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Belated trip report 11/30--12/14 #211665
12/17/2019 02:59 PM
12/17/2019 02:59 PM
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 2,106
Southport, North Carolina, US
candj Offline OP
Traveler
candj  Offline OP
Traveler
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 2,106
Southport, North Carolina, US

We were scheduled to stay on the island from November 30th through December 14th. But thanks to American Airlines, we were delayed a day and arrived on the island December 1st. Our plane out of Wilmington had a nail in the tire and it took 5 plus hours to replace the tire and we missed our connection flight. We were rerouted through Philadelphia on Sunday the 1st.

We arrived on the 1st and rented our car from Thrifty. We stayed at the Simpson Bay Resort and the room was great and housekeeping cleaned the room twice a week. We picked up our basic supplies at the Market Garden and then finished our food supplies at the Carrefour’s in Cole Bay (nice store). We brought our own reusable bags as they charge for bags.

We eat at all the normal places; Pineapple Pete’s, Toppers, Yacht Club, Buccaneer Beach Bar (BBB), Greenhouse and Taco Macho. The happy House and Bang Bang shrimp at the Greenhouse are always good. The chicken and beef tacos at Taco Macho were great and reasonable (3.50 per taco). The burgers and ribs at BBB were great. The chicken kabobs at Toppers were probably the best meal we had on the island.

The traffic was terrible, the worst we have seen in years. We missed the yacht crashing into the bridge but I am sure that screwed up traffic for a while. https://www.newsweek.com/superyacht-crashes-bridge-control-booth-1477491 . It took us 2 plus hours to get from Orient beach to Simpson Bay Resort going through Marrigot and through Simpson Bay. We still like going over the hill and back behind Philipsburg as the best (fastest) route to get to Orient from Simpson Bay. However, there is a detour in Orleans that has 15 speed bumps that will shake your teeth.

Orient beach was great the first 9 days but then the December winds came and they were strong. The beach chair rental was humorous. We arrived at 9:00 AM and were able to rent the chairs and umbrella for the weekly rate of $120. Our friends arrived at 11:00 and the club O guys were no longer offering weekly rental. So our friends talked to Colin , right next to the Club O umbrellas, and he charged them $100 for the week; 2 chairs, umbrella and table. The beach was in great shape and lots of sand and not much sea weed. There was little change in the Club O property. The regular road to Club O was a disaster and we started using the road through the back of the beach, which was much smoother and less big pot holes.

We missed the protest on December 12th and 13th but some of our friends were trapped on the French side. We couldn’t go to Club O on the 12th and 13th as both roads were blocked by burning trash and tires in the middle of the roads. Garbage cans and old cars blocked the roads along with hundreds of protestors; bad situation.
Both the arrival and departure from the airport were crowded but better than in 2018. I would guess that only about 40% of the airport building is being used, but there is air conditioning. It went smoother than we were expecting.

Our flight home on Saturday the 14th, through Philadelphia, was great. We cleared customs and rechecked our bags in less than 20 minutes. We do have Global Entry and they may have helped.

We are already looking forward to our next visit in May 2020.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!


Fair winds and following seas!
SSN691-May She Ever Prowl The Seas in Defense of Human Freedom!
SSN787-Preserving Peace, Prepared for War
SXM Sponsors
Re: Belated trip report 11/30--12/14 [Re: candj] #211676
12/17/2019 03:43 PM
12/17/2019 03:43 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,482
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
Traveler
Carol_Hill  Offline
Traveler
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,482
Central Florida!
Thanks for the report!! Sorry about the delayed arrival. That really stinks, having a day of your holiday taken away. Glad it overall was a good trip though!

Happy holidays to you too!


Carol Hill
Re: Belated trip report 11/30--12/14 [Re: candj] #211714
12/17/2019 06:13 PM
12/17/2019 06:13 PM
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 17,477
Ohio
ruralcarrier Offline
Traveler
ruralcarrier  Offline
Traveler
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 17,477
Ohio
Thanks for the report and sorry you missed a day.


J.D.
Re: Belated trip report 11/30--12/14 [Re: candj] #211722
12/17/2019 06:31 PM
12/17/2019 06:31 PM
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 2,288
P
PelicanPirate Offline
Traveler
PelicanPirate  Offline
Traveler
P
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 2,288
Nice report

Re: Belated trip report 11/30--12/14 [Re: candj] #211736
12/17/2019 07:31 PM
12/17/2019 07:31 PM
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 14,635
Brookfield, CT.
pat Offline
Traveler
pat  Offline
Traveler
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 14,635
Brookfield, CT.
Thank you for sharing your trip. We’re only back just under a month yet it seems like a lifetime ago, ergo any and all trip reports are hugely appreciated.


