Reflections of the best 2 weeks of my life.
August 4-18, 2005

The flights - We flew USAirways, PIT-CLT-SXM. In the early planning stages of our trip we knew that we wanted to travel midweek, in order to avoid the Saturday congestion at PJIA and to hopefully get a less expensive ticket. As it turned out, we used FF miles and didn’t have to purchase any of our 3 tickets.

In the week prior to leaving, I read a thread on TTOL about doing carry-ons only. We decided to try it, snorkel gear and all. We had success for the trip down, but on the return flight, they would not allow the overstuffed bag to be carried on, so John was forced to make a quick repack (had to get the rum out of the carry on) and check his bag. Other than having to wait for the checked bag, there were no problems until we got to Pittsburgh. After waiting for all of the luggage to come off the plane, we found out that his bag was still in Charlotte. Then more delays in filling out the paper work. By this time it was already close to midnight and by the time we waited for the shuttle and got to our car, we ended up having to pay for another day’s parking. The bag was delivered the next day. Other than the bag incident, everything else about all the traveling was rather uneventful.

We arrived on time at around 3:00pm, and there was no crowd at the airport at all. After getting our Nissan Platina from Tropical-Tropicana, and our rental chairs and umbrella (which we ended up not even using – will explain later) and cell-phone from Packlight, we were on our way to the Alamanda.

The Alamanda Resort
I don’t think we could have chosen a nicer place to stay. With the help of Jim and Mary Ruos of Caribbean Island Travel Service we decided on an oceanview duplex at the Alamanda. We knew that we wanted to stay on Orient Beach and we were looking for a place that would sleep 5. We had originally planned for our 2 adult sons to join us, and when that didn’t work out we considered rebooking to a smaller, less expensive place, but decided to keep our reservation. I wanted to have a view, we wanted a pool, and the summer special – pay for 5 nights, stay for 7 – made the decision pretty easy for us. The view was somewhat limited due to the growth of the vegetation, but there was a view, nonetheless. I also loved sitting on the terrace, listening to the surf hit the beach.

The entire staff was wonderful! Everyone, from the reception, to housekeeping, to the girls who greeted us with breakfast each morning, was quite attentive. There were 2 young men in particular, Allan, the assistant resident manager, and his cousin Ludwig. They worked in the evenings and did anything they could to meet our needs. The only drawback to our room was the fact that it did not have a blender. (We were aware of this when we made our reservation.) My wonderful husband, knowing how much I enjoy my Guavaberry coladas, was all set to buy a blender, but because we were on the French side with the 220v situation, he wasn’t sure where to go to purchase one. That evening when he asked Ludwig about it, Ludwig told us not to buy one; we could use his from home for the 2 weeks that we were there, which we did!

We were in room 222. If you are looking at the hotel from the beach or pool area, it is the room tucked away in the right hand corner of the building. I imagine that the rooms are all very similar, but the one thing I loved about this room was the view from the bathroom. Most of the rooms appeared to have a louvered window in the bathroom, but our room had a full window, opening up to a view of the courtyard in the Village. As I sat in the tub early one morning, shaving my legs, I thought that I should open the blinds to take in the view. Then I thought that I should open the window. I then proceeded to fill the tub and enjoy a soak with a delightful view of the courtyard, the palm trees, and the mountains in the horizon with the clouds drifting by - even a rainbow one morning. I ended up doing this several times during our stay. One morning I even saw someone we had met on the beach walking through the courtyard and ended up having a conversation with them, while I enjoyed soaking in the tub! These baths were truly one of the best parts of my vacation.

Nearly every morning, John and I woke up between 5:30 and 6:00 and walked the entire length of the beach watching the sun rise up over the clouds in the horizon. I can’t even begin to describe how beautiful and serene it was. After our walk, we would have breakfast at the Café Alamanda. The ambience was delightful! The garden setting, the tropical breeze, even the wildlife (small birds and lizards) all added to the charm of this place. The breakfast consisted of a large fruit cup, a basket of croissants (regular and chocolate) and toasted baguettes, coffee/tea, and your choice of juice (I developed a love of guava juice – John even devised a new colada for me– we call it a Guava-Guava Colada!). For an additional charge, one could also order an ‘American’ Breakfast (pancakes, French toast, or eggs, with bacon). The cost of the continental breakfast was included in the room charge, but unfortunately won’t be with next year’s new rates. Also included in the room charge, were the free use of beach chairs at Kakao Beach Bar. We never used them, but overheard some other guests complaining that the Alamanda guests were assigned to the back corner rows of about 3-4 rows of chairs.

