This was our sixth trip to the island. We normally visit in the Fall, but decided to add a trip in the Spring this year.

We woke up very early to catch a 7:00 a.m. flight from Providence to Charlotte to SXM. Checked in and when we arrived at the gate, Jo-Ann noticed that mechanics were working on the plane (not a good sign). <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/hammer.gif" alt="" /> At 6:15 US Airways announced that the flight would be delayed due to mechanical difficulties for approximately 1 ½ hours. This meant that we’d probably miss the connecting flight in Charlotte. We ran back to the ticket counter and were very lucky to get on the Philadelphia flight which was leaving at 7:30 a.m. (and arriving in SXM earlier). We even got First Class tickets for the first leg of the flight “for our inconvenience”. Thank you US Airways.

Arrived in St. Maarten at 2:00 p.m. and were greeted by Pack Light Rentals. We rented two beach chairs, an umbrella, a cell phone and a $10 phone card. Bob was nice enough to call Unity for us (since we arrived earlier than expected). The beach chairs worked out great. Marc cannot sit at the beach for longer than a couple of hours at a time (too hot and sometimes too boring), so renting the chairs for $25 for the week was a great deal for us.

We normally rent through Hertz, but decided to use a local rental company this trip. Unity was nice to deal with and we would not hesitate to refer them to others. We received a silver Toyota Corolla that was in nice shape (just a few scratches). It wasn’t very powerful, but it ran well.

We then stopped at the Lido in Cole Bay to pick up food and beer supplies.

We rented a room at Le Galeon, Caribbean Nature, in the Oyster Pond area. It is a small naturist guest house (only 4 rooms available). The owners of the resort were on holiday in France, and we were greeted by Michel and Eva, friends of the owners. They were very hospitable and we had a fun time brushing up on our French. Our studio room was lovely and the views of the ocean and Coralita Beach were fantastic. There is a very nice pool on the property and since we were the only guests staying for the week, we had a lot of privacy and relaxation time at the pool (pool gravity?). Our only complaint about the room is that it does not have an air conditioner and it did get very warm in the room. We tried to keep the doors open as much as we could, but then the mosquitoes were a bit of a problem (no screens). It was somewhat cooler on the private patio, so we spent quite a bit of time sitting outside and enjoying the marvelous view. From a naturist standpoint, we felt that Le Galeon is a nice alternative to Club O.


The weather was great all week. It rained one morning for about ten minutes and the rest of the week was sunny, but a little windier than we’ve experienced in October. On our last two visits to Orient Beach we got a bit sandblasted – no fun. So we returned to the wind-protected privacy of our guest house pool.

We visited Cupecoy Beach a couple of times to avoid the wind. There was quite a bit of sand on the beach and Jo-Ann thinks Cupecoy is one of the most beautiful beaches on the island. We tried to locate Plum Beach, but had no luck finding it.

Restaurants and Bars: For this trip it was our goal to visit places we had never been to before. We were also trying to keep costs down, so here’s the rundown of places we visited:

La Petite Auberge des Iles – Marigot Marina Royale: Jo-Ann and Marc both opted for the price fix menu. It was an excellent meal. Bruno was a wonderful host. Service was great. We met a nice young couple from Indiana who were on their honeymoon and we chatted with them for a while. It was a very nice evening. We highly recommend this restaurant.

Le Frigate in Oyster Pond: The former owner of L’Escale (didn’t catch her name) opened this restaurant six months ago. It was conveniently located near our guest house. The food was very good, the prices excellent, but the service was painfully slow. The owner is hostess, waitress, and bartender (and the restaurant was very busy the night we were there). They offer pizza, Italian food, and French food. Jo-Ann had Rack of Lamb, Marc had a Veal dish and we shared a bottle of French rose and one Crème Brulee. The bill, which included the 15% service charge was under $50. Great deal if you want a long, relaxing meal.

Pineapple Pete – Simpson Bay(?): Jo-Ann had coconut shrimp and Marc had Roasted Chicken. Both meals were very good. Reasonable prices, nice casual setting and our waiter was friendly and efficient. The Lobster Thermidor special, priced at $28, looked scrumptious. Good place.

