This was our 6th trip to SXM and although it was short it has to rate up there with the best of them.

Travel:

Flew US Air on FF seats from BDL to SXM without incident our CLT layover was non-existant and they were boarding shortly after our arival. Got to SXM and 10 seconds after they opened the door we took a deep breath of that humid tropical air and looked at each other and we both said that "we're home". The ONLY hitch of the week was the fact that we had to wait 15 minutes for Hertz to get us but it was no big deal, sitting on the curb at Princess Julana sure beat the 45 degrees and drizzle that we left in Hartford. The trip home was just as smooth except for the fact that the plane was 1 1/2 hours late. Darn, we had to spend a little time at BBB. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />

Hotel:

This year we stayed at the Alamanda on Orient Beach and I would recommend this to anyone. Geraldine & Allan at the desk were wonderful and willing to help with any of our requests. Where else do you stay and get hugs when you leave. We stayed in room 201 which had a great view of the beach. There was a second large bedroom with it's own bathroom upstairs that we did not need but this room would be ideal for 2 couples. I have heard that some people say that this hotel is not right on the beach but the dirt road is 30 feet wide and we had an absloute unobstructed view of the beach.

Beaches:

Of course we were on Orient many days and as always it's the place to see and be seen on the island. There was plenty of sand and on cruise ship days there were plenty of people to see. The water was quite a bit warmer this year as compared to the past and that concerns many people on the the island with hurricane season upon us. I hope to god that the storms stay away. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cloud.gif" alt="" /> There was one thing that kind of steamed us on a day that there were 3 cruise ships in <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cloud.gif" alt="" /> That day we didn't feel like traveling so we decided to just take advantage of our free chairs at Kako. Being the kind of person that I am I'll talk to anybody so I struck up a conversation with a couple of people from one of the ships. We just talked about staying on the island and I was commenting on what it was like to stay for a week or 2 (this was just small talk). Well we were sitting in our chairs enjoying a Carib <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/drinking.gif" alt="" /> and this guy comes up to me to tell me that the "girl in front of me was nakid. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" /> She had her top off and my answer was "and your concern is?". A short while later an older gentleman was walking the beach CO and you should have heard all the cameras, it sounded like we were on the red carpet at the Oscars. About that time Gail and myself decided that this was not for us and it was time to move to the yellow end of the beach and pay for the chairs.

We went to Dawn Beach one day and we were amazed at what the landscape looked like. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cloud.gif" alt="" /> ALL the vegitation was gone and there was a couple of acres of dirt. The beach was beutiful and Scavengers was the best. It started to rain a little so we had lunch at a table under a sea grape tree, we had a natural umbrella, a couple of Caribs and the best burger of the week. I sure will miss this place when they pave paridise and put up a parking lot.

We also visited Mullet and I still think that next to Orient this is my favorite beach. Had 2 burgers and 2 caribs (see a trend?) there and the burgers were very good but not as good as Scavengers.

After Mullet we finally found Plumb Bay and thought that the beach has to be close to one of the nicest beaches on the Island. Unfortunately there was no shade and we were pretty well cooked so we didn't stay long but we'll be back.

Beach Bars:

Of course Baywatch is our favorite. When we stopped for lunch on our first full day Cheryl came up to with a kiss on both cheeks and said "welcome home" and we felt like it was. For lunch we had the Margarita Shrimp with a side of garlic bread to sop up the buffalo sause. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Oink.gif" alt="" /> Of course it came with several Caribs. Andy, Ross and Adrian all make us feel like we are family and we love them all. I call this place the "Cheers of the Caribbean" where everybody knows your name. Needless to say we spent many days here.

Scavengers was the same as always with the best burgers and a killer view. Oh yea, the Caribs were great too. Too bad that this area will change so much <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" />.

We spent an afternoon at the SSBB and had fun watching the planes and taking a dip on Maho Beach. The only thing that we had were some frites and several Caribs.

We also went to D Buckneer Beach Bar and met Neil. Great drinks and great burgers. While at D bar we sat on D stools and watched them lift D boat from D parking lot onto D trailer so they can put D boat into D water. All this after many Caribs. We do our best engineering after several Caribs. Neil, we had a great time that afternoon. Maybe we can see you in NYC on June 25th <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/impatient.gif" alt="" />

Restaurants:

We went to Calmos one night with our new friends Chris & Dianne we had a great tuna steak, wine, & rum <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Hairy.gif" alt="" /> It was great to meet Alex for another year and boy did he take care of us.

We spent an evening at Poulet d Orleans (sp.) and had a wonderful meal. There was only one other party on the porch that night and after dinner Tony (owner) came out and we spent the better part of an 1/2 hour sitting on the porch and talking about life in general and about growing up on the island. Tony is a great guy and our visit was a highlight of the week.

We tried to go to Bistro Caribe one night and found them to be closed for the night <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" /> I guess everyone needs a night off. We then went to L'Escapade and had a wonderful meal with a great bottle of wine all while sitting by the water. I would go there again.

We had dinner at Cote Plage in Orient Village one night and had another excellent dinner while sitting on the terrace watching the kids play. This was a very relaxing evening. We went back a second time with our other new friends Dan & Cathy for a glass of wine and some tappas since we had a big lunch at Baywatch that afternoon. Again it was a nice relaxing evening with great conversation with new friends.

We went to the TTOL party at Halsey's and had a great time. John Michael was an excellent host. The appetizers were great, the Caribs were great and the dinner menu looked excellent. Unfortunately we wanted to get back to Orient to meet up with Chris and Dianne since it was their last night so we skipped dinner. We met a bunch of new TTOL friends and we we even met a few old friends from previous trips.

The main difference with this trip was the fact that we seemed to meet many new friends. Every year we ask each other weather SXM will wear off but every time we leave the island we plot on a stradgey on how and when to get back. This is truely home for us.

Steve & Gail