Here's our trip report. It's a bit long, but hey, its tough to decide what to leave out from such a fantastic trip.<br><br>Nov. 5th<br>As always, I can hardly sleep before leaving for our 6:00 a:m flight out of Chicago. First leg of flight (ORD to Miami) was uneventful, but the Miami To SXM leg was a different story. In a nutshell, we had a young man from SXM ,sitting in the isle seat next to us, that was paralyzed from the waist down. He had been injured in a car accident on SXM. He could not get comfortable, he was feeling sick and, even though Shirley was constantly helping to keep him covered with blankets, he could not get warm. Nothing we did to try to help him seemed to work. The airline called ahead and had medical personnel there to take him right off the plane first. Seeing what that young man was having to go through sure makes you want to count your blessings and also reminds you not to get too caught up in the, sometimes, crazy driving we see on the island and forget our defensive driving skills. Now on to good stuff. Went through immigrations quickly and since we had carry-ons only, we were out of the airport in no time. Was met by someone from AAA car rental and walked across the street to pick up our car. There is a story I have to tell about our renting from Alain and AAA so please bear with me. For last years Nov. trip to SXM we had booked a car through AAA but when we got there we were switched to different rental car company (Alain was having his legal problems then and was not available to be there at the time)I believe it was Sears rental cars. We had a bad experience with the other rental company. Over charged us, couldn't get ahold of them, and wouldn't take care of a flat tire. After we got home last year I emailed Alain about our displeasure with our rental experience. He called us at home and apologized and offered us a complimentary rental for our next visit, even though he was not the one that gave us the poor service. So we had a free rental car for this trip.<br>Picked up our car, made one stop @ Ky Fried to pick up a bucket of chicken and then a bee line to Club O as it was only about 3:00. Quick check in, change into my beach attire and to the beach! Met several of our friends for some hugs and hello's. Just walked down to Pedro's for an early dinner. The honeymooners, Mike & Tracey were there so I bought them the drink I had promised them on the TTOL. In bed and crashed shortly after 7:00.<br><br>Nov.6th<br>Up early and to the beach to watch the sunrise. Walked beach around 6:30. Back to unit for breakfast of fried chicken & braunschweiger(sp?) on crackers (yum). To the beach early. Great morning for rays. Lunch @ Baywatch. Took Andy an extra license plate I had for his theme decor -<br>(NKD BEAR). Calamari for me, Chips and Nacho cheese for Shirl plus several BBC's. Great lunch. Back to beach. A few showers moved in around 2:30. Went to SunsetBeach Bar to watch sunset & have a few drinks before dinner. Met a friend of ours there and had several drinks(the kamakaze shooters were great)plus met and had a nice visit with Neil. Cheri's for dinner. Chicken stir fry for Shirl, Steak and Lobster tail for me. Both very good. Dolphin Casino after dinner. No luck . <br><br>Nov. 7th<br>Early walk. Same yummy breakfast. To our spot on the beach. Showers moved in about 11:00 lasting about 45min. Baywatch for lunch (we just fell in love with Cheryl & Andy and the crew during this trip). We split chicken fingers & some onion rings ( both excellent). Andy already had my license plate up for display. Some afternoon sun. Dinner @ Mario's (good). Back to Club O by 9:30.<br><br>Nov. 8th<br>Early walk (shortened by the ankles I didn't take very good care of in my younger days stiffening up on me ). Same breakfast ( I should mention Shirl stuck with the traditional roll or croissant all week). Pulled early again to our domainon the beach by the sand gravity. Baywatch for lunch. We split a Philly Steak sandwich & onion rings & a couple of drinks( all excellent). While there, Neil from SSBB stopped by and joined us. We had a nice long visit and enjoyed getting to know him a little better. Back to a little afternoon sun, then wine & cheese party where we met Bill_S. Dinner @ LePetit Pizzeria in Cul-de-sac. Appetizer, large veggie pizza, basket of bread, 2 coctails, 1 beer and complimentary after dinner drinks for $26. Very Good <br><br>Nov. 9th<br>Tiko-Tiko day. 3 couples (including us)and 3 singles. A great time had by all. This trip was different than last years in that it was not as wild as last. We enjoyed it just as much, but it was definitely different. We all did the mud bath and all got a kick out of that. That evening some of our Tiko-Tiko comrades rode with us to SSBB for a fun evening of conversation,drinks, and sandwiches.We had a great time. Back to Club O around 10:30.