Trip Report 2/3 – 2/20

Trip began at 5:00 a.m. with a chilly ride to the airport in freezing rain and snow. We took Sun Country Airlines direct from Minneapolis to St. Maarten. The flight left about an hour and a half late, due to the airport being down to one runway and two rounds of de-icing, but we were on our way.

Arrived at 4:45 (island time) and were on our way to L’Esperance hotel (via a stop to see Michael at Unity Car Rental) for our Friday night stay before being able to check into our timeshare on Sat. L’Esperance was fine. L’Esperance is a small hotel with adequate rooms for a short stay. The pool area is very nice and the check in and out was very easy. We were finally in St. Maarten, but wouldn’t feel like we were “home” until the next day when we check in at our St. Maarten “home” The Belair Beach Hotel.

We stored our bags in our room and took off for dinner. This first night we decided to try Skipjacks in Simpson Bay. This is a very nice building with a nice shop on the side of the road as you walk in. The facility is right on the water and we were seated at a nice table by the water and began to explore the menu. We ordered the calamari and some entrees. The food was o.k. and after our entrees were delivered we asked about our calamari and the waiter said, “I didn’t right it down, so that is why it is not here” – O.K., well we got it anyway and it was alright. So, Skipjacks wasn’t great, but we were tired from traveling and Skipjacks hasn’t been open long, so the jury is out.

Sat. 2/4 – Well today is the day we go “home”. We got up and went down to Belair to drop off our bags and see when we could check in. We got our things together and took off around 8:30 a.m., we went down to check in with Beulah behind the desk and she said we would have to wait until around 9:00 to see if our room would be available. We decided to hit the Gingerbread Café for breakfast (this is the onsite restaurant at Belair). The food was very good. We went back at about 9:15 and found out our room was available and we could check in right away. This was awesome. We were checked in and by 9:30 on Saturday. WOW! We said hello to Vincent and Dominic at the beach and we were off to Grand Marche’ to gather our staples for the next two weeks. (Case of Carib, Johnny Walker (for evening cordials), the captain (Morgan), and of course eggs, cheese, bread, Santa Domingo coffee, and some crackers). We love this store, the selection is great and the service is nice as well. It was back we back to Belair for a day at the beach. Little Bay was beautiful, calm and warm great to be back in the ocean!!

We were off to Halsey’s for dinner. We had a wonderful meal; the service was outstanding as usual. This is one of our favorites.

Sun. 2/5 – Today we were off to Dawn Beach. We were meeting with other TTOL folks at Ms. B’s for lunch. Great to see all of you – Norm and Betty, Kathy and Howard, Nancy, Paul and Carol, and Bill and Denise. The conversation was great and so were the Ribs. (I always have two countdowns, one for arrival in St. Maarten and the other for Ms. B’s Ribs!!). The weather was a little grey today, but way better than Feb. 5th in Minnesota. We stayed at Dawn until mid afternoon and it was back home to Belair. This was Superbowl Sunday, so we decided to go to Taloula Mangos for dinner. This place is on the Boardwalk in P’Burg at the Sint Rosa Arcade. What a wonderful spot. We got a seat adjacent to the boardwalk. We got there as the sun was setting and there is a lot of activity on the boardwalk. There was a group of young people performing some kind of combination of martial arts, gymnastics, and dance. There were also a couple of guys selling segway rides on the boardwalk. (pretty cool). It was back to Belair to watch the game…..(or at least until I fell asleep).

The next day we were picking up our guests, so it was Belair beach day and off to the airport to pick up our guests. They were about two hours late, so we missed out on the Monday wine and cheese party, but they got in and all is well…We were off to Chesterfield’s for dinner. We got a table on the water and had a fantastic meal and great service. This is typical experience for us at Chesterfield’s. We always take our guests here on their first night. After a meal of conch fritters, crab stuffed shrimp. It was back to the Belair for a cordial. It is amazing to me that sitting around on the beach all day, eating great food, and a Carib or two can make a guy so tired…..??

Tuesday – Off to Dawn Beach. Ms. B’s for the newbies is a must. The weather was a bit over cast and wound up leaving early to go back to P’burg. Hung around for a while and we were off to Los Gauchos for dinner. I like the new location. The food and service was excellent. The steaks were great and B liked her shrimp and pasta as well. The only draw back is that the outside seating was not available. We love to sit outside. Before our stop at Los Gauchos we stopped by the TTOL party that was being held at the BBB . It was great to put so many names with faces. We were one of the lucky ones to receive one of the rare “Double D” hats. Thanks Dan and Pam. (Did your cat lose any weight while you were gone??)

Wednesday – This will prove to be the best day of the trip of us. We rented a sailing catamaran and crew for the day. Wow, what a treat. We started the day with a Johnny Cake from Enoch’s Place by the ferry port at Marigot. Then we were off to the Stargazer. The Stargazer is a 43’ sailing catamaran. It is run by a husband and wife team. (Britta and Holger) After a discussion with Britta and Holger about our options our plan was in place. We set sail form the marina at Fort Louis and headed toward Meads Bay Anguilla. The day was perfect the breeze was nice for sailing and soon Holger had the engines off and we were sailing away. There is absolutely nothing like the wind in your hair the sound of the waves and of course an ice cold Carib…..Once we were at Meads Bay we anchored and snorkeled toward shore. Once we were on shore we walked up to see the dolphin experience. It was great to see these beautiful animals up close, but sad to know they are in captivity. From there we sailed back around to Shoal Bay West and anchored for a swim and lunch. Britta was able to prepare a wonderful meal for us on the Stargazer (Holger did the desserts). We had an appetizer, salad, and main course as well as dessert:
.
From there we sailed again up the coast to Maunday’s Bay near Cap Juluca. Here we anchored for more swimming and snorkeling. After floating and sunning our day away we headed back to St. Martin. Many thanks to Britta and Holger for making this day so unbelievable. This is the second time we have been out with Britta and Holger on the Stargazer and if you like this sort of outing, I highly recommend the Stargazer.

More to come…..Wanted to at least get this much posted. Please feel free to email (daveo@visi.com) or PM with any thoughts or concerns.

Thanks – dandbmn (Dave and Britt)