First, I would like to say thanks to TTOL and its friends for providing a priceless resource of knowledge to help make our trip and two previous trips such a success. I’m embarrassed to say, we put off doing trip reports after our first two trips to SXM, in 2000 and 2002, and swore not to let it happen again…. Especially after meeting such nice people on the island and wanting to express our thanks to them and the services they provide.
Now, to try to give back just a little of the wealth of information I’ve gotten from the board. As I said, this was our third time to SXM, all being the same time of year, our wedding anniversary, this being our 20th! What a place to celebrate with such a wonderful woman.
I never use a travel agent, just set everything up myself….. airline tickets, rental car, cell phone rental, lodging, etc. all before I leave. Just wish I had already set up a snorkeling trip beforehand. We put it off until we couldn’t find one on quick notice. I wanted to use Bluebeard III but was under repair.
Flight down:
The trip down on American Airlines was uneventful, Nashville to Miami, then on to St Martin. We always watch
http://www.aa.com and when the prices dipped, we bought. Felt lucky to get round trip tickets for $505 each…. Cheapest ever.
Car Rental:
We always refuse collision damage coverage since it’s covered by my VISA card, but you have to refuse it. And we always accept the liability coverage. It doesn’t cost that much anyway.
Just like Michael of Unity Car rental said, we were met just outside the airport by a friendly smile and a sign with our name on it. Michael’s assistant had our luggage loaded up and in a flash, we were at Unity where Michael had the paperwork all ready. Then he broke the news to us….. no more rentals were left in the class we wanted…. so a FREE upgrade was in order. We got an awesome classy ride, a Hyundai Sonata, for CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP!!! I mean it, we were in there and out in hardly no time at all. And leaving was just as quick. Thanks Michael! You are just too kind. Guess who I’m gonna rent from when we go back.
Michael – You da Man!!!!! Thanks!
Cell Phone:
Next stop was to pick up the cell phone. We met Sharon Harris at Royal Palm for a great deal on a cell phone rental. She is such a sweetheart too. It would have only taken minutes but I got to asking her about restaurants and stuff and she was only too happy to try and answer any questions a came up with. Sharon was so kind and her love for the island so inspiring.
Esmeralda:
Now on to Esmeralda. We were disappointed to find that they had not held the unit we had requested and they had agreed to by email (happened to have a copy of the email with me). They were about to put us in a unit allot further from the beach than where we had requested but after some scrambling around, able to get one a little closer. When we checked out, they notified us that they are having a rate increase next year. We’ve always stayed at Esmeralda, but next trip, we may consider another place.
Weather:
More rainy and cooler than usual. My wife, Claire, had to wear a sweater most nights when we went out to dinner.
Beaches:
Because of the weather, we only went to the beach, 5 of the 7 days and always Orient. We did go to Cupecoy and took a few pictures. Lovely beach but just not Orient with the shops, bars, and people. I worried about the car while we were down at the beach. The parking is not the best and you wonder who may be lurking about.
Breakfast:
We usually ate breakfast at our apartment except one morning we had an awesome breakfast at Coco beach. Claire had an omelet, which she raved about, and I had the American breakfast…. Bacon, eggs, fresh, and I mean fresh fruit salad, delicious, and a croissant. Fair enough price.
Baywatch:
For lunch, we went to Baywatch and met Cheryl and Andy. What sweet, sweet people they are. They made us feel so welcome and treated us like family. When I walked in, I only noticed one Tennessee license plate and told them we didn’t have enough representation. Before leaving on our trip we stuck an old TN plate in our bags just in case. Andy said bring it back and he’d stick it up. Andy kept us in stitches with his wit. He made this awesome chili while we were there and gave us some to put on our burgers. Oh, and I brought back some homemade hot sauce that was hot, hot, hot but sooooo good on my burger.
Cheryl and Andy – Thanks again and congratulations on your marriage!!!
Dinner:
Thursday night – Talk of the Town
Friday night – Turtle Pier
Saturday night – Peg Leg Pub
Sunday afternoon – La California then Cheri’s
Monday night – Talk of the Town
Tuesday night – Turtle Pier
Wednesday night (anniversary night) – Peg Leg Pub
Turtle Pier:
We ate at Turtle Pier twice….. simply awesome. When we think about going to St. Martin, we always think about the Coconut Shrimp at Turtle Pier. It was one of our first stops for dinner. We met the owner, Al Wathey. What a nice guy. It was obvious how serious he is at making Turtle Pier one of the best restaurants on the island. The shrimp were absolutely marvelous….. fat, juicy served with a perfect sauce. Claire and I were both in heaven. I had asked Al, what his favorite dish was. He likes the Ginger Duck. We just had to go back and try it. The next visit Claire got the shrimp again, but I ordered the Ginger Duck with rice and peas. Simply awesome!!!!!! Now, I’m dreaming about the Al’s Ginger Duck at Turtle Pier, instead of the shrimp.
