We returned last Saturday, 11/25, after one (much too short) week on SXM. This is a bit long, but here's the skinny:<br><br>Saturday, Nov. 18<br><br>It's finally here! Although it's 3:30 a.m., I don't care – we're finally outta here! The car is reserved for a 4:30 a.m. pick-up and it's off for the 30-minute ride from Manhattan to JFK. (If anyone from NY thinks that the 30-minute reference is laughable, remember the ungodly early hour.) Aside from a driver who wouldn't shut up about the election and its outcome (or lack thereof), the trip to the airport was quite uneventful. We checked in at the AA counter for our first leg to San Juan and a 6:10 a.m. take-off. The flight was very smooth except for the goon next to me sleeping and mistaking my shoulder for a pillow. A few not-so-subtle but gentle nudges took care of that problem in good fashion. Upon landing in SJU, we had a two-hour layover. Jackie had never been to PR, and I had no intention of staying two hours at the airport, so we hopped a cab and took the 5-minute ride over the to the El San Juan Hotel. The Condado and Old San Juan sections are just too far for the amount of time we would be there. We checked out the beach in front of the hotel and then sat by the pool at the open-air bar and had a couple of "refreshments". Very nice and relaxing for leg #1 of our journey. A little browsing in the shops in the hotel and it was off to the airport again. Not exactly what I would call anything close to "seeing" Puerto Rico, but better than sitting at an airport gate. After another smooth 45 minute flight, we're there!! Through customs in a breeze (but couldn't those ladies EVER once crack a smile?!) and while Jackie waited for the luggage, I ventured out into that little car rental plaza to see about our rental (we weren't in TOO big a hurry to get settled and on the beach!). We rented from Budget and their office is off-site, so once we had the bags secured we hopped in their van and arrived at their lot, did the paperwork and went out to get the car. Was I seeing things?! Could it possibly be?!! Right in front of us he pulled up in a shiny BLUE car! I said, "Awww – I kinda had my heart set on a white one." The poor chap looked at me a bit incredulously, but quickly realized that I was being facetious and that we were quite pleased that for once our car might stick out just a bit from the thousands of white minis. On to the Royal Islander (hardly a trek). My first reaction to the island? Green, green, green and clean, clean, clean!! Kudos to the fine people of SXM and the great job they've done! Now it's up to us tourists to help keep it looking that way. So, we were off to a great start, in my book. As we pulled into the Maho area I wasn't surprised by what I saw, because we had been warned. What a mess!! (The road, that is – my heart goes out to all the good people who own businesses along this short stretch and what they must have endured this past year because of that nasty "L"-named storm.) I did, however, see improvement in the road work just during the short week we were there and it should be as good as new in short order. CERTAINLY don't let it deter you from visiting this area of the island and its fine restaurants and stores. Parking is, at the moment, at a premium there. As we were approaching the right turn into the Maho strip at the end of the runway, there was a red light there right in the bend of the road, so I naturally stopped (something I learned to ignore shortly thereafter). I was promptly and unceremoniously honked at (my assumption is it was another tourist who had already learned that the red light really means nothing, or just to slow down a bit because of the road construction). I proceeded to mutter the appropriate expletive and was about to stick my arm out of the window to give him the New York one-finger salute when thankfully I caught myself just in time and realized that while not really appropriate at ANY time, it CERTAINLY wasn't appropriate here and I just needed to get with the program and let go with the mood of the wonderful place in which I found myself once again. We checked into the Royal Islander without a hitch and quickly found ourselves in unit 5202. Beautiful, nice, new, and the view from our 5th floor balcony was of the pool area with a bee-line view straight down Maho Beach and directly at Neil's Sunset Beach Bar. Hmmmmmmm, says I -- this view must be God's handiwork and our cue to quickly unpack and go straight down the beach to SSBB and sample the day's shooter (which turned out to be Surfer on Acid -- quite tasty), a couple of Caribs and then snarf down one of those great burgers (followed by more Caribs). Nice crowd there, as usual. Neil had a FANTASTIC band there that night, by the way. We watched the sunset, chatted some more with some of the folks there, went over to Cheri's for a nightcapper and since we were exhausted, called it a night. I believe the last thought to enter my head before I drifted off was, "Ah, yes – life is good......"