reggae guy, selling his music on Orient beach, was aggressive, relentless and rude.
5. The drunk, and his wife (Both Plastered), that was pulled off our USAIR plane on the 4th that caused us a three hour delay in departure and 20 hour trip home.
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