Claire and I must have talked to Al Wathey for an hour. I hated keeping him from working, but he was such an interesting man….. Born on the island and schooled in the States and maybe Canada, I think. We talked about our kids and we all got to missing them. His children are in the States going to school and/or working. I can’t say enough about how much we enjoyed getting to know Al.
Talk of the Town:
What else can you say….. great food, great price, friendly people. We had ribs, shrimp, fish, slaw, potato salad…… all as tasty as it gets. Served with plenty of smiles.
Peg Leg Pub:
Peg Leg was a first for us, but wanted to try it since it got allot of positive remarks on TTOL. Good idea! The fillet mignon was excellent! Claire and I had it both times we were there. Both times, it was cooked to perfection…. Pink on the inside and not charred on the outside. And the flavor was awesome…. Not to mention tender. Why don’t my steaks turn out like that?
While there, we met Shawn Buchanan, the head waiter. His attentiveness and kindness is the reason we decided to go back for a second helping of that fillet. Shawn is another jewel of the island. It’s obvious he loves his job and people, and it shows when he works.
La California:
One of the many fine French restaurants in Grand Case…… lovely restaurant, great atmosphere, great service, good food. We always try to go to one ‘fancy’ restaurant each trip. We had tried La California in 2002 and was good enough to make us want to go back this trip. Claire got some kind of pork loin, I got the lamb with all the fancy fixin’s….. still wondering if I had said, "Them’s some fine vittles!", they would know what I was talkin’ about.
Shopping:
We met Deepti at DK Gems International!!!!! What a sweetie! We mentioned TTOL, asked her how her New Jersey trip went, and promised her we would write this trip report. We bought a necklace for Claire’s sister, who stayed with our kids while we were gone…. Gave it to her and didn’t mention the great deal Deepti gave us on it. Deepti is very kind to TTOLer’s. DK Gems on Front Street is definitely worth the trip if you are looking for jewelry.
Deepti - I know you are gonna read this. Hello again and thanks, thanks, thanks!
The boardwalk is nice. Always fun to walk down Front Street, but everything in the shops aren’t bargains. I bought some binoculars at Boolchand’s and had to haggle to get the price down if I paid in cash. When I got home and checked a popular sporting goods mail order catalog, they listed for $5 cheaper. Oh well, I saved a little on shipping maybe. I guess you gotta know what you are buying.
Cigars:
I checked all over the place and followed Al’s suggestion. (Al Wathey, owner of Turtle Pier) He sent me to see Mike at Lucky Too Gift Shop, off of Front Street, beside Kangaroo Court near the Philipsburg Courthouse. Mike has the best price, and you get exactly what you are paying for, no imitations or counterfeits. I can still smell that cigar room now.
Observations:
The island looked cleaner and more progressive than ever although there were several power outages…. One during the day at Esmeralda and while we were grocery shopping beside the loop, there were three before we could get out. That is a nice grocery, by the way. Parking was easy and very well stocked.
Traffic is still a problem. Not quite as many suicide jockeys on motor bikes…. Saw more on bicycles and they drive just as crazy.
Went to the market in Marigot on Saturday, but the rain had people closing up early. It’s always worth the visit though.
Cheri’s is always fun….. why do I always get picked on. Had the lead singer dressed like Tina Turner sitting on my lap. Claire Laughed so hard.
We don’t do the casino thing…. Walked in the one across from Cheri’s and donated $10 to various quarter slot machines while there. Not once did I hit or hear anybody else hit while we were there. Some people were having a pretty good time at the craps table though…. Don’t know if they were winning or not.
Last Day:
We ate the biggest omelet I’ve ever seen at Hot Tomatoes….. tasted good too. It’s really a nice looking restaurant. We were in a hurry and the waitress was very kind to hurry up our order.
Michael was just as fast at getting us back at the airport as he was at checking us in. I just can’t say enough about Michael at Unity.
Check-in went smooth. No problems and everyone very nice. The airport looks very nice since our last visit. The departure tax was included on our American Airlines tickets…. No need to pay when leaving.
The flight back again was uneventful other than a 30 minute hold up in Miami. Went through customs no problem. Back to Nashville by 10:30PM and in my own bed by midnight.
Closing:
I didn’t mean for this to be so long but I want to say again, thanks to TTOL and the people we met on the island for making our trip so successful and enjoyable. I only hope some may find our report useful as I have found others so useful. Every time we go to St. Martin, we say that we want to return the next year. For some reason we’ve had to skip a year between each visit for one reason or another. With our oldest starting college a year from this fall, I don’t know when we can return, but will look forward to the next time we can visit the ‘Friendly Island’.
On closing, I want to share with all of you a song that always brings my thoughts to St. Martin…. Maybe you will get something from it too. Captain Jim’s Drunken Dream by James Taylor.
http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Delta/9082/CaptainJims.mp3Respectfully,
Nick and Claire
