Trip Report May 12-19, 2012
Direct flight from Dulles to SXM on United at 8:20am. Uneventful flight, landed early. Thru customs and immigration in no time, got bag and out to meet the guys from Unity. We have always rented from Lesley Bruce at Kenny’s car rental, but since we were having friends come this year, needed larger car than his corollas. He sent us to Michael at Unity, and as everyone on this sight posts, they are wonderful. Got our Hyandai Tucson and off to Sharon’s to get our phones. Got to Caravanseri to check in. Two days prior to leaving, we got a voice mail from RCI stating that our reservations for 2 one bedroom units had been CANCELLED!!! They booked us in a building that has not been built yet! They were putting us in 2 studios. My husband was able to speak to the powers that be at Caravanseri and they were kind enough to give us two one bedrooms! WHEW!
Off to the boat bar to for our first of many beers for the week. Saw Melena and Tiffany and felt at home and relaxed immediately! Watched our Canadian friends plane land and drove over to get them. Dropped bags off in the room and down to Marty’s Dream Bar for drinks. That Marty, what a hoot!!! Grand Marche for provisions and cleaned up for dinner at Bahatzu. Jene and Bobby have sold the restaurant, but are still there helping the new owners in the transition. All 4 of us had wonderful meals, cassoulette, caesars, filet, red snapper and mahi mahi. Wonderful wine selections and a great time! Over to Sopranos to sing a little and continue the party. Bed by 12. A full day for all of us.
Sunday, May 13-
Breakfast in our rooms and gave our friends a tour of the island. Stopped at Paradise View to say hi to Bernadine and see how she was, as well as turn our friends onto Ma Dou Dou. I think we created monsters!!! Got a pint for the room. Off to Orient to Bikini Beach for drinks and chips and guacamole. Continued the tour up to Grand Case for a decadent lunch at California. Crepes, tuna sashimi, mussels, Caesar with shrimp, wine. Fabulous!! Now, off to Mullet to jump in the water—AAHHHHH!!!! Drove to the boat bar, grand marche and had a delicious meal in the unit of baguettes, gouda, meats, olives etc! Another wonderful day on the island.
Monday, May 14-
Off to Port of Cupecoy for breakfast. Didn’t realize most of the restaurants are closed on Monday, but had a nice breakfast there. Off to my personal favorite, Baie Rouge. Sat on Gus’ side this year. Water was wonderful, ambiance great. Had a platter of ribs split by all 4 of us. Off to the boat bar to say hi and then Marty’s for happy hour. He had all you can eat pizza from Sopranos brought in for $10 a person followed by Karaoke. The pizza was really good, for whatever reason, we don’t usually eat pizza on the island, but it was delicious. Brought the Ma Dou Dou down to the bar and lets just say, it was quite the evening with Karaoke! Who sings Pink Floyd and Queen with Karaoke??? It was quite hilarious and fun. Sorry to all of you serious karaoke people out there, we just kinda got silly, I think it was the rum!
Tuesday, May 15-
Breakfast in the room. Off to Karakter. Water wonderful, except our friend lost his glasses in the water. My guess is that happens a lot there! There is something decadent about having rose wine on the beach in SXM. Lunch was delicious, Greek wrap, burger, salad and grouper. Stayed on the beach til 4pm, which is late for us! Having too much fun I guess. Pineapple Pete’s for dinner. Crab stuffed shrimp, jerk chicken and pasta, grouper times 2…and wine. Ronny Santana playing with his blues band. Great atmosphere and fun. Had to show our friends the Red Piano. Ok, that was enough for one day!

Wed., May 16-
Breakfast at Café Atlantico. Great spot with wonderful food. Quiche, croissant, omelette and crepes. Overcast and raining some. Off to Philipsburg to shop. All four of us hate shopping, but there are some things you must do on the island. Rima’s first. Then, trying to find a parking spot was almost impossible in town! The Municipal Lot was full, we almost gave up and luckily found a spot on the street after much searching. Well, to get us in the mood to shop, went to Holland House, one of our favorite places for wine and hummus. Ok, we can shop now. DK Gems to say hi and pick up a gift and left our jewelry to be cleaned. Down to Gulmohars for much needed Ma Dou Dou to take home. Love this place! The airbags for the rum are great! Didn’t know they were reusable, will bring them back next time. Bought a lot of stuff there and they were nice enough to hold it for all of us while we continued shopping. Mr. Tablecloth is another of my favorites, got a tablecloth and now done. But, the jewelry probably wasn’t ready yet so off to Hard Rock for a beer. Most of the shops and bars were closed since no ship in! Back to Gulmohars to get our loot and DK Gems to get our jewelry. Our rings, etc, look as beautiful as the day we bought them there years ago. They truly are a wonderful group of people! Off to Simpson Bay Yacht Club to watch a huge yacht go thru the bridge. Quite the sight! It has been raining off and on all day. Decided to stay local so walked over to Taco Macho for dinner. Really good food! The chicken soup (believe it or not) was one of the best things I’ve had!!! It’s not your typical soup, I would highly recommend trying it, you won’t be disappointed. Fajitas, enchiladas, and Patecones all really good. Decided to walk up to Casino Royale and try 3 card poker. Walked away ahead!!!
Thursday, May 17-
Our 15th anniversary! Off to Palm Beach. Windy and rough surf. Then the rain came!! Ran under cover and my crazy husband orders a magnum of Rose. We had a fabulous lunch, Caesar, seafood salad, tuna sushi and chicken burger. All absolutely delicious. Resort for naps and off to Tropicana for our anniversary dinner. Nadeesh was off, but a nice surprise that Christoff was there. Got our table on the water and proceeded to have a phenomenal meal. We all split the escargot, spring rolls and gazpacho. Filets, seafood pasta in lobster sauce and orange roughy. Deserts were amazing, crème brulee, lemon tart and chocolate thing. Amazing meal, great ambiance and the service was superb, which is why we always go there for our anniversary!
Friday, May 18-
Up at 6:30am to drive to Captain Oliver’s Marina in Oyster Pond to charter the Sun, from Sun Charters. Jerome was our captain and Fernando, first mate. What an amazing day we had on the water. Snorkeling, swimming, hiking with Jerome taking us over to the other side of Tintamarre and Pinel. It actually rained off and on and we didn’t care! We had a complete rainbow, boths sides, I have never seen that before. Unfortunately, my camera didn’t pick it up. Drove straight to Pineapple Petes for burgers. Back to the units to clean up and think about packing. UGH!
Sat. May 19-
Pouring down rain from 7 to 9:30am. SSBB for breakfast and watch planes. Dropped our friends off at the airport and returned the phones. Unity to return car and Alvin and Anthony drove us to the airport, they are some funny dudes! Our plane had a mechanical problem so we left 1 hour late. Back at Dulles by 9pm. All good things must come to an end…..
Overall, great week, fun to have “newbies” on the island with us after all these years of going just us. I think they are now hooked on the island too. People still super friendly. The island was clean and Mullet looks SOOOO much better. The mosquitoes were the worst I have ever seen. The Mustique (sp) repellent I got at the pharmacy really helped. More rain than normal, but we didn’t care! Traffic not too bad, except in Philipsburg. Nothing compared to Oct with the Welfare Road Construction!
Sorry this is so long, but felt I needed to post it, as I am one of those people who “lurk” on TTOL all the time, and feel I need to repay you all for all the help over the years. Thanks for reading and can’t wait to go back!