I know it has taken long enough but well you know life happens when you return from paradise... Anyway here are some highlights

First off we are not the type to pick one spot for 10 days and just relax.... not with my husband... So this report may seem like we did a lot of running around the island.... only because we did

Three couples (one of whom was a first timer) on this trip. We rented the Villa Dolfijn on Dawn beach Estates. This was our 7th trip... 5th time renting a villa and this one was the best yet. We find it much more economical to rent a villa when there are 3 couples plus the space and luxuriousness of it all... private pool and deck overlooking Dawn Beach.. beautiful view of St Barts..

So rather than a day by day... we went to these beaches

1. Mullet (twice)... each day was different... one day the water was calm and many curise ship tours showed up... The next the waves were crashing big time... Bob was body surfing and almost got a black eye being slammed into the sand... We love Mullet... the ribs are great.. easy on and off

2. Orient (twice)... While we love Orient, it can get quite crowded. One day I think 3 ships were in port and we got there around 11 and it was not pleasant.... We are not practicing nudists but have no problem with people who do.... The 1st timers wanted to walk over to Club O so we did.... Got caught by the "slippery dollar bill" trick (a dollar bill floating in the water only to be pulled away from you every time you approach it... only to find out it was attached to a fishing pole.... That was good for a lot of laughs and we sat and visited for awhile... Our friends just could not get over the ease with which "naked people!!!!!" can just sit and visit lol

3. Baie Rouge..... long our favorite but the sand is so hard to walk arouund in... still we think it beautiful but only made one trip there this time

4. Dawn Beach...just down from our villa and the burgers at Busby's are the best on the island

5. Tried Anse Marcel for the first time.... not to our liking.... beautiful trip over the mountain (we are from Louisiana.... those are MOUNTAINS...lol)... but the lack of any breeze and calm water just not it..

6. after 7 trips Bob still wants to play real tourist for a day watching the planes come and go on Maho... It gives him such pleasure.... poor thing...lol

Night life for us does not usually entail wee hours but we did have two enjoyable evenings till after 1 am at the Red Piano Bar on Simpson...It fits us just perfect and by chance we ran into the same piano player that was there on our last trip... he noticed us before we did him which was funny...anyway it was and is our favorite night out

We did go to Cheri's which should be a no-miss... The show is fabulous...

Also a karaoke night at Beau Beaus

We did our "very special shopping" afternoon and left a few dollars behind (the "Very special shopping is Bob's spoof on the curise ship directors... anyway.. private joke here)

Two gambling nights at the Princess Casino and for once we took away a little more than we spent.... sorry about that

We are not foodies... I cook better than anyone so why spend money on something not as good... she says with no hint of humbleness...lol... so we ate at the Lo Lo's in Grand Case 3 times...Peg Leg once... our one $$$ meal at Busby's on the beach.. breakfast was always cooked in our villa and the day after the Red Piano Bar was a low key day because some of us over-indulged on adult beverages the night before...

In the end another wonderful trip... once you get into island mode, even my husband's insistence that we go somewhere virtually every day seems ok... lots of laughs...met lots of new people... saw some people from previous trips...

you know.... its just another trip to paradise