SORT OF A TRIP REPORT

FLIGHT
Our flight from Newark to SXM with Continental was totally uneventful. The flight itself went quick and was smooth. Landing on the runway brought tears to my eyes (as usual) and after disembarking via the stairs instead of the jetway, the sun and heat welcomed us.

AIRPORT
Entering the new airport was a strange and new sensation. The walk to immigration was slightly longer to get to than the old building but was air conditioned and not difficult. The wait was about the same as in the old terminal though which for us was approximately 10 minutes as I always pick the wrong line to stand on, similar to my usual grocery store experiences.

Picking up the luggage was no more than an additional 10 minutes and the walk out into the main greeting area was extremely short and painless. Lesley was there to greet us outside the car shuttle door which is to the right entering the greeting area. The door straight ahead takes you to the parking lot. There are really only 2 doors to exit so it’s not confusing at all. He escorted us across the street, which I do have to say was not at all as I had expected. Because the walkway is clearly marked and there is a median between the oncoming traffic, the dangers were so much less and doable. It looked like they were in the process of installing lights of some kind at the drivers eyesight level, to help them notice the crosswalks. Personally, I found the whole arrival experience still to be quaint and done at a level expected for a small island.

ROYAL ISLANDER
We drove directly to Royal Islander to unload our baggage and were pleased that our room was ready. We had recently purchased the week 48 unit as we found it more convenient to know the room we would be in for that week and it was a simple 1 bedroom pool level suite furnished and decorated the same as all the others we were familiar with. We have owned week 49 for 9 years and have never been disappointed. This year we found the toilet bowl seat to be broken and within 1 day they had sent maintenance to fix it. That is what I love about RI. When you bring a problem to their attention, they are on it immediately.

The patio area was lovely, as we were surrounded by colorful flora. The only concern I had during our 1 week in this unit was the small flying insects that tended to attack us at sunset. I bought some spray and that solved our problem. Since we may be closing on our condo next year and renting our 2 units, we won’t face this issue again but if we don’t close by then, I will bring some mosquito coils to cover that week. The Tortuga Restaurant next to the Driftwood Bar had very nice lunches and I would recommend their selections to anyone.

LOS GAUCHOS
Our first stop was to do some light shopping for essentials across the street at the “Mini Mart” and then we prepared to go to the Los Gauchos party that evening. We left RI in Maho at 6:00 PM and arrived at the party within 10 minutes. No traffic whatsoever. The party itself was wonderful as so many people showed up to enjoy the evening. It was a little hectic for me as I had the nametags and most everyone was there already. I forgot to bring the raffle tickets and so Kathy’s husband Harold patiently wrote them out for us. Mr. SXM brought lots of Caribbean Cards for the raffle and Neil (Celine) gave away some wonderful prizes. Thank you gentlemen for your generosity! I also made some additional Dutch and French side Rules coasters for the giveaway as well. Kathy had contacted the SXM tourist bureau and had some wonderful T-shirts to hand out. The highlight of the evening was of course Liesa’s exceptional and plentiful appetizers and ½ price drinks that kept everyone content. And thank you so much to Kipp and Slipp (aka Diane) for making a wonderful dessert of 2 cakes and it was decorated so great with flashing lights and flora from the garden! I just want to thank everyone for making the evening a success for if it wasn’t for this wonderful combination of guests and generous providers, it would never have been so nice.

We did leave earlier than normal as we were quite tired and returned to RI. The rest of the evening consisted of “quiet time”.

OUR 30th ANNIVERSARY (and 35th anniversary from our first date)
On Monday, December 4th, we dined at La Vie en Rose for our 30th Anniversary and it was all that I would have hoped for. We took a cab to the restaurant and had a wonderful driver named Rudolph. He dropped us off in front of the restaurant and prior to leaving we asked our garcon to call him. We sat on the balcony and enjoyed the ambiance of a beautiful town with all it’s lights, sounds, and color. The food was superb from beginning to end. Keep in mind that this is not an inexpensive place to dine but I expected this and was not shocked when the bill came. The dessert was unbelievable and our waiter Patrick was there for us throughout the evening. At the end I was presented with the traditional rose that will now take it’s place in our “Anniversary Book” of photos spanning our 35 years together that I created with Shutterfly and presented to Rick that night. All in all, it was a day I will always remember and the choice couldn’t have been better. Thanks to all who recommended it.

MISCELLANEOUS
The next few days were totally uneventful regarding activities. We anticipated that when our crew arrived we would be busy so we hung out at RI and relaxed. The beach was a little larger than in past years so that was a nice sight. We were greeted by all our friends we have made throughout the past years and had a great time catching up. Two particular friends, Elaine and Gail, were quieter than normal and at the time I thought were either mad at us or something was wrong. As it turns out, they broke their secret to me at the Casino 2 nights later and that their daughter Jessica (who I had yet to see) was getting married that Thursday at the Gazebo overlooking the Caribbean. Of course the tears started to flow and I was honored to be included in their secret. Of course they were busy preparing the final steps but they still found time to relax at the pool. They used marryme.com to prepare all the details and the wedding planners were exceptional (but more about this later).