I Wish I’d Taken French in High School and College
One of the considerations for this trip was to experience the Caribbean French culture. I knew ahead of time that communication would not be a problem and that simply and politely using a few phrases would go a long way. But I must say that early on I really did feel like the illiterate American. Our close proximity to the Village, where nearly everyone was French and spoke French (one of the beach bartenders even referred to it as ‘French Enclave’!) and the fact that many of the hotel guests were French did leave me in a bit of culture shock.

I Wish I’d Paid More Attention to the TTOL Thread on Doctors
Several days into our trip, our daughter started getting sick. She began complaining of a headache and sore throat and fever. We didn’t know if it was the climate change or if she was getting a cold or just had too much sun. As the days wore on, it was becoming more apparent that she was indeed sick. When I finally looked at her throat, I saw white spots on her tonsils. I knew then that she needed an antibiotic. It was Saturday evening. John drove to the pharmacy in French Cul-de-Sac, but they were closed. He then made his way to the one in Grand Case. The pharmacist gave us some throat spray and lozenges and the name of the doctor who would be available on Sunday. When he returned to the hotel, Allan called the doctor for us and found out that he would be in the French Quarter Clinic at 10:30am. He also made sure that we had the directions that we needed. We arrived at the clinic shortly before the doctor did. It definitely was not the modern, streamlined office that we are accustomed to here in the US. But after a thorough exam, he prescribed an antibiotic, throat spray, nose spray, aspirin and Sudafed. He gave us detailed directions to the only pharmacy open in French St. Martin, which was in the heart of Marigot. Cost for the doctor visit - $60. Cost for the medicine - $40. After talking to some of the locals about the costs, they seemed to be of the opinion that doctor may have overcharged us. But we are foreigners, and it was on Sunday, so we don’t really know, but it was worth whatever it cost to get her the care she needed. (I don’t know if our insurance will cover any of it (HMO!), we’ll file the paperwork and see. After a day or so, she started feeling better.

This illness impacted some of our plans for this trip. We had planned on spending several days at beaches other than Orient, specifically to do some snorkeling with our daughter, but never made it to Pinel, Le Galion or Friar’s/Happy Bay as we had planned (which is why we ended up not using our rental chairs and umbrella). We managed to get to Anguilla and Cupecoy before she got sick, but once she was sick, she just did not have the energy or desire to do more than get to the beach at The Perch and lay under the umbrella. We even started driving up the beach to Club O, so she wouldn’t have to walk. We also had to change our choices of restaurants. She’s kind of picky to begin with, and originally said she was willing to be more adventurous (I wanted to try more local, Creole kind of places) but as the illness wore on, we just wanted to make it easier for her to enjoy her meals (that meant anything beef!)

The people we met
Before heading to the island, we made tentative plans to meet with TTOLers Mary Kay and Rez and their family, so that our 12 yr old daughters could play together. They were staying at the Esmeralda, so early in the day we headed up to Coco’s and met them. The girls had a great time boogie boarding, playing in the sand and doing the water trampolines (There are 2 of them; one is $5/hr, the other $10/day. After 20 minutes, they had worn themselves out!) We shared a great beach day together, and probably would have done more, but they were leaving the next day.

Also, before the trip, we had tentative plans to meet Bill and Elaine on the beach, as we would all be hanging out near the Perch. One afternoon, while talking with a friend, I looked over and sitting beside us were Bill and Elaine. It was great getting to know them over the next few days.

There were several other couples that we ended up spending a bit of time with. The first couple actually had the seats in front of us on the flight down from Charlotte. Though we never spoke to them on the plane, they were one of the first couples that we met in the water at the beach. Another couple had their toddler son with them and kept my daughter amused for several beach days. We also got to know 2 very nice couples that were also walking the beach in the early morning. Seeds of friendship have been sown and we have already been in contact with most of these people since we have returned home.

