Trip Report 10/15-22
Saturday, BWI to Miami to SXM.
Rented car from Kenny’s Car Rental. Thank you Lesley for your great service and smile. Always nice to see you first at the airport with that big smile! Rented a phone from Sharon which Lesley was kind enough to bring with the car. Thank you Sharon for also providing such outstanding service!!!
Stayed at the Atrium for the first time and loved it! Great unit, 601, recently updated with a wonderful balcony overlooking Simpson Bay.
Bahatzu for our first dinner on the island (always a MUST)-outstanding food and service as usual. The casoullette is to die for!! Great steaks! Thank you!
Sun am breakfast at Zee Best-I crave that spinach Florentine all year long!
We both had massages a Miguel Salon in the Atrium, well worth it! AAH!
ESPN ZONE at Pineapple Pete’s for Football. Great fun, even if the Redskins lost, can’t think of a better way to watch your favorite team lose!!!!! Silver, our waiter was great and Pierre was teaching his kids to fish for the first time off the pier. They caught a lot, fun to cheer them on.
Dinner in the condo that night.
Monday, Baie Rouge for the day and a fantastic lunch at Chez Raymond of skewered shrimp and lamb. Fabulous! Love this beach. Off to the Drift Wood Boat Bar. Met Rural Carrier from TTOL and had a great time hanging out. One of our favorite places on the island, and you can’t beat the prices!!! Took 25 minutes to drive back to the Atrium with traffic. Went to Pineapple Pete’s for dinner and had the lobster thermidor, yum.

Tuesday, went to Friars Bay for the first time. Beautiful place but there was an odd smell in the air. We decided to stay and we were so glad. Had a great lunch at Friars Bay Café and the beach was great. Decided to go check out the Westin, beautiful place but the road there is not good. Back to the Boat Bar and lo and behold, ran into Rural Carrier again!! Ended up having dinner in the condo again, not something we usually do twice but my husband is a great cook.
Wednesday, off to Philipsburg to shop. We only go to 4 places. Rimas first, then Mr. Tablecloth, always get great tablecloths here. Next DK Gems to say hi, get My mom earrings for Xmas and Kerry a new band for his watch. Oh by the way, they showed us the most gorgeous tennis bracelet. We held out and didn’t get it this time, probably will in May, so Vicki, if your reading this—we’ll be back!!!! Off to Gulmohars for Ma Dou Dou, spices, etc. You can’t find a more accommodating store. They are so wonderful in there and those airbags for bottles are AMAZING! All the Ma Dou Dou made it home!! Yahoo! Off to Karakters-amazing lunch-greek wrap and the special mahi mahi and shrimp. Walked to Pineapple Petes ….again, and had another good meal. Went into 3 palms to check it out for a glass of wine, beautiful deck out back with a sax player. Up to the Red Piano-first time in years going back there and loved it! Very fun!
Thursday, Palm Beach in Orient. Love the staff, the ambiance and the food. However, the surf is so much rougher here than other places. Still, one of our favorite places. Took 1 hour from Airport Road to get to the Atrium!! Unbelievable! Bahatzu for dinner again. Wonderful dinner, the special seafood pasta was amazing-they should put it on the menu all the time!! Bone in filet with veggies wonderful.
Friday, Rainstorm for 1 hour in the morning. Then beautiful. Port of Cupecoy for Breakfast at Ernest and Fidel Café, delicious! Off to Mullet-still a wonderful beach. Lunch at Daleos-ribs and chicken, great! Karakter for Jazz and Tapas-so awesome-the shrimp are amazing!! Wonderful place to spend our last evening.
Saturday, used the Atrium hospitality rooms and spent the morning on Kim Sha Beach trying to savor the warmth and wonderfulness of the island before returning to reality. Off to the Boat Bar for a last beer with Melena. Watched planes come in and went to the airport. Our flight AA at 3 pm left 1 hour late to Miami. Let me tell you, the passport control etc in the Miami airport is really far and quite the cluster!!! We will not do Miami again!! Home in Maryland by 1:30am. A very long day, so glad we had our toes in the water and sand in the morning!
Overall, one of the best weeks ever on the island and one of our best vacations ever!
Worst: Traffic—OMG-1 hour from airport rd to the Atrium was unbelievable and hey, Rural Carrier, we were not ready to stop at Simpson bay yacht club at that point, kinda needed a break if you know what I mean!
Best-Karakter-the food rocks! Bahatzu-some of the best food on the island especially for the money the service and the wonderful crew that works there! Pinapple Pete’s-good food with the friendliest, fun staff. Baie Rouge and Mullet in a tie according to us for the best water and beach, baie rouge would’ve won but the beach has been eroded and is very steep right now. (food is better at baie rouge-chez Raymond!!!)
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