{Disclaimer - The thoughts and opinions contained herein are not the...errr.... forget that... We are still on island mode where the hustle, bustle and rules of home don’t matter... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" />}

Just returned from a wonderful 8 days in paradise.. Our report will be a bit different in format.. Hope you enjoy and maybe get some sense of how much we enjoyed our trip..

Flights are flights.... no sense going into detail..

We arrived on Friday night (Liz continues to claim otherwise but Bob is sure she arraigned an extra day by saying it was the only way to get cheap airfares...mmm...) We stayed at Princess Heights (more on that later)... On Friday night Bob had arraigned a "Dinner on the Beach" at Mary's Boon... What a wonderful way to kick-off our trip... A "Zeno" cigar, a bottle of wine, candlelight, wiggling your toes in the sand under the stars and personal service....Everything was perfect until......... it started to rain...lol... But no worries.. We moved into the main restaurant and had an incredible meal of Lobster Creole.. Mary's Boon is tough to find, right off the runway and next to Maho Bay but well worth it... Highly recommend it

Saturday we woke at 5am to a wonderful sunrise and spent the day on Dawn Beach... Had ribs from Mr. B's.... Saturday night we headed over to Princess Casino and proceeded to kickoff the gambling portion of the trip in high style... Lost $500... ggrrrrrrrrr <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cloud.gif" alt="" /> But dinner at Johnny B's Under the Tree raised our spirits.... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />

Sunday again up at 5 am (sleep is wayyyy overrated...lol) to enjoy the sunrise and Eggs Benedict on our balcony.... Then into Phillipsburg for Mass at the "The St Martin of Tours" Catholic Church... wow.... the singing and open air breezes made it a very special event... something beyond just the spiritual... even if you are not of the faith it is something I think most people would really enjoy.. The rest of the day we spent on Bay Rouge....A relatively early evening... Rented some movies and were in bed for 11...

Monday.... Orient Beach....Brice's Paradise... But Bob is impatient... Monday leads to Monday Night... which means Monday Night Football... and on this night the New Orleans Saints and Reggie Bush will explode onto the national scene and he will watch it happen in a sports bar on St Martin...We had been eyeing the Plaza Casino on Airport Road and lo and behold a sign pops up to watch MNF in the Sports Bar.... Alas the Saints stunk it up.. Reggie barely played... BUT Liz won $200 on the nickel machines of all places so we are inching our way back!!!!!!! A Saints loss is not so painful when you are in paradise I have to admit... oh well.... home for midnight....

Tuesday... Yep up again at 5..... can’t get enough of that sunrise.. Today we are off to Pinel... The only good thing we can say is the boat ride over was fun... Really this was our only downer of the week... more later.. We left early and went back over to see Brice on Orient and the day was salvaged....

Wednesday... slept in.... all the way to 630....lol....Bay Rouge proving to be our favorite beach so we headed back over... Headed in relatively early so we could shower and go see about getting our money back from the Princess... And indeed we did.... Walked out winning exactly $1000.. The cards were running on the black jack tables... Even a slot machine paid Liz $200.....So now our gambling habit has been fed and we are up $600 on the week. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

Thursday..... Cupecoy.... Just the two of us for most of the day... along with our own private chef Danny...lol.. oh and a few dozen construction workers.... more on that later also..

Friday.. being our last day we are up and out of the door at 8.... The plan is to visit our two favorite beaches to say good bye.... Orient at 830 is an interesting place.. Watching the beach bars awaken and get set up... Watching the entire island awaken was a treat... We were treated to a brief but violent thunderstorm which was fun to watch while sitting on Brice's "covered porch"... As the cruise people started to arrive we said our tearful goodbye to Orient and braved the traffic over to Bay Rouge... Had a burger from Raymond (best on the island)... a few drinks and floated a bit but the reality that we were leaving had set in.... So far too soon we headed back... once more to the Princess where we lost $400 ($200 profit for the week....) and as we are leaving the manager comes over and comps us with a $150 meal at La Baccara's.... Incredible presentation... Incredible meal..... Perhaps it does not have the same notoriety of the Grand Case restaurants.... but it does with us....Highly recommend it...

Ok that was the day by day..... Here are some thoughts and impressions that may be of interest...

BE PREPARED..............
1. Be prepared if you are a first timer to step off of the ship or of the plane and enter St Martin thinking.. "What’s the big deal?? I DONT GET IT"
2. Be prepared to embark and say... this place is not so picturesque at all and there is too much traffic....I REALLY DON’T GET IT
3. Be prepared to grudgingly acknowledge that maybe Orient is kinda… well ok… really pretty...I SORT OF GET IT
4. Be prepared to return home one evening and remark to your better half..."Wow what a fun time... Everyone was so nice.. I THINK I AM STARTING TO GET IT….
5. Finally be prepared as you are heading to the Airport to leave to be doing so with a heavy heart and remarking..."I GET IT… I REALLY GET IT"....

The moral is this place grows on you... and you wind up loving it..............

