TravelTalkOnline Forums Trip Reports (Read Only) SXM Trip Reports and Photos "Fun in the Sun" Week #2

Week #2

Nov.7- Awakened to sunshine once again so had breakfast in the condo and decided to go to Philipsburg to do some shopping and of course visit Golmohars, Boolchands and a few other favorite stops. We were surprised that Golmohars has been decreased in size with not as much stock as they had previously. One of the brothers opened a store of his own next door so there are two separate businesses now. There were four ships in port today, but we were surprised that there were not more people crowding the streets. Many must have stayed on board the ship or have gone on tours of the island. The merchants are hurting and say things are not getting much better even with the approach of high season.

We enjoyed a nice lunch at Cornies, one of our regular stops along the boardwalk. They always have excellent ribs, fall of the bone cooked without sauce, and served with wedge potatoes and salad for $9. Beer is only $2 everyday. We stopped at Cost U Less for our supply of beer and water and we were on our way.

Got some lovely sunset pictures from our balcony tonight before dinner and spent the evening relaxing and enjoying some tropical drinks!




Nov.8- We are on a roll here for beautiful weather! Sunshine and clear blue skies started our day and after we had a full cooked breakfast, we left to spend another day at Karakter Beach Bar. The water was warm with a few big waves and the views were magnificent. Since we had a big breakfast, we really weren't hungry for lunch, but we decided to indulge anyway . We had some delicious cruzan rum, vodka and lemonade drinks to start. I had the Mediteranean Karakter (brie, walnuts and carmelized pear on a crusty bun) with salad and David had the American Karakter (big burger with potato wedges). Again the service and food was excellent and they were busy as usual.

We left the beach around 3:45 to avoid the traffic in Simpson Bay and stopped at Market Fresh to pick up some milk. Upon arriving"home" we enjoyed cocktails on the balcony until sunset. We decided on a spagetti dinner tonight with salad and fresh baguette accompanied by a nice bottle of red wine. We relaxed for a while after dinner and then went to the Dunes Casino for a few hours of entertainment. I came out a winner tonight!



Nov.9- Another great beach day so we decided to leave early and head towards Orient Beach. There was no traffic this morning so we went via Philipsburg and arrived in only 25minutes. We decided to have breakfast at Andy and Cheryl's and it was very enjoyable as usual. Two omelettes with home fries, toast and coffee was $22 including service charge. You just can't beat the view there and the bottomless cup of coffee is always appreciated. We have never seen the beach there so scarce and the water was coming right up to the steps which is undoubtedly a huge concern. Hopefully things will change for the better as several places are unable to put any chairs out because there is no beach left.

After breakfast, we walked down to Club O and met Maureen and Larry and spent an enjoyable day there with them. Clem and Paulette and Chris and Paul also set up close by so it was very nice seeing a few more TTOL'ers. We had a hotdog platter for lunch at the Perch which was very tasty and limed away the afternoon just relaxing on the beach.

On our return from the beach, we stopped at Rima to pick up a few souvenirs and then continued home.

Dinner tonight was fish and chips at Lagoonies. The food and service was very good, but the plastic utensils were a disappointment as they were not strong enough to cut the fish properly. A stainless knife and folk would have worked wonders! There was a nice band playing tonight and the restaurant was packed with people. It seems to be a hopping place on Friday nights. There was a sign that said "closed on week-ends till further notice"so not sure why. We stayed until 9:00 P.M. and enjoyed the music and then moved on to the Princess Casino for the rest of the evening. We met SXM NORM and Betty there and it was nice chatting with them. We closed the day with cocktails in the condo. Another perfect day in pardise!



Nov.10- We had breakfast overlooking the pool. The sun was shining brightly and we had decided to go to Anse Marsel Beach today. We took Elaine and Annie along with us and Ann and Steve joined us there to spend a glorious day. The water was calm and we got six chairs under some big trees to provide shade as they did not offer any umbrellas. There were chairs and umbrellas reserved for the guests of la Domaine Hotel only. The Radisson Hotel did not provide any umbrellas either which was a surprise. However, we did have adequate shade under the tree for all that required it, so it worked out well. At lunch time we were set up with a table for six overlooking the beach and the view was amazing! We all ordered different selections from the menu and everything was very good. The total bill was $238.00 and the Euro exchange rate was very high @ 1.40. After lunch we returned to the beach area and enjoyed floating in the warm, calm water with good friends. We even managed to get Annie into the water since it was so calm. This was a real accomplishment as she had not been in the ocean for almost 10 years due to her balance problems. We all enjoyed our day here very much and worth the walk from the parking lot to get there.

