It's snowing outside, so I have to post this and remind myself that I was on the beach just 2 weeks ago!!!<br><br>This was our 3rd trip. We had a few ideas about what we wanted to do this year. We didn't want to eat dinner at any place we'd been to before. With so many restaurants, we figure it could be over 10 years before we have to repeat. We also wanted to do the 12-meter sail and the rhino riders. And of course, the only other thing we wanted to do was park ourselves on the beach.<br><br>Travel. <br>USAir from Philly. Uneventful. Plane about 2/3 full (so I could sleep across the empty seats!) Our timeshare is Sunday-Sunday but by leaving 2 days earlier on Friday, we saved enough on airfare to stay 2 extra nights. A no-brainer.... <br><br>Of course, on the return trip to PHL there wasn't a gate available, they had the people mover waiting for us so we moved off the plane relatively easily. (as opposed to last time, when we sat for about 45 minutes before the people mover came ) I laughed when we saw a sign in the airport that said the expansion project was due to be completed in Fall 2002! Not gonna happen! <br><br>Getting around. We rented from Marius at St Louis Car Rental again. Met us on time, did the paper work right there at the airport in his van. We got the typical white 4-door compact (a Mazda 323, not a Corolla). Marius was very apologetic about a newly acquired dent in the back. Actually, it was a psychological advantage. Made us feel more brave going around the rotaries and through the intersection at Cole Bay-we'd be much more tentative in a perfectly new car! <br>The bridge construction was a non-issue. 2 narrow lanes. Back ups only if someone got chicken and wouldn't drive across. But heck, we were halfway across when a big garbage truck tried to come in the opposite direction. We managed to squeeze through. <br><br>There is also some construction around the bend before you get to the 'over the hill' intersection in Cole Bay. And, if you go north of the salt pond through middle region to get to Orient or Dawn on the east side of the island, there is some construction going on (just past the circle by the stadium) that you need to detour around. Overall, no problem. <br><br>Accommodations<br>Tim owns a week at Flamingo. We think of it more as our 'home base'. We don't spend much time there. We only use the beach on our first and last days. But it's clean and comfortable and very quiet. They are renovating the rooms. We had a new stove, microwave and dishwasher. <br><br>We've always have problems with the Flamingo desk staff and/or their computer system. We knew we couldn't check into our 'real' unit until Sunday. They can never manage to figure out what room is available for check in. The first room they gave us was occupied. The woman in the room barely spoke English, but from what I could understand, this was the 4th time in their 2-week stay that someone tried to give away their room. The second room they tried to give us wasn't available either. Now, in their defense, similar things have happened to me in some upscale US hotels, but still, it's a pain in the neck. <br><br>They also can never find record that we paid. So be sure to bring your credit card statement, or cancelled check, or some proof, however you pay. <br><br>Fun&Folks (and dogs)<br>Our first night there, we met up with Dicky, his famous dog Frank [img]/images/icons2/woof.gif[/img], and some TTOLers (JanTomCT) at Mary's Boon for Happy Hour.[img]/images/icons2/cheers.gif[/img] Great company, great food & great fun. I was a littled dragged out from travel and I was fighting a cold. The atmosphere at Mary's Boon is like no place I've ever been. <br><br>We also ran into Dicky and his lovely friend Lucy at Uncly Harry's for dinner one night. It was fun to hear about living and working in St Martin. They are both great story tellers. Lucy also works in the Larimar jewelry booth at Marigot market and sells vegetable ivory carvings there too. I bought some nice Christmas presents for daughters and nieces and moms. <br><br>We ran into Janet and Tom at the beach a few times too. It's a big world, but a small island! And had dinner with them another night at Hot Tomatoes and our last night at Uncle Harry's again-but more about that during my 'Food' section. <br><br><br>Health<br>I had a bit of stuffiness and a sore throat when we left NJ on Friday. Nothing that a few days of sand gravity couldn't cure. WRONG! By Sunday I had pink eye and a sinus infection! Yucky stuff! [img]/images/icons2/sick.gif[/img] I tried the pharmacy, but was told there was nothing "over the counter" I could get for my eyes. Dicky had pointed out