TRAFFIC - Yep there is lots of it..... Some thoughts
1. Realize that this is NOT the USA nor GB nor any country with established traffic laws.....
2. Be prepared (again...lol) for sudden stops...It is not at all uncommon for a bus to stop in the middle of the road to let off or pick up... or for a car to do the same... or for a friend to see another friend and stop to say hello..... it is after all the friendly island!!!!!!!
3. Beeps and Beep Beeps have different connotations than they do back home.... It took me awhile but I finally noticed that the Beeps and Beep Beeps were accompanied not with a middle finger like home but rather with a smile and a wave....
4. Don’t drink and drive...... the roads are narrow and winding and steep.. In towns it is not uncommon for a native to walk across the street in front of you....really not a good idea to get behind the wheel after drinking....
5. Remember you are in someonelse's home.... Honor their traditions... If someone pulls in front of you... realize that is how they drive and notice there are no accidents.. at least we didn’t see any.... it is a happy island...
6. Finally if Island fever has not settled in, and you find yourself in a traffic jam.. as you will... look across the car at your significant other... think about where you were a week ago.. think about where you are now... think about how fortunate you are to be spending time with her/him in this little piece of paradise........ who cares if you are in a traffic jam.... Beep Beep <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" />

Favorite Beach
1. Liz says..... Bay Rouge..... .... crystal clear cold water... no large crowds.... good beach food... feels very native or islandy.....
2. Bob says..... Yep I love Bay Rouge but Orient is soooo much fun... did some jet skiing....and swimming... and people watching.... But lets just call them 1 and 1A ... Beep Beep <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" />

Best Place to meet the locals
1. Johnny's Under the Tree.... On the road from Marigot... It may look intimidating with simply a park bench and a barbeque pit in his front yard but we spent 3 hours drinking beer and Cokes (Bob does not drink so we are ok with our driving tips above...lol) with Johnny, his brother (who speaks 7 different languages and has 17 children)... with the "Promoter" who once managed the brother's fledging boxing career.... the slightly intoxicated neighbor who visions himself as the black Dean Martin wanting to sing "Everybody loves Somebody" to charm Liz..... to "Mamma" who thinks Bob drinks Cokes so that his…… ahem..."performance".... is good when we return to the hotel... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Banana.gif" alt="" /> What a fun fun night... 3 beers .... 3 cokes... two plates of ribs and sides... $30...... unbelievable
2. The Sports bar at Plaza Casino....not too crowded... Bob Sat with the owner and "Martina" and talked for hours about the island.... the Saints were getting killed so it was better talking about paradise....

Best Place to Study Economics – St Martin of Course
1. Supply and Demand – Go to Orient beach and find what competition will do for you. Brice’s Paradise offered us two chairs an umbrella and 2 beers for $12… Go to Pinel where there is no competition and two chairs, an umbrella and NO beers costs $18….
2. Customer always comes first – Raymond will always have our business on Bay Rouge…. When we arrived he helped us set up, took our order and delivered without ever asking for money… Two days later, we would up on Gus’s (the competition) chairs by chance and before we could order they were demanding to be paid…. We moved over to Raymond’s chairs… Customer loyalty……………….

Must Do
1. As mentioned above... even if you are a non-believer... take an hour and a half on Sunday morning and go to mass at the "St Martin of Tours" Church on Front Street... With the windows open the Caribbean breeze is flowing through the church. The singing includes an electric guitar and drums and lively Caribbean twist to the church songs... At the end, Father "Sandals"... forgot his name but not the fact that he was in Sandles..lol... canvasses the congregation for visitors to introduce yourselves.... then perhaps a walk down the boardwalk... Great way to start your Sunday...

2. Eat at Johnny's - See above

3. Go dancing at the Princess Casino... After nine there is a very talented gentleman singer who can croon with the best of them..................

4. If you are a player, Princess is the premier casino on the island... They treat you very well (cigars and drinks).. There are drawings every two hours (a local at our table won $1,200)... the aforementioned crooner... makes one wonder if this is not the way Cuba was in the pre-Castro days....
5. Go to Cupecoy while it is still somewhat isolated.. Yes there is construction but for some reason we didn’t notice... We had the beach to ourselves from around 930 until 230 when another couple arrived.... soon the condos will have the beach full of their visitors so go see it now before that is gone...

Wish we had not.............
1. Gone to Pinel........ Really don’t want to be negative but thought maybe others might want our impression... The water is extremely calm.. no wave action at all...no breeze so it does get warm (if you do go, exit the boat to the RIGHT... there is some breeze there) One can walk 300 yards and still only be at knee deep... the food is outrageous ($18 hamburger indeed,,,,).. I understand the snorkeling is good..... but it was the only downer in an otherwise wonderful trip
2. Bought a "Cuban"... Bob does not drink but he does smoke cigars.. We had brought a box from home but he had to try a Cuban to see what the fuss is about... Bought a good one.. $20.... he threw it away half way through... It is like anything else... If you cant have something .you think it is better... it is not...............



We love St Martin…. We will come again if not next year certainly the next….Progress is inevitable we suppose.. Still we are sad to see things like the Westin taking over such a large portion of beautiful Dawn beach… For visitors considering Princess Heights… The condo living and staff are the best… Central Air Conditioning is priceless and the staff goes out of their way to help… Early morning and late evening are still wonderful for gazing out over the Carribean… As our report indicated we were on the go a lot so we will probably return to PH’s… It is just that great…. But the Westin will create more traffic issues in this area… and Dawn is simply not what it was before… The same is true about Cupecoy…. The condo’s being built there are a sign of progress to be sure…but that feeling of being alone on a deserted island will never be there again… and that is sad….Still the massive amount of construction means jobs for these wonderful happy people.. so who knows what is right???

Finally a note on security…..We drove everywhere and the road from the Princess Casino to Princess Heights can be dark and scary at 11 or 12 midnight… We never felt scared or fearful.. Never once felt threatened on the island… In fact the first time we felt the least bit threatened was Saturday night at about 11 pm when we stopped for gas……………in Houston <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/usflag.gif" alt="" />;