Sorry, it's a little late, but better late than never.

Wednesday, July 9

After a 2 year hiatus, the first year as a result of a family medical emergency which resulted in spending a week at an all inclusive in the Dominican Republic, and the second year spending 3 weeks in Europe that included a 12 day Greek Isle cruise, we made it back to the place we love. We took a 7:30 AM flight on US Air out of Cleveland with a connection in Charlotte. We did not encounter any problems and arrived on time in SXM at 3:20. In years past we have always used Thrifty/Dollar without any issues, but this year we chose to use Kenny’s just because of all the wonderful reviews he get’s on TTOL. Chalk this one up to another great review. Everything occurred according to Hoyle. So off we went in our Nissan something or other. We used the new causeway on our way to GCBC. Very nice change. We got there in about 20 minutes. This was our first time at GCBC and I don’t think I can say enough good things about the place. It is absolutely charming and the accommodations were perfect.



From there we headed to Simply to do some grocery shopping. They had everything we needed, water, beer and wine and a few food items. We chose to walk into town tonight and eat at Calmos Café. Beth had the Italian salad and I had the Creole chicken. Both were to die for. This was our view at dinner.



Along the way, I couldn’t help but stop and take a picture of the biggest lobster I have ever seen in the aquarium at Ocean 82.



Thursday, July 10

We had breakfast at the Sunset Cafe. I had Eggs Florentine and Beth didn’t have anything. This is the view from Sunset Café.



We were somewhat tired and just decided to hang out on the beach at GCBC. That got a little boring so we walked into town to figure out where we were going to eat tonight. That evening there was a manager’s reception and we got to meet Steve and his wife Marga. They have done a fantastic job managing that place. They were telling us about all of the renovations that were going on. From there we decided to use Johnny’s transport for our dinner at Le Tastevin. I had the Foie Gras and the Veal Scaloppine. Beth had the pork tenderloin. Both were fabulous.



Friday, July 11

So when we started this trip, we decided we wanted to go to Pinel one day and Mullet Bay one day. Well it never happened. We spent every day at Club O starting with today. After our day at the beach we decide to go to Tai Chi in Orient Village based on a recommendation at Club O. When we got there, the only thing on the menu was pork and flank steak, so we left and went to Le Piment. I had the lobster bisque and Beth had the prosciutto salad and we split a Margherita pizza. It was all very good but I had no idea that I was supposed to mix the creamy buttery stuff into the bisque. LOL!

Saturday, July 12

We decided to have breakfast again at Sunset Cafe. I had an egg sandwich. Beth raisin bran with granola. It was all good. We ended up having leftover pizza from Le Piment for lunch on the beach. Our dinner choice for the evening was L’ Auberge Gourmande. I had the escargot appetizer and scallops and shrimp dinner. Beth had chicken stuffed with Emmental and Morel sauce. Simply amazing.



We used Johnny’s transport again and all went well. He is a very nice young man.



Sunday, July 13

We checked out of GCBC and stored our luggage there while we were at Club O. Today we had lunch at Ethnic. I had the steak wrap which unfortunately was not very good. I guess I should have ordered a burger which is what they appear to be known for. Beth had the Italian salad which she enjoyed very much. We picked up our luggage at GCBC and checked in at the Flamingo. We went grocery shopping at Market Garden for, you guessed it, water, beer and wine and miscellaneous food items. Dinner tonight was at Pineapple Pete’s. You can never go wrong there. Talk about consistently good service and food. I had a bowl of conch chowder and jerk chicken wings. Beth had the chicken pasta.

Monday, July 14

Today we chose Chez Leandra for lunch. I had the crab wrap and Beth had coconut shrimp. I just love that place. Someone told us that she opened a restaurant called Mom’s just down the road from Yvette’s. We did not eat there but the people who did said it was awesome.



We met a bunch of fun people on the beach during the week including Peter and Gina, Chris and Chrissy, Charles and Cindy, Roman and Kat, Lodi and Cathy and Stefan with the paddleboard. There is something to be said about naked paddle boarding, however, there is no way to avoid violating the ‘bend over’ rule when climbing onto a paddleboard!

