St Maarten 2013 April 11- 21

Day 1

Flight from Norfolk to Charlotte on time and uneventful
Flight from Charlotte to SXM delayed 1 hour after plane change due to no radar
Car rental from Kenny didn't have our Toyota at airport picked us up in van and took to pick up corolla at someplace behind cruise ship pier. Check in at Alamanda at around 4 nice first floor room 110
Off to find a cocktail first stop new Bikini Beach, didn't care for the vibe headed to the original Bikini Beach for happy hour and some appetizers cheese and fruit plate and snapper fingers yum.
Dinner was in Orient Village at Le Piment pasta dishes and a 4 cheese pizza yum again. Early start and the travel lead to an early night.
Day 2
Woke up early to great weather. Continental breakfast is included at the Alamanda so we dined on French bread and croissants, coffee, and fresh juice. Spend the day at Kakao since the chairs are free for the guests at Alamanda. Walked down to have lunch at Andy and Cheryl’s which to us is like comfort food being originally from New Jersey. Back to the Kakao for more beach, beer, and cocktails. Dinner consisted of some pizza in the room from La Piment. Great first full day!
Day 3
Transfer day. Again enjoyed our breakfast at Alamanda; we really love starting our SXM vacations there due to the great staff and location. There is no better feeling than walking across the access road and having your feet in the sands of Orient Bay. Check out smooth and easy and we are on our way to our villa on Plum Bay. This is a real reach for us as we have spent all of our previous SXM vacations at either SBMR or the Royal Palm. Arrive at the villa and we are extremely pleased as it was just as presented on the website. It is a 3 bedroom villa with a 4th bed in the second floor screened it porch. It is right on the beach with no seawall and has a terrific view of the beach and bay from the pool and patio. Head out to Porto Cupecoy for lunch and provisions. Lunch at Ernest and Fidel’s was great despite some service issues with training some new staff. Grocery shopping at the Le Gourmet Marche, selection and pricing not as good as some of the other places we have shopped but there a price you pay for convenience. Unload the groceries and it’s off to the airport to pick up the rest of the gang and an additional rental car. Dinner at the villa as we prepared London broil on the grill. Relaxing night catching up with good friends and enjoying the ambiance of our new surroundings.
Day 4
Up early for a trip to pick up pastries and bread at Sarafina’s for breakfast which was about 15 minute drive from our villa. Spent the day enjoying the beach and the pool, cooked lunch and dinner at the villa. Nice relaxing day with a beautiful sunset over Plum Bay. The stars and moon were just incredible.

Day 5
Up early again, breakfast at the villa then off to catch the first ferry of the day to Pinel. Set up in front row off Yellow Beach as usual. Excellent lunch at Yellow Beach, pizza, salad, and fish made up the table fare. Last ferry out and back to the villa for an American meal of hotdogs, brats, and hamburgers. Some music from the IPOD and some dancing and singing on the patio by the pool closed out another great SXM day.
Day 6
Off to Karakter to enjoy Simpson Bay beach and the great food and vibe there. Outstanding lunch as usual, after which half the gang took off for an afternoon snorkeling trip to Creole Rock leaving the sensible, ambitious half to watch the waves and finish the cold buckets of Presidente. The group then headed to Aqua Mania to meet up with the slackers who spent all afternoon snorkeling. Back to the villa to clean up for dinner and then off to Pineapple Pete’s. Unfortunately for the second year in a row most of the group felt the service and the quality of the food was not as we remembered from previous visits. Back to the villa for a night cap by or in the pool then off to sleep.
Day 7
After a quick at Sarafina’s for some sweets for breakfast, off to catch the ferry to Anguilla. We failed to fit in a trip last year and some of our group hadn’t had the chance to visit the island yet. Original plans were to head to Gwen’s for the day, but our taxi driver explained take most of the beach had eroded away with a gang of eight we took his advice and headed to Uncle Ernie’s. Upon setting up in front of Uncle Ernie’s it was apparent that this business is not the same as we enjoyed in the past as the beer cooler was almost empty and they couldn’t accommodate the simplest cocktail requests. Fortunately the businesses on either side were able to keep our unruly gang satisfied. We had an outstanding lunch at Madeariman Restaurant (on right of Uncle Ernie’s looking back from the water) consisting of salads, mussels, pizzas, and burgers. The food was good and the service was incredible. We will be returning.
We also found out that the resort/hotel on the other side of Uncle Ernie’s offered free use of their pool, and Wi-Fi if you rent their chairs and drink at their bar, unfortunately the name escapes me although I’m sure someone on this board knows it. Some of our group did hike down the beach to Gwen’s and confirmed the beach is gone and they actually had to walk in the bay to get there.
Ferry back to Marigot and back to clean up for dinner. Some of the group were still full from lunch so a smaller party ventured out to Topper’s for a small bite. The food while obviously not gourmet was adequate and it remains a good value for your dollar. The only issue was they were terrible under staffed and the service did suffer but not from lack of effort from the wait staff just too many tables and not enough help. Back to villa to join the party with those who passed on dinner.