My brother arrived on Wednesday to stay with us in our 1 bedroom suite. The couch in the living room was a trundle bed and so he slept very comfortably. We knew the rest of his family would be arriving on Saturday so we kept it low key until then. We did take him to the construction site of our condo Rainbow in Cupecoy and we did a short walk around with Neil the supervisor. We didn’t see much as we were there during construction so we planned to return the following week.

THE GUESTS START ARRIVING
Saturday was hysterical!!! A wasted day for me and a little drama as well. My nieces and grand nephew arrived on American Airlines and I stood on the beach to wave them in. Unfortunately it took an additional 45 minutes for them to arrive as the plane was late so my poor brother Dean had to sit in the hot sun while my hubby and I had to move all our luggage to our 2nd week’s 2 bedroom unit. He took the top penthouse suite to accommodate his family and we went into our usual gorgeous 2 bedroom 2 balcony suite. I managed to see the plane land from the bottom floor so I knew it was about time to get in the car to pick them up. Unfortunately my Cousin Natassa was arriving on Air France from Europe and so as we waited for the crew to walk thru the exit doors and get their official SXM photo, I worried that my cousin would be arriving shortly and what should we do! Dean had rented a car and so when they eventually walked out, he took them to RI and I drove back to RI to await Air France at the beach and wave her in.

At 2:57 PM I went to the Driftwood Bar and ordered a Pina Colada to quench my thirst. I asked the young bartender if Air France had arrived….she looked down the runway and said that it had not yet arrived. After sitting for about 15 minutes and no Air France to be seen, I walked the short distance to the beach and watched plane after plane after plane come in. In frustration, I happened to turn to a nice couple lounging on their chairs and explained that I felt like a chauffeur today and that I was awaiting my cousin. They asked what flight she was on and when I said Air France, they looked at me and flatly said that Air France had arrived EARLY!!!!!

All I could think as I ran from the beach directly to the parking garage was Oh My God!!! My poor cousin who knows nothing about SXM would be stranded, not having any way to contact me. Little did I know that she didn’t even have the info of where she would be staying! I drove like a local resident at this point, found the lone spot at the opposite end of the parking lot, and ran across the street to find her on the telephone trying to call Greece to see if they knew the place we were staying. On top of that, Immigration held her passport inside because of this so she thought she would never get it back.

Once we saw each other and laughed hysterically due mostly to nervous exhaustion, we went back inside and eventually she got her passport back. We then drove to RI and settled her in to our 2nd bedroom. The family then got together to laugh over this (ha ha) and we settled in nicely to a calm relaxing late afternoon by the pool. We then took them all to the traditional Cheri’s night for a fun evening of food and music.

For the next several days we either did island tours or walks to Mullet beach. The weather remained perfect and everyone was having a grand time. My older niece who is very particular about “the perfect vacation spot” was quickly warming up to the island. My 4 year old grandnephew was thrilled with just about everything and his Mom (my younger niece) was certainly enjoying this adventure. My cousin who is from just outside of Athens and has a house on one of the islands as well told me that this island was certainly beautiful and that the people and food were exceptional. When you live in Greece and see all it’s beauty, SXM is a tough exam to pass.

The restaurants we chose for their stay were not the high end as I did not want to break the bank for them. We chose middle of the road places such as Pineapple Pete’s, Peg Leg Pub, Pizza Pasta, El Rancho, and a night in with Penna a la Vodka, salad, and garlic bread with Sca2la as the head Chef. My brother did get his Calendar from Peg Leg and so his mission to get it signed was uppermost on his mind. When it was our quiet time together, Rick and I went to Moulin Fou and Paris Bistro (both wonderful). The night of Ameless’ party we unfortunately dined at Tropicana instead (to be commented later). Regarding drinks, I have to highly recommend the Driftwood Bar opposite Sunet Beach Bar. They have THE BEST Tropical Fruit Smoothies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had a zillion of them at $5 per (virgin). They were made with an assortment of fresh fruit and not just the liquid fruit juice that other bars use. Definitely worth a try.

SXM’s FUNNIEST HOME VIDEO (without the video camera)
And now the funny, yet not so funny moment has arrived. This could have been on SXM’s funniest home videos if only we had a video recorder and knew this would happen. Of course if we knew this would happen, it would NEVER have happened but now we can laugh about it.