<br><br>Nov. 10th<br>Up early. Tried to walk beach again but just got to kontiki before had to turn around (#@&%$^' ankles). Same breakfast. To our spot on beach @ 8:45. WHAT A GLORIOUS BEACH DAY! It was beautiful. Baywatch for lunch. Bill_S & his wife Linda joined us. Shirl & I shared some ribs and chicken fingers (all excellent)& drinks. Beach in the afternoon. Happy Hour @ Club O with one of our new friends from the nude cruise. Then to Turtle Pier to have dinner with some other friends. We love the conch fritters @ Turtle Pier and they were excellent this time also. But the rest of our meals were just so so,and the service was terrible. I want to think this was an isolated incident as we normally enjoy our meals there. Went to Dolphin again, and again no luck. Did get to watch a fellow that had a blackjack table reserved just for him. When I first started watching him he was betting $1000 ea. hand. Later when I went by to look he was playing 5 hands of $2000 ea.. Out of my league. On the way back to Club O, coming into Marigot from Cole Bay, we were stopped by a roadblock set up to stop cars at random. After looking at my drivers license & asking a question in French that I did not understand. They sent us on our way.<br><br>Nov. 11th (our anniversary)<br>Up early. Same breakfast. To beach @ 8:30. Hot day that day with no breeze. Spent more time in the water cooling down and spent my first time of this trip under an umbrella this afternoon. Lunch @ Baywatch with a friend of ours and a couple from Canada we had met during this trip. Split an Italian hotdog & Chicken fingers and drinks( all excellent). A little shopping after lunch then back to beach and under umbrella ( hottest day I can ever remember during our visits to SXM). Happy Hour and dinner @ Papagayos with several friends. Excellent meal (maybe best of trip)and great conversation. Plus the karaoke that evening that was entertaining. Plus to make it even better one of our new friends bought our meal (for our anniversary). A great great evening.<br><br>Nov. 12th<br>Slept in till 7:00. Pastries for breakfast. Then to-da-beach. Another hot one(oh, I love it). Today is P.R. cruise ship day and the gawkers are thick and loud. Lunch @ (you guessed it) Baywatch (man we love that place)Ribs & calamari. Back to the beach for the afternoon. Security was kept busy this day with picture takers and gawkers. Another couple that are friends of ours (they rode out Lenny with us @ Club O)had arrived late Sat. and we had arranged to take them to dinner this evening. First went to Turtle Pier for drinks and conch fritters (they love them too). Then to Cheri's for dinner. Mahi-Mahi for Shirl & shrimp & lobster tail for me. Both very good. Casino Royale to lose a little more money. Then the ice cream shop for a little sweet indulgence[img]/images/icons/oink.gif[/img] before calling it a night.<br><br>Nov. 13th<br>I got up real early, 5:15. I can feel that,it's about over, melancholy feeling was hitting me. Went to the beach well before light and was rewarded with a magnificent sunrise. after breakfast went to the beach early and hardly sat all day instead spending our time visiting those coming up to us. Lunch @ (you know where) with 2 other couples. Shirl had roast beef sandwich & I had the best bacon cheeseburger. A great lunch with good friends. A little more shopping there then back to the beach for more visiting. To Marigot in the evening to pick up some jewelry Shirl had brought to have sized & repaired, then back to Grand Case to have dinner with another couple. We were suppose to meet @ L'Alabama for dinner, but they were closed. So we went next door to Le Cottage. Excellent meal and great conversation. Shirl especially loved the pineapple soup for dessert. Back to Club O around 11:00<br><br>Nov. 14th<br>Last Day. Shirl & I up early to watch sunrise but because of more cloud cover it was not as spectacular. Beach early for a few last rays. Went for an early lunch, by ourselves, and were rewarded with Cheryl (Baywatch)having the time to sit down and visit with us during our lunch. Chicken fingers & onion rings for Shirl & another bacon cheeseburger for me. Back to the beach for final goodbyes. Left Club O in time to go to SSBB for a drink and to watch some planes come in. Checking in @ airport went smooth & quick and the new air conditioning in the waiting area was a nice change. Smooth uneventful flight back to reality.<br><br>OBSERVATIONS:<br>1.)The law enforcement and security presence was much more visible than I had ever seen.<br>2.)The island was the cleanest we had ever seen.<br>3.)Beach on Orient was much smaller than we had seen.<br>4.)Maho area- what a disaster- we feel sorry for the businesses in that area.<br>5.)BAYWATCH on Orient- What a find! Great food, Great people. Andy's a great guy, telling jokes and showing great care in putting out quality food. And Cheryl, what a sweetheart! We really fell in love with her.<br>6.)Sunset Beach Bar- This was the first year we had went there & we ended up going 5 times this trip! Great place. Neil is a great guy with a good head for business on his shoulders. Definitely a must do for any trip to SXM<br>7.)We were very surprised with our Sat. evening dinner @ Papagayos. The quality of the food was equal to or better than any we had on the island & the portion size was more to the liking of this midwest hearty eater.<br><br>Another great trip to my favorite place on this earth.<br><br>Dan <br><br><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Carol_Hill on 11/28/00 05:02 PM.</EM></FONT></P>