<br><br>Sunday, Nov. 19<br><br>Today's a no-brainer. Up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (well, relatively – Surfer on Acid?!) and off to Orient. Got there early and my first impression was how much construction there was in this area, even within the past year. Good? Bad? I'm not sure. I'd be curious to hear opinions on this. We parked ourselves in front of Bikini – no particular reason, we just like the central location. Two chairs, one umbrella – $15 for the day, same as last year. Bee-lined straight into the water. Not just THE water, – THAT water. Did I mention life is good? Spent the morning lolling on the beach chair and doing absolutely nothing. Heaven. Walked down the beach to check out the state of it. It gets REALLY narrow down around Baywatch and virtually disappears in front of Pedro's – waves were lapping at the stairs that go down in front of Pedro's. It seems that if you don't want to climb over the rock jetty just past Pedro's toward Club O, the best way is to go up and through Pedro's. We didn't go all the way down to Club O, but could certainly see the beach looks in good shape down there. Since we were already at Pedro's and it was about 12:30 – what else was there for us to do? RIBS!!!!! I had been tasting those ribs for weeks and once again was not disappointed. Quite windy, though – more so than I ever remember – napkins, condiment packages and anything light that was not secured became airborne quite quickly. Baywatch was closed this day – disappointing, as we wanted to stop for a "refreshment" before heading back up the beach to "veg" away the afternoon on the beach chairs, which we did with complete success, I'm happy to report. Packed up our sandy "stuff" and headed back to the Royal Islander, where there was to be a complimentary happy hour to meet the new guests. A quick shower and we were downstairs to join the festivities. I quickly met Shirley and Glenn from this BB. What totally delightful people! Friendly, funny (and did I mention friendly?). Yep, this was going to be a good week. We also met a couple from Niagara Falls, Ontario, originally from Northern Ireland, named Mike and Mariea (no, that's not a misspelling). We got to talking and found out that they are from the same area as my father's people in Ireland and we were doomed to be joined at the hip for the rest of the week. More drinks, yak, yak, yak, and it was time for some din-din. Jackie wanted to go over to eat at Cheri's. Now, before anyone gets a bee in his or her bonnet, I'll say right now that I'm not a huge fan of Cheri's. Decent food? Yes, but nothing to write home about. Too touristy? Maybe. Too much "audience participation" and "zaniness"? I'm getting warmer, I think. Anyway, just my opinion and nothing more. That said, we decided to compromise (and ended up at Cheri's). I had a very decent steak and managed not to get too creeped out by all the silliness. I've also seen the King Beau Beau show before (see above reference, so I won't even go there)......Anyway, evening was upon us, so we headed back down to Sunset Beach Bar (that was MY part of the compromise for the dinner at Cheri's). There was another live band, not as good as the one the night before, but very good nonetheless. I spotted Neil and went over and had a nice chat. A couple of Caribs more and it was time to hit the hay once again.<br><br>Monday, Nov. 20<br><br>Not much to tell today – we hung around the Islander in the a.m. and went horseback riding (or should I say horseback walking?) from a stable just past Simpson Bay in the afternoon. Again, not really my cup of tea, but I didn't want to listen to the "You never want to do anything fun" speech. So off we went – $50 per person for two hours, which I found to be very reasonable. As it turned out, by the time we finished, my rear end had quite a different opinion about the two-hour duration of the ride. Ouch! And let me tell you that you get some really strange looks when someone asks you why you flinched when you sat down and you announce, "Because my rear is sore." All subject to interpretation, I guess....... Had dinner that night at Pizza Pasta up behind Cheri's, at the suggestion of Arnold and his mother, Fenna, who run the bar at RIC. (Great people, by the way -- that strong Dutch work ethic, but with a delicious sense of humor as well.) I wasn't too keen on the idea because the name sounded like a "chain" Italian restaurant. Boy was I wrong! Small little place and everything fresh, fresh, fresh with very reasonable prices. We ate there twice, as a matter of fact. My one regret is we didn't get to La Rosa Too during this trip. We had every intention, but it just never happened. Sorry, Enzo – will DEFINITELY be there in June!