We arrived home just about 6:30 P.M. and managed to miss most of the traffic in Simpson Bay.

The evening consisted of a few cocktails, followed by a late evening meal. We were going to go out to Buccaneer to listen to the music tonight, but decided to just hang out here and have a quiet evening at home for a change. A blender full of mango colodas brought the evening to a pleasant close!



Nov.11- Remembrance Day in Canada and St. Maarten Day here so lots of reason to celebrate today! Also our good friend, Sharon Harris' birthday is also today!

We had breakfast "at home" and then proceeded to go to Orient Beach to spend the day. Because of the celebrations for St. Maarten Day, the road was blocked off going to Orleans, so we turned around and took the road to Oyster Pond and got to Orleans that way. It was a bit longer drive, but a scenic route! We arrived at Orient, got a parking spot at Pedros today, and walked down to Club O. The beach was as wide as before and not as crowded today. We had arranged to meet Pam Hall on the beach today and spend the day with her. There was a brief shower around noon time and we huddled under our umbrellas for about 10 minutes and then it was over returning to sunshine. We had a lovely day catching up as we hadn't seen her since her last SXM visit four years ago. We had a picnic lunch on the beach and stayed until about 3:30 P.M.

Traffic was good coming home via Marigot today and no real traffic problems in Simpson Bay area either. We had a cocktail on the balcony and a few munchies before getting ready to go out to Sharon's birthday party at Tropical Heaven.

Sharon's party was most enjoyable and it was great meeting up with lots of people and celebrating with this special lady. The food, drinks, music and company were all first class! We arrived home at midnight with memories of another special island experience!



Nov.12- This was our first cloudy day since our arrival. We had a few showers during the night, but none during the day here. Since we didn't consider it to be a good beach day, we decided to lime away the day "at home" and catch up on a few things. Relaxing on the balcony and reading combined with having a few delicious cocktails was the highlight of our day. I have twisted my knee by stepping in a hole coming out of the water just as a wave caught me and this was a good opportunity to give it a rest in the hope that it will heal soon. Not sure if alcohol is a remedy, but I will find out soon!

We enjoyed a light lunch at home and decided to go to Pineapple Pete's for dinner as lobster thermidor was in my mind. However, this was not to be as the restaurant was full, and their was not a parking space to be found. Since we had never been to Bavaria, we saw a parking spot there and decided this was the night to try it. The food, service and everything was great there and we would definitely return. I chose the Snitzel Vienna served with salad and fried potatoes and David had the Bratwurst with sauerkaut and fried potatoes. We both enjoyed different varieties of German Beer. The food there is reasonably priced and no gratuity is added to your bill.

Following dinner , we stopped at the Hollywood Casino to make a small deposit and then returned home to enjoy a nightcap before ending the day.



Nov.13- Sunny skies welcomed us upon awakening . We had arranged to go for a day sail on the Passat today so sunshine was just what we needed. David and I had planned to go with Ann and Steve and Maureen and Larry and we were all meeting at the St. Maarten Yacht Club for breakfast. When we arrived, we joined Maureen and Larry and waited for Ann and Steve to arrive. Unfortunately Ann was sick today and so they didn't make breakfast and had to cancel the sail. We were a total of 14 people including three couples from the cruise ships in today. One of the ships was leaving at 5:00 P.M. so hopefully they made the ship as they only had an hour to get through the traffic and get to the cruise terminal! I guess some people have no concept of time when they plan these excursions!

We sailed along the coast to Longue Baie and anchored there for swimming, snorkeling and sunbathing while Mirian prepared our meal.

Lunch was a choice of chicken or fish served with salad and rice and delicious mango sauce. Wine was served with dinner and we enjoyed a large platter of fresh fruit for dessert. Beer, wine and rum punch was served throughout the morning and afternoon and a choice of coconut, marble and lemon cake was also a nice treat.

We used the motor coming back as the wind was blowing us to Saba and we didn't plan on spending the night there!
We were returned to the yacht club by dinghy after a delightful day on the water! A sincere thank you to Mirian and Pieter who are wonderful hosts to everyone who sails with them on their home, the Passat.

The evening was spent enjoying dinner at home and relaxing with a few tropical drinks. This was indeed a perfect day and a great way to end our second week on the island.