Hi everyone. Michelle and I made it back Saturday, so we need to re-live our 8th time on the 2 weeks on the island ...

10/28 Flight from Columbus to Philly on US Air ... pilot earned his pay ... high winds/rain/a lot of "big eyed" passengers. It was a one wheel landing for about 50 feet – heehee.

Unfortunately for some because of the weather, there were a few missed connections for the flight from Philly to SXM. Fortunately for us – we had an empty seat in our row. In my 8 times coming to SXM – I’ve never seen an empty seat on the SXM legs.

We arrived safely and scurried into the new Air Conditioned PJIA. Very nice and modern. Bags arrived ok … so we were off to Dollar for our car.

On the trip in the rental car bus … I noticed they were already tearing down the old departure terminal. I paid my homage to that building. It was small/hot/busy/etc. etc., but it definitely represented a big part of the “island life”.

Picked up our silver Kia Rio (we’ll call her #1 … more about that later) and headed to La Vista.

1st time staying in La Vista … nice studio. Michelle liked the “bleachy clean” smell.

I caught a bit of the Ohio State Buckeye game – GO BUCKS!

Then after a quick shut eye – off to Shrimpy’s.

We met the crowd there already. Funniest thing about it was that we had to fly over 2000 miles to see our friends Paul n Vicky (who live 20 miles away from us)

Man, the Carib tasted good.


10/29 Breakfast to go from Cappuccino (4.95 special – enough for 2 people) to eat on the beach under the yellow umbrella. Traffic was non-existent at 9 am probably because it was Sunday. Went to our favorite beach … Orient … and suffered from a bad case of sand gravity.

Kia Rio #1 was suffering from a bad hesitation (don’t want to pull out in front of traffic if she wont go) especially when the AC was on. So she went back to the mother ship at Dollar for a tune-up. Picked up Kia Rio LX (upgrade with a bigger engine for my lead foot driving habits – lol). She was white. We’ll call her #2.

Dinner at Le Charloise in Maho. Very relaxing.

On the drive over to Maho – I noticed a bit of shimmy in the rear wheels of #2 at low speeds. It went away over 30 kmh, so I figured it was the previous renter’s lack of parallel parking skills. No biggy.

10/30 Packed a lunch from the Peli-Deli. They make some great roast beef sandwiches for $4. – again enough for both of us.

Trip to Orient had some traffic right around Cole Bay … took about 20 mins to get from Billy Folly Rd to the turn up the hill. But after that … smooth sailing.

Pineapple Pete’s Monday night with friends – Seafood Gratinah (sp?) … excellent dish. Michelle’s Pork Roast was good too.

10/31 Halloween. No Caribs on the beach because I knew we’d be hitting it hard at Denis’s party that night. I was right.
The Maho Bikeless Bikers came out in force. The party was great!

11/1 Didn’t get up til 1 pm – LOL – that’s how good the party was. Ledo’s BBQ for dinner (one plate of food $8 enough for 2 meals for 2 people)

11/2 Went to Orient again for the day. The AC in Kia #2 started turning off and on by itself – kind of a pain – so back to the mother ship again for lucky #3 – a periwinkle blue/purple Rio.

11/3 Orient again for the day … but no drinks at the beach til afternoon and Dave n Louise’s party @ Baywatch. Another GREAT TIME!!!!! Seafood Fantasy for dinner was awesome. We met a lot of great people (too many to list) and I had too much to drink (of course). And Michelle still has marks where those name tags were (everyone there will know what I’m talking about – LOL)

11/4 Hangover (again, lol) and move from LaVista to Flamingo. I had to be the luggage sentinel because room wasn’t ready til after 3. Oh well – kept me from the hair of the dog. Pineapple Pete’s again that night for Lobster Thermidor (mmm, mmm) and “One White Chick” band.

11/5 Beach time again and dinner @ Lee’s with Dave n Louise for their last night on this trip. Dave’s burger was so good he chewed with a 6 inch grin on his face. Soprano’s for some after dinner drinks. I think Soprano’s may need some help in their music dept. Any volunteers?

11/6 Stopped by @ BBB for the TTOL party. Skeeters were a biting so we left kind of quick for dinner with friends @ Sapphire.

Rest of the week was fun on Orient Beach … highlighted by me getting bit on the arse by the fish I was feeding. Everyone on the beach knew it from my outburst – LOL. The stories on the beach the rest of the week were worth the pinch.

Dinner Thursday night @ Rare – probably top 5 I’ve been to around the world! Definite must go.

Beach ball races with everyone were fun too!

Saw the Queen on Friday in Phillipsburg – she waved @ Michelle!

11/11 Check out of Flamingo then off to PJIA for the return home thru Charlotte. Connection was tight – 2 bags made it thru to Columbus, other 2 came via courier Sunday morning.

Quick note on taking liquor/perfumes back from SXM …

You can not take liquor/perfumes thru security in carry-ons in SXM. If you elect to purchase, it must be in your checked luggage.

You can buy liquor from the secure area in PJIA for carry-on though.

If you are fortunate to have a direct flight from SXM to your final destination, you can keep it with you.

If you have a connection (like we did thru Charlotte, then on to Columbus): once you get your bags for Customs/immigration processing, you will need to put the liquor in your checked bags to go to your final destination.

Also … on the 3 ounce liquids rule for carry-on … it’s the packaging size that counts … don’t attempt to take a 6 ounce bottle that’s less than half full in a carry-on – TSA will still require it to be packed in checked bags.

One benefit tho – plenty of overhead storage on the planes now!

Respectfully submitted,

John & Michelle Hesch
Orient, OH USA