......... a terrific two and a half weeks in St. Maarten!! And for those who traveled with us, thanks for coming along and I hope you weren't totally bored to tears with my ramblings, and now I leave it to the next set of visitors to continue the task of keeping us all abreast of all things St. Maarten - St Martin.

And to recap the details-

As usual, we took AA down and had a great flight and a very easy arrival through immigration and baggage in St. Maarten.

For our on island needs, we used Lesley Bruce of Kenny's for our rental car as is our norm, along with Sharon Harris, The Queen, who handled our cell phone concerns and Jeannie who gave us her typically great grocery stocking and provisioning service through Shop and Drop Grocery Service, and for the first time, Bob Craig of Pack Lite services and each and everyone of them were great and I give them all my personal kudos, for what that's worth. And for sure, I have to include in that list my longtime personal favorite jewelry store - Caribbean Gems. They always manage to make me happy......

We stayed in a beautiful two bedroom penthouse unit at The Towers for the first two weeks and Unit #14 at Beachside Villas, right next to the pool - for our last four nights - perfection, all of them, and I didn't make a bed for all that time which is a big plus for me.

We had perfect weather if you could overlook the Sahara Sands, the Sargasso seaweed and the rougher than usual waves at many of our favorite beaches, and at one time our pool was almost as warm as my bathtub water at home. The only thing we didn't experience were those pesky mosquitoes but since they haven't had any real rain to speak of in ages, that's almost self-explanatory. The island really is hurting in that department. The golf course looks like burned straw and almost all the cars are constantly dust covered.

This is always an unusual time to visit the island with all the annual Carnival activities going on, coupled with Kings and Queens birthdays, Labor Days and any other holidays you can think of to throw into the mix but it seems to put most of the residents in good moods so good for them. Who doesn't enjoy a holiday?

We had only four breakfasts out with just a couple more lunches but they were all good - ribs at Rosie's a couple of times, an incredibly good lunch at Friars Bay Beach Cafe one day and likewise, another at Anse Marcel Beach Restaurant.

And dinners? OMG!! They were all delicious even including the grilled steak and baked potatoes we prepared ourselves while at BSV. Is it possible to have a bad dinner on this island? My two favorites? No surprise here - Antoine's by the Sea one night and Moulin Fou another but we also enjoyed Le Bateau Ivre, FIG, Bajatzu, Chesterfields, Luna Rosa, and Boca Marina though each time we visit the latter, it's anybody's guess - this trip was very good. And perhaps a few other places as well, but the names escape me at this moment.

We didn't do any other islands again this trip and we never really saw Saba but for 36 hours the whole time we were there. We did redo the Eco Around the Island Tour again this trip - nice but not as nice in December.

We enjoyed our evenings with some local friends; Sharon, Barbara, Dee, Lyn and Bob - thank you all for making time for us, and Jeannie, I'm so sorry we were never able to reconnect after that first day, but we'll be back.

And lastly, my only regret was not connecting with Norm and Betty, whom I've looked forward to meeting for so long. I offer my most sincere apologies to you both for the confusion, which I'm sure was mostly on my part.

The trip home on JB was totally eneventful. We purchased sandwiches for the trip at Zee Best. The check-in at PJIA was a breeze and the flight was right on time and actually the best JB experience I've had so far, and coupled with the on-time arrival and the easy passage through T5 at JFK, the hardest part of our entire trip was connecting with our limo driver for the ride home to CT. JB is really stretched thin in their pick-up and drop-off space, but it is what it is.

It was truly a perfect trip in every way and now, I really need to reset my countdown clock for the next one, and at the same time, I also want to wish all those who follow us a trip just as pleasant as ours was. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

Pat ... you have submitted a nice summary and thanks for your daily activity reporting . I believe you have enjoyed your vacation as we did and look forward to your return ...I am sure it has taken a few days to recover . ....Your reporting has extended our 2 week vacation by 18 days ...Thanks

YW!! I spent most of yesterday doing laundry, sorting through mail and dealing with all the accumulated 'stuff' that piled up in our absence and it made for a very long and busy day but that's the price we have to pay, right?

But the truth is, while all told, we've probably made seventy or so island trips over the years, and not including the trips we made with our girls and our grands because nothing could ever be better than those, this was probable one of the nicest and most relaxing trips we've ever had so in the end, the pleasure we received was well in excess of the price we paid at the end and I'd go back tomorrow and do it all over again if my DH would agree! But someone needs to be the voice of reason in our household, and in this particular subject, it isn't me. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />


Thank you, St. Maarten!

Thanks for all your reports Pat-I missed a few but thoroughly enjoyed the ones I did see. Lets hope that seaweed goes somewhere else next year and that the island gets some rain soon.

Thanks for taking us along and it surely has helped those who are counting down to their trips, make the days go by a little easier. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Smile.gif" alt="" /> So glad you enjoyed yourselves and here's wishing that Sahara dust and the seaweed and those big waves will get on out of there soon! Thanks again for taking the time to keep us all informed!

Pat, thanks for your frequent reports, I enjoyed them all. Extension
to 18 days is what I am dreaming about. Enjoy you summer at home and get ready for you November vacation.

Thanks for the final synopsis, Pat. A good flight home is a nice finish to the trip. It is never fun to catch up after vacation, but something that has to be done. Enjoy your summer and we will see you and John in SXM in November.

You came home in time for the beautiful weather.

Nice finally getting to talk face to face with you both. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Your musings are the best testimonials of the SXM we love. Thank you for the time and sharing your word-smithing talent.

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

We enjoyed your daily updates, thanks.

So glad you had such a nice trip; I really enjoyed your reports. 27 days until I'm back on island for three weeks. I'm so hoping the miscommunication between Photobucket and TTOL is fixed by the time of my first week's report...or there won't be one! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

As of now, most people seem to be able to use photobucket. You should do a test to see whether you can use it or not.

Thanks for taking us along with you and John. Really nice daily updates.

You are the best, Pat! I think I'm obsessed with island stories and yours brought beautiful memories or created a new "to do" list for our next trip. Thanks for taking the time to do this for all of us SXM junkies!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

Success! Thanks!