Tonight dinner was at Panlaan. It is possibly some of the best Thai food I have ever eaten. We shared a spring roll appetizer. I had stir fry noodles with shrimp. Beth had the spicy Thai basil stir fry with chicken.

Tuesday, July 15

Breakfast today consisted of green drinks at Top Carrot and off to the beach. Lunch was at Orange Fever. I had the Escargot and we split a Margherita pizza.



To be quite honest, I think the escargot here was better than L’ Auberge Gourmande. I also read somewhere on TTOL that Orange Fever had the best pizza (thin crust) on Orient beach. They definitely have our vote. From here we headed to the Driftwood for a rum punch.



They still have the best rum punch on the island. Bajatzu was the dining choice of the evening. I had Carpaccio and we both had Filet Mignon. Fabulous filet! Our evening ended at La Bamba for some drinks and live music.

Wednesday, July 16

Today we had lunch at Pedros. My expectations weren’t real high but boy was I wrong. All these years and we never tried it. It was great. I had the crab sandwich and Beth had the Jerk chicken salad. Our view from the corner table.

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On the way home we stopped at the SMYC for a rum punch. This evening we chose Lal’s Curry in a Hurry for dinner and it was as good as always. Beth had the Tikka Masala and I had the Spice Chicken.

Thursday, July 17

This year we did something different. We both got 1 hour messages at L'Aqualigne. What a way to start the day. Absolutely wonderful and putting sun tan lotion was a heck of a lot easier now that we were all oiled up. Off to Club O we go. Lunch, you guessed it, our new found favorite, Pedros. I had the Jerk ribs and Beth had the Jerk chicken salad. It was just as good as the day before. Here’s a shot looking down the other direction from Pedros.

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On the way home we stopped at BBB and had a couple Tokyo Teas. They were pretty darn good. We decided to have dinner at Fusion tonight. We started off by sharing a Thai Spring roll appetizer. For dinner, I ordered the Sweet Chili Shrimp and Beth ordered Teriyaki Chicken. Now don’t get me wrong, because the dinner was quite good, but it didn’t WOW us. Based on the reviews we read on TTOL, we were expecting more.

Friday, July 18

Here’s a picture from our balcony at the Flamingo.

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We headed off Club O as usual but ended up making a short day of it due to an approaching storm. We left at 2:30 and headed to Maho to walk around and do a little shopping. We never saw a drop of rain while we were there. Next stop was BBB for a couple more Tokyo Teas. And the winning vote for dinner this evening was SMYC. I had the Jerk chicken wrap and Beth had the Jerk chicken salad. You can’t beat SYMC for excellent casual dining, friendly people and bartenders, and a good local flavor.

Saturday, July 19

Today was our last day at the beach, so we headed out early. We had no choice but to have lunch Orange Fever. We had, you guessed it, Escargot and a Margherita pizza. It was just as good as the first time. This was our view that day.

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My newly certified Yoga instructor had to do a pose on the rocks in front of Pedros.

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On the way home I played around with the panoramic feature on the camera from the top of the hill.

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Then we stopped in at SMYC to have a couple Bloody Marys and something else I can't remember and low and behold along comes Didier. Well I don't know Didier from Adam, but we shared a cigar, made up stories and told lies. What a trip.

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And now for my dumb arse moment of the week story. I really wanted to go to Fig because of all the reviews that I read on TTOL, so I went online to see if I could look at a menu. Well, the menu was very bizarre, but the internet connection at the Flamingo was so bad, I couldn’t navigate the site to get any other information. So the long and short of it is that we decided to have dinner at Paanlan again since we enjoyed it so much the first time. We shared the spring roll appetizer. I had the Jungle Curry and Beth had the spicy thai basil stir fry with chicken. It was all just as good as the first time. Now for the good part—after we had gotten back home to Cleveland I decided to go back on the site that I had found to get more information. As luck would have it, I was looking at a restaurant called Fig in New South Wales!

Sunday, July 20

We had breakfast at Bon Apetit in the morning and it was great. We headed back to the Airport and our flight was delayed 1 hour.

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We made our connection in Philadelphia and got into Cleveland at 11:00 PM.