Just back last night and we had a great time. Traveled with our best friends Jerry and Pat and loved every minute of it. I didn't keep any notes this year so I am going to try this from memory. Might be difficult since we killed a few brain cells this week<br><br>AIR- flew AA 667 from JFK to SXM and returned AA 660. Both flights ontime and full.<br><br>CRIME- on everyones mind. We didn't see or hear of any crime at all. Never felt threatened in any way. Saw many of the new police vehicles patroling the Dutch Side<br><br>BEACHES- Dawn Beach on Sunday. Beautiful day a little rough but not bad. Love this beach. Friars on Monday. First time we have tried it and fell in love. Orient on Tuesday. Pretty crowded because of the cruise ships I guess. A side note: Amazing Grace who is not a good flier {understatement} actually went tandem parasailing with me and loved it. Another reason on the list for her nickname, she never ceases to amaze me. Wednesday we went on Lambada for the snorkle trip to Anguilla and had a great time. Thursday was a rainout and Fridays forecast was iffy so we just stayed at Pelican. The weather turned out great and we had a great last day.<br><br>LUNCHES- Saturday after arrival lunch at Ric's Place. Always good and since we stay at Pelican real close. Sunday Mr. Busby's for great ribs. Monday Kali's at Friars for more great ribs. Tuesday at Bikini Beach was good. Thursday at Le Galion{sp} at Marina Royale was great. Try the steamed mussles they were fantastic. Friday at the Beach Bar at Pelican was OK for a burger.<br><br>DINNERS- Saturday at PLP was great. Hope the new owners do as good a job as you have done Neil. The service was great!! Thanks Sean. Sunday at Turtle Pier was as good as I remember. Mondays late lunch made dinner wine and cheese on the balcony overlooking Simpson Bay same thing Thursday. Tuesday was Rancho for great steaks. Wednesday we went to Tutta Pasta. Second year in a row and we love it even more. Thanks again Contessa for this gem. Friday we went to The Hideaway at La Vista, again for the second year in a row and I can't say enough about this restaurant. If you have never been here you are missing something special. Sorry we didn't get to meet Piet. Maybe next time Peter.<br><br>BARS- Since Amazing Grace says I have never been to a bar I didn't like I can't give fair assessment here. Had a great time at PLP. Listened to music a few nights at Lees. Had drinks at Banana's 2 nights and met Bob for the first time. Had a great time, if you are listening thanks Bob. And for the only down story of the trip Sunset Beach Bar. We stopped there Thursday at around 4pm to watch some planes. I don't know the name of the bartender who was on but she was the shorter of the two and she worked until 5pm. She was great. The bartender who came on at 5pm was frazzled by 5:15. I ordered a round and asked if she could make an Absolut and lemonade. This was not a problem for the day bartender but she looked at me and said with an attitude "well I can" just kept staring. After about 10 seconds my reply was " does that mean you can but you don't want to or will" Followed by what was the worst drink ever made and more attitude. We left after that and on Saturday after we checked our bags at the airport we drove by intending to stop. We were going to have a goodbye drink and wait for our flight to land. As I pulled up I noticed she was on and and just turned around and went to Turtle Pier. Next year if we see her tending bar I will do the same thing<br><br>Sorry if I rambled[img]/images/icons2/laugh.gif[/img] I guess I remembered more than I thought I would[img]/images/icons2/laugh.gif[/img][img]/images/icons2/laugh.gif[/img]. As usual it is great to get back to the USA but in a few days I am sure we will both be wishing we were still in SXM