<br><br>Tuesday, Nov. 21<br><br>We made plans with Mike and Mariea (after giving them a stern talking to about not renting a car) to go to OB this morning, but we would first give them a tour, albeit brief, of the island. We left at about 9:00 a.m. and headed left from the RIC, through Mullet (no change here, folks, so I won't even go into it -- too sad) and into the lowlands. We stopped at the pullover at Baie Rouge to check it out, as we also planned to spend at least part of a day there before we left. Well, we pulled into the "parking lot" and sure enough, there were our "buddies" standing there. You know – the one with the cell phone and his friend. Our car was broken into at this spot last year – the trunk was empty and they left the tire. The lock also actually survived this one, too. I wasn't too keen on a repeat, so I told Jackie, Mike and Mariea to go look at the beach and I would stay with the car. I don't know what for, though – at 5' 7" I don't exactly cut a very imposing presence. They didn't seem too pleased with me in any event – we just sort of stared each other down until my group returned after about five minutes. We spent the morning at Orient and in the afternoon as I was getting pre-lunch cocktails for the group, I ran into Neil and Moose (our group had already had the "he's an Irish Setter/no he's not – he's a Golden Retriever, just a little dark, that's all" argument, until Neil cleared it up and proclaimed Moose indeed as a Golden Retriever). I love being right. Anyway, we spent the better part of the afternoon hanging out at the side bar at Bikini shooting the #$%* with Neil. After all, it started to pour, so what better reason (excuse?) for the group to assemble at the bar until it blows over? I don't know how it came about, but Neil is good friends with the brother of Jackie's college roommate. Too weird. But later I commented to Jackie, who DOESN'T Neil know? (Neil, by the way – thanks again for the SSBB "beer cozy". It really came in handy the rest of the trip. I'll also try to get down to your cousin Peter's place the next time I'm in that neighborhood. I still have the card you gave me.) Where the day went after this remains anyone's guess. We left Orient (I wisely had Jackie drive) and went back to the RIC for happy hour, at which point I was still happy. As happy hour progressed, we got even happier. Jackie and Mariea announced that they had to get something to eat, but Mike and I decided we were still too "happy" so we would stay at the bar and wait for them to return from dinner (they at least had SOME sense). They returned and we all proceeded to get even more happy until the night ended (don't ask what time).<br><br>Wednesday, Nov. 22<br><br>OOOOOOOO -- NOT HAPPY!! Not happy at ALL! What POSSESSED us? Live and learn, they say. Well, I'm living, but evidently not learning! Mariea and Mike planned to go into P'burg shopping all day, but I don't care for that even when I'm NOT hungover, so that was out of the question. We decided that a little jaunt over to Pinel would be nice. Jackie wanted to stop at Friar's Bay on the way, but I informed her that I didn't think my stomach or (remember the horseback riding after-effect?) other parts of me could stand the bouncing around we would do on that road. By the time we got to the ferry landing for Pinel, the skies really open up and stayed that way for awhile. This was a real hum-dinger - not the usual 10-15 minute cloudburst followed my more sun as it passed. Well, there we were in the car all closed up waiting for this mini-monsoon to pass and my stomach doing perfect triple flips with a double twist, enough to make any Olympic gymnast pea-green with envy. We ditched the idea of getting on anything aquatic, so Pinel would have to wait. Disappointing, as I really like it over there. We then proceeded to wander around the island like two feeble simpletons until someone had to make a decision. We were then in between Dawn Beach and Guana Bay. We decided on Dawn Beach, as Guana Bay tends to be very rough. The road to Dawn Beach is much better than in the past, but parts are still a bit of a challenge. There is also still MUCH construction going on around Oyster Pond so that added to it. It will be lovely when they're done, I'm sure. We parked ourselves on Dawn Beach at about 1:00 p.m. and were immediately approached by one of the timeshare hawkers (you know the spiel, "Just take our tour and we'll put your children through Ivy League universities....."). I assured him that I wasn't interested, and after the previous evenings imbibing, it was REALLY in his best interest to heed the polite warning. He got the message. The water at Dawn was much rougher than I have ever seen it, but then again, it was windier than I had ever experienced there. At this point I needed something liquid (and non-alcoholic!) so I wandered over to Ms. B's. (By the way, Bob! - Allana sends a warm and hearty hello!! She's a real sweetie-pie.) Later that afternoon the heavens opened again and along came another gully-washer, so we decided it was time to high-tail it back to the RIC. That evening we went to Casino Royale Brazilian Dance Revue with free tickets provided by the Royal Islander for our inconvenience with all the construction in the Maho area. I can't see blaming the trouble there on anyone other than mother nature, but if we got free tickets out of it, who am I to argue? A review of the show? I don't want to offend anyone, so I'll just leave it at the fact that I'm glad the tickets were free. 'Nuff said.......