The rain and the bugs
It rained nearly every day, usually very early in the morning or during the night. Many beach days were interrupted by a brief shower. No problem, mon, just take cover at the nearest beach bar, order a drink and wait 10 minutes. The sun shines brighter than before and then you continue with your beach time! But with all the rain, there seemed to be an abundance of bugs. Those darned little sand fleas/flies were biting like mad. We ended up at the pharmacy for the Mosquito Milk Repellent.

The places we ate
For this trip, I came with a list of restaurants that we wanted to try. Since this was only our 2nd time to SXM, I wanted to avoid going to places where we had already been. We were pretty successful, except for 2: Cheri’s and Dinghy Dock.

[color:"red"]Cheri's[/color], to me, is a landmark kind of place that you need to visit once, just for the experience. We had been there last year, and John and the friend we were with, ended up ‘performing’ in the show. Our daughter wanted to see what it was all about, so we did go back this year, but didn’t stay very long. For dinner, John had the seafood pasta, I had a grilled chicken salad and our daughter had a steak. It was all very good and reasonably priced, and we had a great time watching the entertainment! Dinner was followed by a stroll through Maho and finished off with Hagen Dazs.

[color:"red"]Dinghy Dock[/color] is a little bar at Captain Oliver’s Marina at Oyster Pond. They have one cook and one bartender/waiter, Matt, who is quite an amicable young man. On this particular night, we were in a laid back mood for something quick, close by and inexpensive. John had Ribs, Marissa and I had Fish&Chips. Nothing fancy here, but we had a very relaxed, enjoyable dinner on the dock.

[color:"red"]Tap 5 Pizza – Village D’Orient[/color]
On the evening of our arrival, John started feeling sick, with the same illness that struck Marissa and me during the week before our trip. Instead of heading out of Orient, we walked over to the Village and had a Margarita Pizza – basically cheese and tomato. On 2 other evenings, one when I wasn’t feeling well, and the other when I was still full from the lunch on Anguilla, John brought back Vegetarian Pizzas. All were very good, thin crust pizzas. There were other restaurants in the Village, but we never went to any of them.

[color:"red"]Claude Mini Club – Marigot[/color]
This was our most ‘indulgent’ meal of the trip. For months we were trying to decide where we would celebrate our 28th wedding anniversary on Sunday, Aug 7. We finally chose Claude Mini Club Saturday evening buffet, mostly due to the feedback from several people on this board. We actually arrived at 7:00, only to find out that the buffet did not start until 7:30. In spite of having a reservation mix-up, our gracious hosts and staff seated us early and were quite attentive during our wait. We absolutely loved the ambiance of this place. The open air restaurant overlooks the harbor and when we arrived the sun was setting. Murals on the walls depicted scenes of St Martin/Marigot market. Adding to the evening was live entertainment. For $48 (40eu) you may indulge in all you can eat lobster, roast pig, beef, fish, and chicken, a variety of salads, fresh vegetables, soups, cheeses and desserts. Your choice of red, white or rose wine is also included. We had an absolutely wonderful evening, celebrating our many years of life together, but this was one of the places my lack of speaking French made me feel a little uncomfortable. I do believe we were the only Americans in the restaurant that night and it was only our 2nd full day on the island – I was still in the beginning stages of my culture shock.

[color:"red"]Sunset Beach Bar[/color]
Our friends, who introduced us to SXM last year, were also on the island for their vacation with their daughter and son-in-law. We made plans to meet them for dinner on Monday. $1 Heinekens and ½ price Angus Burgers. Great friends, great food and great sunset. It doesn’t get much better than that.

[color:"red"] [color:"red"] [/color] Mark’s Place[/color]
This night, we had originally planned to go to Joe’s Grill for all you can eat ribs, but when we got there, they were no longer in business. We continued driving, almost stopped at Lido’s (which we did later in the week), but decided to go to Mark’s. This restaurant has a reputation for being a favorite place for the locals to dine. There were several groups of people there this night and everyone seemed to be having a great time. It was great just watching people having a fun night out. The food was very good and very inexpensive (2 all you can eat rib dinners, 1 curry chicken, an acra appetizer and a couple sodas for $36). I would also have to say that the service was probably the best we had on the island.