Respectfully,

pat



"Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat
them."
Re: Belated trip report 11/30--12/14 [Re: candj] #211759
12/18/2019 06:30 AM
12/18/2019 06:30 AM
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 4,864
Portland, OR
jazzgal Offline
Traveler
jazzgal  Offline
Traveler
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 4,864
Portland, OR
Thank you for your report.


[Linked Image]
Re: Belated trip report 11/30--12/14 [Re: candj] #211760
12/18/2019 06:49 AM
12/18/2019 06:49 AM
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 389
East Haven, CT
Wingman Online content
Traveler
Wingman  Online Content
Traveler
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 389
East Haven, CT
Thank You for your report. Sorry you missed a day, I'd go crazy with that. I'm sure once you arrived, all was good.

Re: Belated trip report 11/30--12/14 [Re: candj] #211765
12/18/2019 08:41 AM
12/18/2019 08:41 AM
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 2,106
Southport, North Carolina, US
candj Offline OP
Traveler
candj  Offline OP
Traveler
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 2,106
Southport, North Carolina, US
Originally Posted by candj

We were scheduled to stay on the island from November 30th through December 14th. But thanks to American Airlines, we were delayed a day and arrived on the island December 1st. Our plane out of Wilmington had a nail in the tire and it took 5 plus hours to replace the tire and we missed our connection flight. We were rerouted through Philadelphia on Sunday the 1st.

We arrived on the 1st and rented our car from Thrifty. We stayed at the Simpson Bay Resort and the room was great and housekeeping cleaned the room twice a week. We picked up our basic supplies at the Market Garden and then finished our food supplies at the Carrefour’s in Cole Bay (nice store). We brought our own reusable bags as they charge for bags.

We eat at all the normal places; Pineapple Pete’s, Toppers, Yacht Club, Buccaneer Beach Bar (BBB), Greenhouse and Taco Macho. The happy hour and Bang Bang shrimp at the Greenhouse are always good. The chicken and beef tacos at Taco Macho were great and reasonable (3.50 per taco). The burgers and ribs at BBB were great. The chicken kabobs at Toppers were probably the best meal we had on the island.

The traffic was terrible, the worst we have seen in years. We missed the yacht crashing into the bridge but I am sure that screwed up traffic for a while. https://www.newsweek.com/superyacht-crashes-bridge-control-booth-1477491 . It took us 2 plus hours to get from Orient beach to Simpson Bay Resort going through Marrigot and through Simpson Bay. We still like going over the hill and back behind Philipsburg as the best (fastest) route to get to Orient from Simpson Bay. However, there is a detour in Orleans that has 15 speed bumps that will shake your teeth.

Orient beach was great the first 9 days but then the December winds came and they were strong. The beach chair rental was humorous. We arrived at 9:00 AM and were able to rent the chairs and umbrella for the weekly rate of $120. Our friends arrived at 11:00 and the club O guys were no longer offering weekly rental. So our friends talked to Colin , right next to the Club O umbrellas, and he charged them $100 for the week; 2 chairs, umbrella and table. The beach was in great shape and lots of sand and not much sea weed. There was little change in the Club O property. The regular road to Club O was a disaster and we started using the road through the back of the beach, which was much smoother and less big pot holes.

We missed the protest on December 12th and 13th but some of our friends were trapped on the French side. We couldn’t go to Club O on the 12th and 13th as both roads were blocked by burning trash and tires in the middle of the roads. Garbage cans and old cars blocked the roads along with hundreds of protestors; bad situation.
Both the arrival and departure from the airport were crowded but better than in 2018. I would guess that only about 40% of the airport building is being used, but there is air conditioning. It went smoother than we were expecting.

Our flight home on Saturday the 14th, through Philadelphia, was great. We cleared customs and rechecked our bags in less than 20 minutes. We do have Global Entry and they may have helped.

We are already looking forward to our next visit in May 2020.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!



One thing we forgot to mention was the water in front of the Atrium on Billy Folly Road. Every day there was water about 6 inches deep and 200 feet long in front of the Atrium. There was only the far side of the road that was passable without water hitting the bottom of your car. There was only one lane that could get by and the on-coming traffic had to wait. This existed even when there was no rain and it really got bad when it did rain.


Fair winds and following seas!
SSN691-May She Ever Prowl The Seas in Defense of Human Freedom!
SSN787-Preserving Peace, Prepared for War
Re: Belated trip report 11/30--12/14 [Re: candj] #211766
12/18/2019 09:02 AM
12/18/2019 09:02 AM
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 656
Maine
SXMbeacher Offline
Traveler
SXMbeacher  Offline
Traveler
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 656
Maine
I hear it's that way a lot of the time. It rained hard a couple mornings in April and it was just as you described for at least a couple days.




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