the Dannaway clinic in Simpson Bay-across from the Shell station, near Hot Tomatoes and Ric's Place. Well, we reluctantly went there on Monday morning. We both had visions of sitting in a waiting room for hours and getting sub-standard care. NOT TRUE! Nothing could be farther from the truth. Even without an appointment, Dr. Dannaoui (pronouce Dannaway, like the phonetic spelling of the clinic name). saw me within 15 minutes. He was charming and friendly. Quickly checked me and wrote prescriptions for eye drops, antibiotics and a decongestant. The Dr's visit was a mere $25. and I paid $45 for the 3 prescriptions at the pharmacy. So, while many other have written trip reports and recommend restaurants, beaches and hotels, I would like to recommend the Dannaway Clinic and "The Druggist" pharmacy. It was a very good experience.[img]/images/icons2/thumbsup.gif[/img][img]/images/icons2/thumbsup.gif[/img][img]/images/icons2/thumbsup.gif[/img][img]/images/icons2/thumbsup.gif[/img][img]/images/icons2/thumbsup.gif[/img]<br><br>Stuff we did<br>The first few days, the weather was 'unsettled', lots of wind and more frequent rain showers, but it didn't slow us down much. We saw some awesome rainbows. One in particular was across the salt pond behind Phillipsburg. The complete end-to-end of the rainbow could be seen spanning the pond with the mountains in the background. Very beautiful.<br><br>We wanted to do the 12-meter sail and the rhino riders. Due to my illness, (and Tim was coming down with it too), we didn't feel up to the strenuous sailing activity. By later in the week, we were well enough for the rhino rides. We thought it was a blast! But be warned, this is not a ride for wimps or couch potatoes. These boats go pretty fast and hitting even a small boat's wake causes a pretty good impact. And you definitely get soaking wet. The snorkeling is fun, but to those who are big into snorkeling, you will probably be somewhat disappointed but we had a great time. <br><br>The rest of our days were spend at either Orient or Cupecoy beaches so we could sun our buns! [img]/images/icons2/blush.gif[/img][img]/images/icons2/umbrella.gif[/img] We had never been to Cupecoy because last year there was no sand and the year before (our first time) we couldn't find it. There was enough sand but the surf was very rough both days we were there. Only a few hardy souls were venturing in to the water. Janet cut her foot on a rock trying to get in the water. (hope you're foot's all better!) <br><br>To confirm others' reports on Orient: Erosion in front of Papagayo's and Pedro's, Baywatch, and Kontiki but fine at Club O in between. We went once on a big cruise day. Frankly, I don't really notice the gawkers, but then again, we sit about halfway down in front of Club O, so maybe they turn around before they reach us. We walked the length of the beach and there were a ton of kids in front of Waikiki. (I guess that was Disney's day in port!) <br><br>Money<br>In the past, we took a combination of cash and credit card. We had read about the AAA debit cards so we got a few hundred dollars on that (but brought the cash and credit card too, just in case). The first night, Tim tries to get $$ and he sticks the card in the machine wrong and it gets jammed in and we can't get it back out. The bank was just about closing, but he got someone to help us out. The guy went around back of the machine and got our card. So, except for that brief bit of excitement, the pre-paid ATM cards worked fine. We would probably do that again. But still bring some cash, credit card and my regular ATM, just in case. <br><br>Food<br>Fortunately, my illness did not affect my appetite.[img]/images/icons2/oink.gif[/img] We wanted to try new restaurants for dinner, so stayed away from places we had been in the past. We also stayed close to "home". <br><br>Mary's Boon- as I said, we had a mini-TTOL get together for happy hour on Friday and then stayed for dinner with Janet and Tom. Lobster Creole. Mmmm. The server brings the platters of food and you serve yourself (so you can pick out all the big chunks of lobster!!) You have to make reservations because they only have one thing on the menu, so they only make enough for whoever's coming. The menu changes each night of the week. We talked to folks who had eaten there on other nights, and they raved about it. <br><br>Uncle Harry's - twice. Richard aka Dicky recommended this to us. It was worthy of breaking our don't-repeat-a-restaurant rule. It's a local sort of place. It reminded me of places when I lived at the South Jersey shore. The kind of place that us locals would go to and eat crabs and clams and drink beer. Uncle