<br><br>Thursday, Nov. 23<br><br>Come hell or high water, we were going to get back to Anguilla on this trip! I had to see Shoal Bay again and this was as good a day as any. Feeling MUCH better than the previous day (i.e., alive), we took off at about 8:00 a.m. for Marigot to catch the ferry. Shortly after paying our $2 departure tax for each of us, we were on our way for the 20-30 min. ride to Blowing Point, Anguilla. The ferry is still $10 each way per person and you pay it right on the boat as you are crossing. Don't forget your passports, either, since this is part of the B.W.I. Once on the other side, I was approached by a gent who had a taxi van. When I told him that we wanted to go to Shoal Bay, he said he already had another couple going there and would we mind sharing the van with them. Of course we didn't mind, and off we went. We asked to be dropped off at Uncle Ernie's and picked up at 4:00. The cost is $16 for two people (not per person) each way, and you pay the driver when he comes to pick you up at the end of the day – pretty good insurance that you won't be stranded. Well, Shoal Bay Beach was just as breathtaking as I remembered it. Arguably one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. And not crowded!! How can you go wrong? Sand the color and texture of confectioner's sugar; water the color of windex – heaven. We had lunch at Uncle Ernie's – fresh grilled snapper for me and grilled chicken for Jackie. She said it was the best chicken she has ever tasted, and she's not easily impressed. At the end of the day our driver came back to get us at 4:00 so we could catch the 4:30 ferry back to Marigot. Well, when we got to Blowing Point, there were about 40 French tourists milling about waiting not so patiently for the ferry. The ensuing drama unfolded like a bad soap opera (which we stayed out of) and needless to say, we had to wait for the 5:00 ferry. I'll just leave it at that. As we were going back to the car in Marigot, Jackie mentioned it's a shame that we don't eat more often in Marigot. It is, but I have a big problem with the whole notion of drinking and driving, and I happen to like a nice bottle of wine with dinner. I know, I know, – there are no better places to get a good bottle of wine with dinner than Marigot and Grand Case, but again, it's the drinking and driving thing – I just don't go for it. Besides, we had just gotten off the ferry after spending the day at the beach and I looked like something the dog coughed up on the rug (and Jackie didn't look much better, but I thought it best not to point that out to her). So back to RIC to shower and change. We decided to go to Paris Bistro in Maho for dinner. Connie wasn't there and I'm sorry we missed her, because I've gotten some good info. from her on the gobeach board. The meal (skewered grilled shrimp and scallops for me, lamb in puff pastry for Jackie) was delicious and the open air dining was very nice. Off to the Sunset Beach Bar with Mariea and Mike (I told you earlier, by this time we were like Siamese Quadruplets), and in bed (not with them, though) by about midnight.<br><br>Friday, Nov. 24<br><br>Uh, oh – that old familiar sick feeling is back. Yes, our last full day in paradise. What to do......what to do? It was decided that we would spend at least one full day at our resort and spend some last moments with some of the great folks we met that week. Such a nice place, pity we didn't spend more time there. Too much to do, so little time. Beach, pool, more beach, Air Fence landing and taking off (never ceases to impress), lunch at SSBB, dinner back at Paris Bistro with Mike and Mariea (delicious again – mixed seafood plate in a very light saffron sauce – delectable!). Off to beddy-bye by 11:00.<br><br>Saturday, Nov. 25<br><br>Ugh! It's finally here. Time to start getting back to reality. But we don't go without a fight. Off to PJIA at 7:30 a.m. to check our luggage and pay the departure tax. Our flight back to JFK doesn't leave until 2:15, but who wants to be fiddly-foolin' around in an airport during the last few hours of a great trip? Back to the RIC and at the pool by 8:00. We hooked up with Mariea and Mike at the pool and also Shirley and Glenn a bit later for our good-byes. What great people! Down the beach to SSBB one last time, bought a t-shirt and cap. Showered and changed in Mike and Mariea's room and took off for PJIA.....can't put off the inevitable. As we were taxiing down to the end of the runway for that loooooooooooong, sad final turn to set up for take-off, we took one last look over at the beach and off we went. Sad? Very, – but all good things come to an end.<br><br>Final thoughts: It was the best trip to SXM I've ever had – it seems to get better each time. What is it about SXM that has us so under its spell? I can't put my finger on it. I believe it was Contessa who said it best in a previous post. It's just a feeling you can't explain (at least I don't feel that way anywhere else). You have to live, feel and breathe the island and its wonderful people to understand. I'll miss it, but am secure in the knowledge that I'll be back again in June. I don't know how many days that is, but I'm sure I'll start counting and dreaming about it very, very soon. I hope this report wasn't too boring. Living it certainly wasn't!!!<br><br><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Administrator on 12/2/00 03:17 PM.</EM></FONT></P>