Once again we had a great time in SXM.
Spirit Airlines – We flew Spirit for the first time. Positives - the planes were new and nice, the flights were on time and the price was right. Negatives – the flight attendants were extremely unprofessional, almost goofy, the landing in Ft. Lauderdale was one of the hardest I’ve ever experienced and the terminal in Lauderdale was somewhat chaotic. Would we take it again? Probably, because the other airlines aren’t that much better these days.
Accommodations - We stayed in Point Pirouette like we always have. It makes the drive to Orient a little long every day and we went through a fair amount of gas getting there and back at about $5 a gallon, but we passed the time listening to the bizarre radio stations and people watching – always on the lookout for the somewhat surprising sight of incredibly huge trucks that come barreling down the road towards you on a fairly regular basis.
Beaches - We usually hang out at Boo Boo Jams. We’ve made friends with Ruben and all the crew inside the bar so it’s always nice to see them again. We told Ruben that we had both recently retired and he gave us free beach chairs for the rest of our stay. French Mother’s Day at Boo Boo’s was a big deal with boat races, bands, and lots of dancing. Other days it was pretty quiet.
We also “discovered” the Gran Case Beach Club after 30 or more trips. What a terrific little beach – Le Petite Plage I believe it’s called. Nice and calm, great for swimming.
Meals – Lunch is our big meal of the day. At Orient we either ate at Boo Boo’s or walked down to Coco Beach. Both places were excellent as usual although the Euro was killing us at Coco’s. Boo Boo’s gave us $1 = 1Euro.
We also had some great lunches at the Sunset Café in the GCBC. The view is terrific and the staff was extremely friendly and competent.
Bars – We spent an indecent number of hours at the Driftwood Boat Bar watching the planes take off and chewing the fat with the Thelma and Jennifer – the friendly bartenders. Since the bar is pretty low tech, the gals have to be electricians as well as bartenders, fixing the generator when it conks out while at the same time fending off the advances of many of the customers. They’re experts at doing both. The Driftwood is about a two minute drive from where we stay so it’s pretty convenient.
We also went to the Soggy Dollar Bar behind the Palapa Marina a number of times. Since this is a sailor’s bar you can have some interesting conversations with folks sailing around the Caribbean. What a life! And boy can those people drink beer!
Other Stuff – As usual we joined Marcy’s Mega Gym and did a morning workout that offset some of the eating and drinking later on in the day. Marcy charges $40 for a two week membership. Nothing super fancy but we like the Caribbean feel to the gym.
Plus, we renewed friendships with all the people we’ve met who live on the island. That was the best part of the trip.
Looking forward to our next trip in November or December.
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