My brother, who is very well know for being a kid himself and very unreliable, volunteered to watch Thomas, his grandson. While the girls went out for a night on the town at Bliss and Cohi, Dean decided to take a nap. Well Dean can be classified as the nap King and so this was to be expected. At around 12:30 AM he awoke to the phone ringing. When he answered, the front desk was telling him that his “son” was downstairs in the lobby… In his fog, he wondered how Alex, his son who is back in the States could be downstairs and so he told them to send him upstairs! When he finally realized that it was Thomas downstairs and not Alex, his jaw dropped. He ran so fast through the door that he almost forgot that he was in his underwear and no shirt. Well my brother is not exactly an Adonis and so that sight would have sent people running. Luckily, he caught the door before it closed and locked and he ran back in to put some clothes on. He went downstairs and profusely apologized to the kind people who had gotten all the info out of Thomas. Now Annemarie (the Mom) is not married but keeps in contact with the Dad. It’s not really the best relationship but one that she feels is necessary so that Thomas knows his father. The reason I tell you this is as follows:

Conversation between Thomas and the kind people downstairs:
And what’s your name little boy
Thomas
And what is your last name
(no answer)
Where is your Mommy
She went out
And where is your Daddy
Mommy told him to leave ‘cause she’s mad at him.

Eventually they knew everything about the family “history” and so the whole complex knew as well.

Dean eventually got downstairs and apologized profusely and was lectured about the safety lock on the door. When he went upstairs, he then realized he had forgotten to take his key and had to go back downstairs to be escorted back into his room. Luckily the ending was a good one but it took my brother a few days to even calm down after this. And I have a feeling Dean will not be babysitting for quite a while!

TOURING PLACES
We did Philipsburg 3 times and Marigot once. We never got to Grand Case for dinner which I would have liked but being that finances were tight with so many people on a budget that we chose to do the middle of the road (but good food) places. We stopped at Rimas for our yearly chachkies and saved some money doing this.

We returned to Rainbow Beach Club the following week and found everything to be wonderful. The simple yet elegant details that have already gone in to making this complex a beautiful residence/resort made me so very happy. We even got to go upstairs to see our unit (cement walls still) and take a look at our future view. But enough about that.

We stopped at Friar’s Beach on one of our many tours around the island and enjoyed a brief but very enjoyable stay there. Jaba was so funny and kept us laughing with his antics. The food at Kali’s was great (their Cheeseburger was so fresh and delicious) and the water was calm enough for the little one to have a great time jumping over the little waves. I would classify Friar’s as a boutique beach and absolutely lovely.

THE WEDDING
The wedding on the first Thursday was just so wonderful. I got to stand in the pool area above the Gazebo and took lots of photos. Jessica and Evan looked so much in love and the ceremony was just a dream come true for her especially. This is what she has wanted since she was a little girl and had even told her late step father. Now her dream was becoming a reality. I put the photos into PhotoShow so if anyone wants to see what it's like, you are more than welcome. http://www.photoshow.net/watch/tP6Pr7VW


RECAP
All I can say as a recap is that every single day brought sunshine and 85 degree weather. There were days when there were gentle breezes and days without. It rained a handful of times but lasted no more than 5 minutes at a clip, sometimes while the sun was still shining. There were times when it rained where the girls were and nothing where the guys were.

All the meals were good. Since we didn’t splurge (except for La Vie en Rose), we didn’t expect much but got quality food.

An important note to end this report….do not invite relatives to vacation with you unless you expect to be pulled from one end to the other without enjoying a moment’s peace. Although everyone had a good time and really enjoyed the island, my husband and I suffered greatly and now reflecting on this would have hoped that the weeks had been switched so that our “quiet time” together was during the second week. And if anyone was at the airport and saw a hysterical Greek woman at the AA counter arguing with the counter person regarding her 1000 lb. weight of her 1 bag, that was my cousin! Prior to her trip to the airport, we all tried to convince her to split her bag into 2 but you know those Greeks….

Also, this trip report was obviously written prior to our adventure with Continental (which I posted earlier) which left a sour taste for traveling with them. We landed up paying an additional $200 to transfer to Sunday’s flight and I filed a complaint today but I doubt that we will ever be resolved to our satisfaction. Ce la vie….

PS…Again, sorry to Ameless for not making her party nor seeing her villa as the internet was down and had the directions to her villa and when we attempted to go on the 6th to Baywatch, we hit horrendous traffic jams in Simpson Bay and worse in Marigot, not to mention the fact that I thought that we had run over one of 2 dogs on the street but luckily we had not as the owner of the 2 dogs told me that they were both OK. That left my heart racing for the next half hour of bumper to bumper traffic further down the road. All in all, not a good night. We did end up at Tropicana in Marigot to eat instead but I was not really as impressed as I thought I would be.

Vicki