Over-nighted in Newark at the Fairfield Inn. They are no longer taking park and fly rates. I don’t know why. But, they honored ours since we made our reservation prior to that going into effect. Flight down was smooth and on-time except for two attempts at a landing. I just saw SSBB and was waiting for wheels down when we all of a sudden went back up. The pilot said there was another plane in the way. I though he was a puss, I am sure we were bigger than this other plane (yes, I am kidding). We touched down at 12:10 got through the airport, customs, baggage, rental car (Unity), cell phone (Sharon), and were checking into Club O by 2:10. We got to the island on the 3rd day of non stop rain storm. What a depressing sight that was walking out onto the beach, rain, cold wind, beach erosion. It wasn’t raining at the time so we walked up the beach and went to Coco for some pizza. When we left it was pouring so we had to walk the whole length of a deserted beach in the rain. We were tired so we ended up going to bed until the next day. The next day didn’t look bad at 6am but it got ugly again. We were on the beach and it was still cloudy. Dark clouds and rain started heading for us so we decided to head out for lunch. We went over to Gutside which was the cue for all the clouds to go away and the sun to come out. So everyone can thank us for that. We had a great lunch at Gutside and ended up there for more than two hours BS-ing with Richard. Also, TTOLer Happywanderer and his lovely bride wandered in for lunch (small world). We had a good time and a great lunch. If you haven’t been to Gutside yet you should really give it a try. It is a nice out of the way place. He has a small menu of-ribs-fish-shrimp-lobster and maybe one or two other items. It has a nice feel to it so if you are in the area check it out. He is closed on Mondays. After that we were clear to head back to the beach and enjoy the sun. A little while back I posted a question called “restaurant question for the wise and well traveled.” The end part of that question asked suggestions for good out of the way places. One of the places suggested by Lovesbeaches and GandJinVA was Yvette’s. If you come out of Orient to the main road and turn left you can head straight down into the French Quarter. There is a GESS Gas Station on the right and you will see a small sign for Yvette’s in the grass. Turn right before the gas station and follow up a short ways and it will be on your right. Very good food. We had the conch appetizer. I believe it is pickled conch with tons of garlic. It was very good. I had a lobster and crab dish and my wife had a chicken dish. Definitely worth a try. Prices were good and the food was great. The only small knock I can give the place is that it has a faint odor of “cat.” Not cooked cat, but a cat lives here odor:) We went up to Boo Boo Jams after dinner but it was pretty dead so we had one drink and headed back to Club O. We figured we would try Papagayos for a drink but there ended up being a DJ it was a lot of fun (we thought it would be closed). We had a really great time. Thanks to Flatrater and his wife for inviting us over to the party table. It was great meeting you all. Next day (St Patty's Day) we did lunch at the place to the right of Baywatch. Good food if you never tried it and were thinking of it. I had a huge burger and the wife had a curry chicken wrap. Both were great. That night was the infamous Baywatch St Patty's Day Party. If you were there, you know, if you weren’t, I am sure you heard. Thanks to Sugarae and John for hosting and organizing. You all did a great job and we loved the “Mickey’s”. Great job to Andy, Cheryl and their staff. Everything was outstanding. Sunday was lunch at Papagayos and dinner was the LOLO in Grand Case. I never noticed that there are four of them in that one spot. Afterward I recalled most posts mentioning “talk of the town.” We did “Skys the Limit,” and it was really great. We both had huge plates of food and I had beer and the total bill was $20. I wouldn’t have a problem eating at any of the four. Sunday night we went to Boo Boo Jams with another couple we met at Club O. There was a good crowd of mostly locals. They were playing salsa music and wow can they dance. Makes me wish I had an ounce of rhythm. But it was a good time. On Monday the wife wasn’t feeling well (not from the LOLO, she was feeling it beforehand) so I ended up at Pedros for a quick lunch. That evening the wife felt a little better so we wanted to try our next recommendation of Mark’s Place suggested by-ruralcarrier, JoeFitz, Benkatie, andBob1P. Mark’s is located at the traffic circle for the Grand Marche Supermarket. If you are coming from the airport heading toward Phillipsburg you will come down a hill to a traffic circle and you can see it if you look to the right. Absolutely outstanding meal. I had a linguini in a cream garlic sauce with tons of shrimp, scallops and crap meat. The wife was playing it safe because of being sick and had lemon chicken. Both were great and we had plenty to take home for leftovers. Good Call! Tuesday started to get a little windy and rainy so we decided to try out Lotterie Farm for lunch. This was suggested by BillandElaine, Annie, and Poco and was also suggested by Happywanderer while we were at Gutside. I am going to go ahead and