[color:"red"]Lido’s[/color]
On this particular night, Marissa was not feeling well at all. John said he would head over to Lido’s and bring dinner back. The choice of ribs or chicken did not appeal to her and even though I swore that she would not be eating any fast food, we gave in to her request for chicken tenders at Burger King. We loved the Lido dinners – 1 rib dinner, 1 rib/chicken combo, and one extra rib only. Dinners included huge portions of sides – rice & beans, mac & cheese, scalloped potatoes, and a little salad. All for $16. 1 dinner and one extra meat would have been enough for the two of us, but it was great having enough for lunch the next day.

[color:"red"]Buccaneer Beach Bar[/color]
A TTOL get together was planned for Monday Aug 15. There we met Bill and Elaine, Bill
(wildbill069) and Pat and their family, and Bob_and_Pam and their family. Not a large gathering, but we had a very enjoyable evening together. I had my first BBC and it is now officially my second favorite drink! We also had dinner there that night. Our daughter had the sliced steak sandwich, John had a cheeseburger and I had the tuna steak sandwich. Once again, great people, good food and drinks, and a beautiful sunset.

[color:"red"]Los Gauchos[/color]
We had decided in our pre-trip plans to accommodate our daughter’s love of beef, by dining at Los Gauchos. John and I shared the empanada appetizer and steaks for 2. Our daughter had the strip loin. Dinners included potato and salad. We had enough steak leftover for lunch the next day. The food and the service were excellent. (15% service charge was included in the bill)

[color:"red"]Talk of the Town Lolo[/color]
Last year we had lunch at Sky’s the Limit and it was very good, but I really did not want to eat at the same place. Lots of people have recommended Talk of the Town and Allan had told us that it was his favorite Lolo, so we decided to have dinner here. Our friends from home also met us there that night. The food was great, portions huge and oh so inexpensive, but the bugs were swarming that night!


[color:"red"]The Greenhouse[/color]
This was our last night on the island. I really had wanted to have some local Creole, but I knew our daughter would prefer something else (beef!). The Greenhouse wasn’t on our list of places to go, but having seen their menu on their website, I knew that they had a variety from which to choose. I had forgotten about the 2 for 1 Happy Hour and ½ price appetizers. We arrived at the restaurant about 5 minutes before the end of Happy Hour. The waitress kindly informed us of the special, so we ordered Bahama Mama’s and a conch fritter appetizer. For dinner our daughter had 12 oz strip steak, John had a Reuben, and I had the Jamaican Jerk Chicken Wrap. Everything was very good. The most amusing part of the evening was when the meals arrived. The young man, who delivered the meals, assumed that the steak was for John. He seemed a little surprised that it was for the young girl. He was even more surprised at the end of the meal when the whole steak was gone!


[color:"red"]Peg Leg Pub[/color]
Again, not on our original list, this place was chosen specifically to help our daughter feel better and indulge her appetite for steak. It was the only place of the entire trip where we had ‘service’ issues. We arrived on a Sunday evening around 6:30. There were very few people dining there that night and we chose to sit outside and enjoy the water view. We ordered our drinks and after they arrived, ordered an appetizer and our meals. For an appetizer, we ordered the sampler platter (variety of fried foods – wings, mushrooms, cheese sticks, etc) and for dinner, we ordered the 10oz. Strip (for you know who!) and John and I ordered kabobs – mine beef, his beef and shrimp. After quite a while, the waitress came with our salads and informed us that our dinners were ready and that she was holding them in the warmer because our appetizer wasn’t done yet. When she returned a few minutes later, apologizing for the delay, I told her that we would like to have our meals hot and that she could bring them. She promptly returned with the meals and the appetizer. The food was delicious, portions generous (I had a leftover kabob for lunch the next day!) and our daughter devoured her steak! When our meals were finished, we had asked for the leftovers to be boxed. In the meantime, the manager came out to ask how everything was. Not wanting to sound like I was whining or complaining, I hesitated and then decided to answer that the food was very good. He looked a bit perplexed and we told him about the appetizer. He explained that one of their 2 fryers had quit working a couple of hours earlier. We told him, had we known that there might be a delay; we probably would have ordered something else. When our waitress finally came back, she explained that they were very short staffed, due to the fact that Sunday evenings were usually very slow, but that there was a crowd there that night. (Sitting where we were, we couldn’t see that inside the restaurant was now quite full!) When the bill came, they did only charge us ½ price for the appetizer. The bottom line - whatever the service problems were - the food was very good and we would probably return.