Harry's is in a boatyard across from the airport. It's on the water, just a few picnic tables and a bar. Our first time there, we had to wait a while to eat because there were two large parties and everyone was getting lobster-the kitchen is very small. But that was the night we ran into Richard and Lucy and the 4-legged Frank, so we had good company and didn't mind the wait. Besides, we're on vacation, what's the hurry? [img]/images/icons2/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/icons2/thumbsup.gif[/img] Great chicken skewers with Thai peanut sauce, which I had. Tim stole the rest of my peanut sauce and ate it with his Mahi Mahi. The second night there, Tim and I split a lobster. We'd never had one of those whole Caribbean lobsters. They partially boil it, then split it and put in on the grill, brushing it with oil and spices. It was wonderful. So for those who've had dried out grilled lobster and didn't like it, try it here. They do it right!<br><br>Hot Tomatoes- I was probably at the worst of my pinkeye & sinus infection on this night [img]/images/icons2/sick.gif[/img], so I don't remember much. We ate with Dicky and Tom and Janet. The brisket was melt in your mouth good. <br><br>La Vie en Rose- I've read good reviews about this place here, so we tried it. It is a beautiful place with wonderful food. [img]/images/icons2/thumbsup.gif[/img] It was a very quiet night, only 2 other tables of patrons. We sat on the balcony overlooking the street. Many of the other restaurants on the waterfront were almost empty. <br><br>Peg Leg Pub- We had pigged out [img]/images/icons2/oink.gif[/img] on Andy's mussels at lunch so really didn't want to eat dinner, but we figured if we didn't, we'd wake up starving at 2AM. So I had salad and an appetizer. Again, we were affected by 2 large parties in the place, so it took a bit for someone to take our order, but once they did (with mucho apologies for keeping us waiting), the food came out immediately and it was good. <br><br>Paris Bistro- Maho across from Royal Islander. I rarely hear this place mentioned, but it is great! French. Delicious food, beautiful presentation, attentive service. One of our best meals this year. Tim had tuna and I had salmon. Both wonderfully done. [img]/images/icons2/thumbsup.gif[/img] <br><br>Le Galion- In Marigot marina. This was our best meal. [img]/images/icons2/thumbsup.gif[/img] I love eating at the marina. We walk around, read all the menus, get the waiters to woo you into the place. I guess some people would feel put off by the pressure, but we just play along and have fun. I had the most wonderful grilled grouper in some kind of garlic butter. Even the rice on the side was delicious. [img]/images/icons2/thumbsup.gif[/img] <br><br>Lunches<br>MaTi Beach - Nettle Bay. This place was recommended to us by a couple we met. They've been coming to St Martin for years and always go there for wonderful grilled fish-we had snapper and grouper. Sit under a palapa and watch the bay. Bring your binoculars and try to pick out landmarks in Marigot across the water. <br><br>Andy&Cheryl's Baywatch - Orient. Being from NJ, of course we have to go. Cheryl is always very welcoming and seems to know everyone that comes in. Our advice-go on Thursday and have the mussels. YUM! <br><br>Papagayo's - we had never eaten here, and we didn't feel like walking up the beach. Nice salads. Nothing to write home about, but a decent lunch. <br><br>Talk of the Town - Grand Case. One of these days, we are going to get to Grand Case for dinner. But after a day at the beach, we rarely feel like driving that far for dinner! But we LOVE the ribs at Talk of the Town. [img]/images/icons2/oink.gif[/img][img]/images/icons2/oink.gif[/img][img]/images/icons2/oink.gif[/img] <br><br>Lee's - We ate here while waiting for our flight. We just had to compare the ribs, and we still like Talk of the Town much better. <br><br>The grill guy at Cupecoy.(Danny?) Good yummy barbecue chicken. No side dishes. <br><br>Overall<br>We both loved having the 2 extra days. It gave us time to get settled and then still have a full week of vacation. (of course, I'd love more time, but we have to work for a living)[img]/images/icons2/thumbsdown.gif[/img]<br><br>And, we are already talking about coming back sooner than next Nov. Tim has a bonus RCI week that he has to use in 2003. We had started planning a late spring trip to Mexico, south of Cancun, but we are re-thinking that and maybe we'll be back to SXM!!! <br><br>I started out thinking that this was going to be a short report. So thanks for making it to the end.[img]/images/icons2/clapping.gif[/img]<br><br>Diane & Tim<br><br>