Spent ten days on St. Martin after a week on St. Bart’s (see General Caribbean Board report). Since we came in around noon before the large planes arrived, going through immigration was a breeze. We rented a car - our first time from Michael at Unity. Got a silver-gray Corolla and were very pleased with price and service – we’ll see him again next year. As we have done for a number of years, stayed at Grand Case Beach Club and again were highly satisfied. Very nice to be greeted like old friends by so many people, and we did appreciate our upgrade from an oceanfront studio to one with a loft. The third floor location affords not only privacy but also a really nice view. Compared to last year, Petit Plage has suffered significant erosion and is much narrower, especially at the far end. The main Grand Case Beach, however, has picked up a bit more sand. Water still comes up to the sea wall in spots at high tide, but there is room for many more beach chairs. Still far from a few years ago though when you had plenty of sand on which to walk from the hotel to the far end of the village. Although these beaches are nice, we usually wind up spending most of our beach time elsewhere. We enjoy the included breakfasts at the Sunset Café, although they are very simple baskets of bread and croissants etc.

I won’t go into day-by day activities – can’t remember them in order anyhow. We generally spent the morning or the afternoon - sometimes both - at a beach, usually Orient, where the refurbished Perch is a big improvement and we were pleased to see Willie there. Be even better when the restrooms are done “in a week or so”. Maybe by now they are in. Also good that the sand has returned. Of course, it gets a few cruise ship passengers out to see the sights. Had our entertainment there during a Perch happy hour when a fully dressed gentleman, obviously from one of the ships, bought a beer and sat down at one of the tables on the deck. A few minutes later a similarly fully dressed lady rushed up, said something loudly in Spanish that I could not understand, but the meaning of which was obvious, as she literally dragged him back up the beach as fast as she could go. Only if she had taken him by the ear could it have been funnier. The only other beaches that we spent any time at were Dawn, the Scavenger’s end - missed Marla there both times we visited (hope to see her next year), and L’Embouchure (Le Galion)). Dawn is very nice if you want someplace with a casual beach bar and not too many people – much more peaceful and a change from Orient (at least on our days there). L’Embouchure can be busy, especially with families on weekends. Enjoyed our first visits to Pat Turner’s Tropical Wave there. Another good beach bar.

We went to the St.Maarten Zoo for the first time in about 4 years. It has been improved and enlarged, especially in the way of birds. Understand that a number were received from the Parrot Jungle, which closed during the past year. Also went into Philipsburg on Saturday afternoon - when there were no ships in port - to take a look at the new boardwalk. We almost never go there any more, except at night to a restaurant. The boardwalk and the St. Rose Arcade are certainly well done as attractions for cruise passengers, and a drink at a beachside bar here is a pleasant experience; we opted for Taloula Mango’s. However, we don’t go to the Caribbean for boardwalks and shopping arcades. They certainly don’t give a sense of place, though I realize that this kind of thing is necessary to attract the mass tourism that St. Maarten seems to be relying on.

Restaurants visited this trip were mostly ones we have been going to regularly. Mark’s Place for conch stew (twice) - also good Creole chicken. We don’t usually sample the rest of his menu, though my wife did try the Crab Farcie and a super-sized salad on one of our visits and really enjoyed both. For quality and price Mark’s is hard to beat. Also hard to beat is the really warm reception afforded us each year! Some people are turned off by its location in a shopping center with a parking lot outside, but you don’t notice this once inside. La California, once for something on their regular menu, mahi-mahi in a ginger-mango sauce (delicious), and seafood kebab, and once for their Bretonne (sp?) crepes which we don’t get anywhere else – they also leave us room for dessert. They were giving a 1:1 exchange rate, by the way. Le Mambo, which still has the best Assiette Creole, in our opinion, as well as a good French menu; is small and attractively done, and Maryline is a very gracious hostess and her husband, Eric, an excellent chef. This is a place that should get more attention as the food is not only very good but also a little different. While they didn’t give a 1:1 exchange rate, it was about 1.1 : 1, which is not too bad. They were closed the night we originally planned to go, so went instead to Marigot and Le Bistro Nu - lucky, as had we followed our intended schedule we would have found them closed for the next month. This is another favorite; a very tasty ostrich dish and conch stew, with shared goat cheese salad appetizer. Always good to see Jean Claude. Yvettes, our favorite for truly local food, remains high on our list. My wife especially likes the Creole stew shrimp. Shiv Sagar is our usual island stop for Indian food and again did not disappoint. We were able to park right across the street, which is comforting in Philipsburg at night, although there did seem to be security patrols around. Incidentally, Grand Case had lots of security people on the street. The only new restaurant for us was Hot Tomatoes, which we went to for pizza – very good, although not quite as good as Andy’s on St. Bart’s. We were disappointed that Warung Bali will no longer feature Indonesian cuisine, as it is under new ownership and the food will be more traditional. We could not find the new location of the Wayang Doll; perhaps someone can advise us. We did stop in to Spiga for an after dinner drink as someone else had suggested in a trip report. A good suggestion. We will likely add this restaurant to next year’s list.

For some reason, we had more lunches out than usual this trip – normally we have something in our room as we are light lunchers anyway, and it is very convenient to have a kitchen. Besides Scavenger’s, where the veggie burgers and salads are delicious, and being served in a very low key setting make for a very relaxing lunch, and Tropical Wave, which we recommend, we had one lunch at Papagayo’s, where service was good although prices are high, and Peg Leg Pub. Here, although we went late when there were few other people there, service was another matter. Although the waitress took our order and brought drinks promptly enough, food preparation seemed excessively slow even on Caribbean time. We would have been p****d if we had had other plans for the afternoon; as it was we were just p****d because we were hungry. Our now traditional departure breakfast is a Ric’s, after we have checked in at the airport and before we return the car. It has become such a tradition that we are recognized from year to year! My wife had her first Rhum Jumbie in the airport departure lounge; fortunately the plane left on time or she would have gone back and finished the bottle!.

Miscellaneous comments: The shortcut in Cole Bay that bypasses the T-junction at Cole Bay Hill is convenient, but some of the turns in it must be made on instinct the first time through. Kids on bicycles are the road hazard here, evidently practicing for motorcycles on the main roads when or if they grow up.
We did not encounter any mosquitoes. However, someone we know in Grand Case was recovering from Dengue fever, so it only takes one.
Weather was good although quite a bit of haze and cloud. Some rain around on Sunday; otherwise showers were mostly at night.
Did not get to the Marigot Marina , and in fact our only stop in Marigot at all was a quick espresso at La Vie en Rose.
The Orient Bay Village construction seems to keep going – one has to wonder about the impact of all this building on the eventual character of the beach. Actually, the number of housing developments occupying what was empty land on the French side just a few years ago is striking.
The trip home was uneventful. Until next year – count down has already begun!