Day 8
Back to Orient as second group hadn’t had their Orient day yet. Parked at Kakao and set up shop there. Love the location clean restrooms, easy and plentiful parking, and the bartenders are easy going friendly. Again back to Andy and Cheryl’s for lunch as most of the group is originally from New Jersey. Clams and mussels ala Andy, fringles, soup, subs, and burgers were ordered and thoroughly enjoyed. Back to our chairs for more sun, water, and fun. After cleanup it was off to Le Moulin Fou for dinner. It was our first time there and I’m kicking myself for waiting so long to give it a try. The steaks, sushi, a lobster special, and a pork wellington were selected and everyone in our group of eight was pleased. The wine was wonderful, as was the atmosphere and the service. This place has just made the we will dine here every trip list. After dinner the girls strolled the shops while the guys enjoyed a cigar and a drink in Soprano’s.
Day 9
We started a little later this morning as all this relaxing was starting to catch up with the group. Quick breakfast at the villa and off to Marigot for the girls to browse the market and shops and the guys to have a beer or two at BDLG on the water at Marina Royal. It has become a Friday tradition to have lunch at BDLG (Brasserie de la Gare) for their mussels and thin crust pizza. As the girls arrived to rescue the guys from the bar we were told they only had three dozen mussels left. We quickly got seated and ordered the balance of the mussels and a couple of pizzas. The ambiance, food, and service were outstanding as usual and as the check arrive the girls left to browse some more shops and the guys were challenged to drink the after meal rum. Back to the villa for naps, swims, beach, and eventually cleanup for dinner in Grand Case.
Although we often discuss dining options in Grand Case we always seem to migrate back to Piazza Pascal as Donna and Pascal treat us like family even though they see us once a year. The food is always consistently great, the pricing is reasonable, and we seem to always have a great time with our meal. This year was no exception as our group left the restaurant with smiles on their faces and their bellies full.
Day 10
Some of the group were headed home today so we enjoyed the morning at the pool then proceed to get them checked in at the airport. After check in we headed to Sunset Beach Bar for lunch. This place is always a madhouse on Saturdays but this year we actually have very good service and a nice lunch. Back to the airport to drop off the travelers and say our goodbyes then off to Mullet Bay for the rest of the afternoon. Dinner was a smorgasbord of leftovers at the villa as we were leaving the following day and had plenty of groceries to choice from. Night caps and night swims and one last view of the stars and the moon over Plum bay.


Day 11
Up early for one last walk down the beach to reflect on the fun, food, and great friends we were able to enjoy in our favorite place on this planet. Finish packing and off to the airport to return cars to Leslie and begin our journey to Virginia Beach. Flight to Charlotte and then on to Norfolk uneventful.
Final Observations
Weather was great all trip, we had a couple of breezy days, and a lot of rain at night. First time we never found time to get to Philipsburg, missed seeing Phil at the Get Wet Bar. Never felt unsafe at any time during our stay but that might have had something to do with size of our group. Just lived through the fasted 11 days of my life, time to start planning the next trip. Thanks for reading.