The places we wanted to get to but didn’t and are on the list for future trips:
Poulet D’Orleans
Yvette’s
Appletree
Gutside

Shopping
[color:"green"]Luiz[/color]
My priority in shopping was a visit to Luiz on Day 1. His sign on the beach was lying down in the sand and someone told me that they had been told he was away on vacation. I took my disappointment in stride and figured that I had something to look forward to next trip. 3 days later, as we walked up the beach to the Perch, the sign was now upright in the sand. Following the sign, we made our way between Baywatch and Chez Leandra and sure enough, Luiz was there! He hadn’t been away on vacation. He had been home tending to his family because his wife had just given birth to their first son! I wish I could share this man’s facial and vocal expressions in talking of his family…what a dear, sweet man! I did have a suit made (an entire ensemble, in fact) as did my daughter. We hadn’t planned on hers, but Luiz asked and she looked at us with those big baby blues…..her suit matches her eyes! We absolutely love them!

[color:"green"]Philipsburg[/color]
Early in the week we made a quick trip to Rima's and Marissa bought a cute little short set. We saved the rest of out sightseeing for a day there were no cruise ships in. The only place that I had in mind to shop here was The Belgian Chocolate Shoppe. We strolled up and down Front and Back Streets, stopped in a few shops, but it was really hot, so we made our way to Olde Street, got my medium sized sampler box of chocolate and headed back to Orient. I did manage to make the box last until the end of our trip!

[color:"green"]Marigot[/color]
Two shopping trips to Marigot were planned. One on Wednesday to the Market to purchase souvenirs and another to stroll the marina and shops in the city looking for clothes. Now keep in mind that I hate to shop. My daughter on the other hand, loves to shop for clothes. I had hoped to take her through West Indies Mall (notice that I didn’t say shop!). The Market trip was successfully done in about an hour. We went early because there were 2 ships in port that day and we wanted to avoid the crowds and the heat. I had in mind to purchase additional Mouche watercolors to add to my collection, which we found rather quickly. My daughter found a beaded necklace and bracelet (I figured we could have bought a bunch of them at Rima’s for the same price, but we weren’t at Rima’s!). We purchased a Bob Marley t-shirt for our son back home and were on our way.

The Marigot city trip was a couple of days later. As we pulled in and parked at the marina, we were approached by a man with a spray bottle, who began washing our car windows. John gave him a buck and we continued on. The man then called us back to let us know that one of our car doors hadn’t locked! We then began our ‘tour’ of Marigot. In one of the first shops that we went into, we had quite a pleasant interaction with the local shopkeeper. She offered to share some of the local fruit that she had purchased from a woman on the street, near her home. I don’t remember the name, but they looked like oversized grapes. You bit into it, to break the outer skin. The skin peeled off to reveal a sweet, orange colored fruit with a pit. We were warned not to get it on our clothes because it would stain. Although we did not purchase anything, the woman bid us farewell and we again were on our way.

Just as it started to downpour, we ‘conveniently’ entered ‘Jennyfer’, a store that sells clothes for teen girls! Marissa decided that she wanted a blue jean skirt, and after looking awhile and trying on awhile (the rain had long ended!) she finally settled on the perfect skirt. With purchase in hand, and not feeling well, she forgot all about West Indies Mall and we headed back to the car.

On the way out of Marigot, I finally saw the [color:"green"]Coconut Sorbet lady[/color]!!! This was another stop on my list of must do’s. Her table was set up, but she was in her car because of the rain. We turned our car around, and enjoyed the wonderful sorbet. This will become a traditional stop for us on future trips!