say this now. Lotterie Farm was the best overall meal experience we had on this trip. Absolutely awesome place. I was never really sure how to get there, mainly because you have to turn at the sign for “Pic Paradis.” So to clear up the confusion-You can turn for Pic Paradis. Just don’t go to the top of the mountain. After you turn off the main road, Lotterie Farm will be a right turn down a hill. We walked up the ramp to the restaurant area. Out front is a long open lounge area with chairs and couches. At the far end is a raised area with couches on three sides and covered by a canvas tarp. No one was in this whole section so we stayed out front. We ordered the cheese dish for an appetizer and I ordered some sort of taco salad. The wife had a tuna/seaweed dish and everything was washed down with Chardonnay. The cheese dish was served with french bread and different types of fruit. It was fantastic. My taco salad was superb but my wife’s dish of tuna/seaweed was incredible. You can talk about how much you enjoyed a restaurant, the food, service, atmosphere, etc…, but when you taste food and you want to cry because of how well the flavors marry then you know you hit a good spot. Anyway, we just had to stay for about three hours eating drinking wine and enjoying the on and off showers from under the canopy. After a while we felt like royalty sitting on our raised perch---“Bring me more wine and cheese------and bring me the head of a pig, and then fiddle for us.” (No I didn’t say that;) (Yes he did!) Seriously, If you've never been there, please give it a try, you won’t regret it. We did lunch but they said they have a more expanded menu for dinner. We stayed there so late we had to go straight to Grand Case for Harmony Nights. This was a lot of fun. Great vendors and live music. We made a few purchases but nothing major. The next day we had leftovers from Marks and then went to the market in Marigot. We bought a few things for the niece and nephew and browsed for a bit. That evening we went back to Grand Case. We had been in the Blue Martini a few times for drinks. It has a nice open courtyard area and they have Stella on draft (double bonus), but we never ate there. They have a Tapas (small plate) menu. Also, a local that was sitting next to us said they have the best beef on the island (Hmmm). We ordered a Tapas sampler and we split a T-bone for the main course. It seems like a local hangout for the French residents but we enjoyed ourselves and the food was very good. The steak was awesome, if you were wondering. On Thursday we OD on rum punch and spent the evening in the room. Friday for lunch we did Baywatch (mussels and burgers). That evening was Grand Case yet again. We walked by SPICY a few times. I didn’t remember it from last year so I assumed it was new. We never saw anyone in there but it looked like a nice place so in we went. It is a new place and the owners are very nice. Contessa did a post a couple of weeks ago on -New Restaurant in GC- if you want to dig back. Very good food, service, and price. Saturday was the Buffett concert. We decided to chance it with the ferry service versus the charter. We got to Marigot about 8am and were on the beach in Anguilla by 10am. We hung out at the CuisinArt Resort & Spa next to the dune preserve. Great place. We stayed there 'til a little after 1pm then went to stand in line for the beach access entrance. We were almost in at 3pm when Jimmy went on. He was into song three before we finally made it in. It was really hot, crowded, and a lot of people were smoking cigars. Other than that it was an awesome show. We had a great time and other than some very minor issues it was a perfect day. They are supposed to have a DVD available soon which should be cool. We were leaving SXM the next day so we wanted to get back as soon as possible. After the show ended we went out to a van and made to the ferry and back to SXM before dark. We went back to Gutside and had dinner. I had shrimp and the wife had lobster. Both were great. Then we headed back to Club O to do a some packing and then over to Papagayos for a little dancing and one last drink. Next day we went home. No issues.
Sorry this was so long. You may not tell from this report but we were on the beach quite a bit. Not as much as some but sand gravity does exist in our world. We stayed in a mini-suite which was great. We did a few AM beach walks with no problem. Never had any issue while we were on the island. We did not see any crime. We never made it to Phillipsburg or any of the casinos. We spent a lot of time on the French side (obviously). We rented from Unity for our vehicle and Sharon for our phone both were great. We booked the vacation through Ed Roman at Caribbean Island Travel Service (Thank You-Everything was perfect) Next time I definitely would like to hit the supermarket to stock up on some food. We had some breakfast stuff, but next time I would like to do lunch a few times without going out. Weather was odd but overall who cares, we were there and not in PA. especially since we missed the big snowstorm. Everyone at Club O is so friendly. We met a lot of great people. We had a great stay and look forward to coming back soon. Thanks to everyone for their restaurant tips. If I missed yours we will get it on the next trip. Be safe.
Bill and Maureen
.