Mark’s Place: We had wanted to try this Restaurant 10 years ago when it was located in Cul de Sac. The mussels were excellent and plentiful and Marc enjoyed his club sandwich. Service was a little slow, but it was a Friday night and the place was busy.

Turtle Pier – Simpson Bay: We stopped here for lunch before heading for the airport. The fish sandwich was very good and the Conch soup was excellent. We also got a mini-tour of the hotel. The rooms are very nice. The pool area, however, did not appear to be kept up. There were lots of leaves and debris in the pool. Hope it was just a bad day – we’ll be staying at The Royal Turtle for one night in October.

Get Wet Bar – Philipsburg Boardwalk: We stopped here for lunch. The restaurant is owned by a Canadian gentleman who stopped to talk with us for a few minutes. The food was good and the location is great for viewing the Cruise Ships in port.

Le P’tit Pizzeria – Cul de Sac: We weren’t very hungry one night, so we split a ground steak pizza at Le P’tit Pizzeria. The pizza was good and hit the spot.

Barefoot Terrace – Oyster Pond: We normally cook breakfast in our studio, but decided to try Barefoot Terrace for breakfast one day. Good food, fine service and the prices were excellent (all in the $5 range).


Lolos:
Talk of the Town – Good ribs, great location.
Lido Parking Lot – Cole Bay: We enjoyed their Ribs more than those at Talk of the Town. Prices were excellent. Two plates, one of ribs and one of chicken, each served with huge side orders of scalloped potatoes and rice. We added one order of ribs (for lunch the next day). All for $13.00.
Johnny B’s Under the Tree: We drove by on Wednesday night, but they appeared closed. Johnny must’ve still been in New York. We’ll try to stop by in October.

Bars:
Dinghy Dock Bar, Oyster Pond Marina: Dinghy Dock was within walking distance of our guesthouse. This bar has great happy hours, great atmosphere, and fun people working there. We mixed our own drinks and enjoyed this place so much, we returned again later in the week. After each visit, we did not want to drive, so we prepared dinner in our studio.

Kissing Fish Bar @ Summit Resort: Before heading to dinner in Marigot, we stopped for a drink at this bar. Chloe & Thiery are a lot of fun! Thiery makes the best popcorn and he even gave me one of Jeff Berger’s bumper stickers. We’ll definitely return here on our next trip and stick around for Thiery’s hamburgers. We just missed their happy hour, and the people at the bar were having a great time. Location is fantastic – the view of Simpson Bay is lovely.

Sunset Café: Nice setting, pleasant bartender. The restaurant and bar were both very busy.
There was no breeze at all the day we visited, so the bar area was very hot. We didn’t stay long.

Mr. Busby’s, Dawn Beach: Nice setting, inexpensive Caribs, but the bartenders (all women) had no personalities. We tried to engage them in conversation, but they weren’t interested in talking, even though it wasn’t busy. We would’ve stayed a little longer, but the atmosphere just wasn’t pleasant enough.

The Perch @ Club Orient: Stopped here for a few drinks during Happy Hour 12:30 – 1:30. Good drinks and the location can’t be beat.

Miscellaneous Notes:
We tried to visit Deepti @ DK Gems, but we were in Philipsburg late Sunday morning, but many of the stores were not open yet. Deepti, we’ll visit you in October.

We missed the TTOL party on Saturday night. We had a few too many drinks at the Dinghy Dock.

Our dinner at La Fregate took so long, that we didn’t go to the Full Moon Party. Jo-Ann was very disappointed.

We were able to shop at the Ma Dou Dou store after our second attempt in driving there. We enjoy the Vanilla Banana flavored rum.

Jo-Ann was able to buy home made Coconut ice cream from a woman’s roadside stand in Marigot (across from the cemetery). Yummy!

Found out this trip that we both enjoy French Rose Wine. It is nothing like the US version of Rose Wine. We found it too hot to drink Merlot or Cabernet and the French Rose was not sweet at all.

The trip home, was uneventful – Thanks goodness

Again, it was a wonderful trip. We love SXM and look forward to our next trip in October.