[color:"green"]Riviera Jewelers[/color]
We had the pleasure of meeting Nash at Riviera Jewelers in Maho, while on vacation last year with our friends. In addition to all their beautiful jewelry, Riviera has the best rum! The intent of our visit to Riviera was not to buy jewelry, but we did end up letting Marissa make a very small purchase. When we first arrived at Orient she had talked about parasailing, but neither John nor I really wanted to go with her, and I don’t think she wanted to go alone. But after she got sick, she didn’t mention it again. With only a couple of days left of our trip I asked her if she would rather go parasailing or purchase some jewelry. Jewelry won. She was able to try on some beautiful diamond earrings, but I had to remind her that she already had been allowed to get her Luiz swimsuit! We finally settled on 2 pairs (she has 2 holes in each ear) of CZ studs. She loves them and hasn’t taken them out since.
We spent more on the rum than we did on the jewelry!

Anguilla
After 2 full days on Orient, we decided to head over to Anguilla. We skipped our morning walk and packed our things for the day. In planning our day on Anguilla, we wanted to start out at Upper Shoal Bay at Gwen’s Reggae Grill. I had read in a couple of places that they had a coconut palm grove with hammocks and a live reggae band on Sundays. From what I could tell, it looked like the reef here would be better for snorkeling than Shoal Bay East around the corner. We had also planned on walking over to Uncle Ernie’s but Gwen’s is where we wanted to start out. The taxi ride was very interesting. I had read other people’s reports of charming, amiable drivers, but ours was a bit different. He was an older gentleman, who appeared to have vision problems in one eye and shook from Parkinson’s. We tried to make conversation with him, but he was not very engaging. We also had trouble understanding his Anguillan English accent. He didn’t know where Gwen’s was and tried to make the turn to Shoal Bay East. Fortunately, there was roadsign to Gwen’s pointing in the other direction and after pointing out the signs to him along the way, we finally arrived. He asked John what time it was (his watch wasn’t working) and we agreed to be picked up at 5:00. John made the mistake of paying him the one way fare (+tip) but he assured us that it was ok and that he’d be back. I wasn’t so sure!

The beaches of Upper Shoal Bay and Shoal Bay East were the most beautiful I’ve ever seen! John and Marissa snorkeled at Upper Shoal Bay several times, exploring different parts of the reef. We did walk about a mile down the beach to Uncle Ernie’s Beach Bar. Marissa was hungry, so she had a cheeseburger. We had the ‘world famous’ rum punch. Food there was downright cheap, but we decided to eat back at Gwen’s. After a brief rain shower, we walked back to Gwen’s. It turned out that there never was a reggae band. Maybe it’s only in high season, but I didn’t even ask about it. Marissa took a long nap in a hammock while we had lunch. John had grilled ribs; I had the rib/chicken combo and a huge pina colada. Everything was very good, though a bit more expensive than Uncle Ernie’s.

At about 4:45 we headed to the parking lot and thankfully, our driver was there waiting for us. This time he was much more engaging than he had been earlier. After a pleasant drive back to the ferry, we were on our way back to St Martin.

My most amusing memory – the cows
On one evening, after dinner, we decided to head to Maho. As we drove into Marigot on the bypass road along the harbor, we came upon a small herd of cows walking down the middle of the road and grazing along side the road. We had seen some loose goats a couple of times on the road from Orient to the French Quarter, but here we were, practically in the heart of the capital of St Martin, and traffic came to a halt because of the cows! I got such a kick out of it! My daughter grabbed the camera and took a quick picture – I wish we could have taken more…It just adds to what I love about the island.

In Conclusion
We absolutely had the most wonderful time of our life and are ready to do it again next year. Thank you to everyone who works to keep this forum going and to all who have shared their experiences with all of us. The information I received here has been invaluable.

I think that one way to try to fend off DIF is a two week trip. I am so refreshed and renewed that I think I can almost stand the idea of a getting through another Pittsburgh winter. I’ve decided that I need to start each week anew by picking out a different St Martin picture for my computer wallpaper. Countdown clock is already set – 348 days to go!

I also have over 200 pictures in a Comcast Photoshow presentation that turned out very well, but don't yet have the webpage on which to post them, so here's the scaled down version of our pictures: http://groups.msn.com/sxmphotos2/thebest2weeksofmylife.msnw (I hope the link works - it's my first try at using this site)