This was our second trip to SXM w/our friends Rose and Keith (R&K). First trip in 9-02. Shared a 2-BR @ Towers at Mullet Bay. Here are the reportables:

1. Flew on U.S. Airways via Charlotte. No problems.

2. Weather was great - mid 80's plus, mostly sunny, and a steady breeze. Rain one night, we think.

3. The condo at Mullet was spacious and attractive - plenty of room for two couples. Manager's party on Tue. incuded my favorite - deviled eggs.

4. Spent a portion of most evenings at Atlantis Casino. They have a $10 for $10 deal each day which was fully used. Atlantis is the favorite of R&K who have spent time at most of them.

5. Watched the NCAA final at Sunset Beach Bar (SSBB) on the big screen. Friends back in Mich. saw us on the bar webcam.

6. Went to Orient three times and set up shop in the CO area. Usually got there around noon and had to scrounge around a little to find four chairs and two umbrellas, but were successful each time. One thing still puzzles me - why is the urinal in the Papagayo men's room so high off the ground? Felt like a first grader in the varsity locker room!

7. Traffic was not as bad as feared. Were never in any lengthy tie-ups. The roundabouts help. Understand the gov. has purchased land at the intersection where you go up the hill to P-burg from Simp. Bay to build another roundabout. That should help also.

8. Went shopping in P-burg on Mon. Front Street and the dock area have been improved and made much more pedestrian friendly. After several stops wound up at Royal Jewelry which is our favorite. Vince and Rahkee are a pleasure to deal with and the missus satisfied a major tanzanite bling-bling fix. A new watch for me.

9. Went to Bamboo Bernies Wed. night. Ladies drink free mudslides or frozen marg's. Big crowd, great DJ, and interesting people watching. LOTS of fun! Perhaps a few too many frozen marg's for some in the group, or was it the second hand Jamaican gold?

10. Caught a beautiful sunset at SSBB and enjoyed the c-burgers. There's a little stand at the other end of Maho Beach that has good burgers as well.

11. Spent an afternoon at SSBB watching the planes land. Received a major full body sand blast exfoliation compliments of a KLM 747. An awesome sight, and sound! SSBB is now my favorite hangout, even though I enountered no topless ladies drinking "4 free".

12. Our friends, R&K, have a timeshare at Pelican in Sept. and we decided to go over and casually check out timeshares ourselves. Lo and behold we wound up buying one from Ursula who was very patient and offered a deal we couldn't refuse. We got a 2-BR for week 13 in the Deifenbaccia (sp?) section which is where R&K have their's. This will definitely help get us through Jan, Feb, and March in Mich.

13. Our favorite restaurant on this trip was La Gondola at the Atlantis casino. Upscale Italian and very memorable. Had a great Argentenian beef filet at Captain's Cove at Pelican. Also, spent time in The Red Piano at the Pelican listening and dancing to tunes played with gusto on, of course, a red piano. Drinks were reasonably priced as well.

14. The new airport terminal cannot be built soon enough. Looks to me like close to two years away.

That's probably plenty to bore you. Basically, it was another great time and we are already thinking about week #13 in 2006