August 5th to August 14th trip

We were trying to figure out what trip # this was, and I think it was # 8. Kind of a shorter trip this August, as I (Marc) had already went in May for 1 week. Won’t do the day to day thing, but point out a few highlights of our trip.

Flights:

Our trip started out with a drive to Montreal on Saturday August 4th to overnight. As we were on FF tickets, our schedule had us going from Montreal to NYC on Sunday August 5th and NYC to SXM on Monday August 6th. Our flight to JFK was the last one of day, but decided to go to the Montreal Airport early to try and get an earlier flight. Couldn’t get on the early one, but got on the early afternoon flight, and enjoyed a nice evening in NYC. Stayed at the Michelangelo hotel in Manhatten, and would recommend to anyone spending a night in New York.

Monday was our flight down to SXM, direct on AA #667. Got to the airport early, 3:30am, to find huge lines already at AA counters. But were were greeted to go to an empty agent, as the lines were for flights to San Juan and to Santo Domingo. So, by 4:15am, we were at the gate for our 8:15am flight. Talk about being early.

Now the fun starts: 7:40am, boarding. 8:10 am, I look around the cabin to see many empty seats. I found this weird as the flight was suppose to be full. A few minutes later, the pilot comes on and says that approx. 75 people are on their way from Los Angeles and are on this flight and that the decision was made to wait. Waiting time, 1 hour. But by the time everyone boards, take their seats, as many people who originally boarded had switch to empty seats, and we are leaving the gate 1hr45 minutes late. But then the thunderstorms come. Another 1hr wait, as we were now #25 in line for takeoff, and nothing was moving. Finally airborn, over 3hrs after we originally sat in our seats.

Our flights back were non eventful, a few minutes late into Montreal.

Connecting into Miami:

If you are connecting through Miami, as this was a first for us on an international flight, allow at least 2 hours. From the time we landed, and got to our connecting gate, it took us 1h45. And the walk from the arriving gates to customs/immigration is LONG…!!!

Car Rental:

As usual, we rented a Jeep Wrangler from Unity. Even arriving 3hrs late into SXM, they were there waiting for us, got the keys, and were on our way in a matter of minutes. For us, they are the best.

Where we stayed:

Club Orient is our choice. We love it there for many reasons. No need to get dressed to drive to Orient, seconds away from the best beach in the world. Friends you re-see, new friends you make, and the overall atmosphere is what we look for and have found our place. This year, we were in studio #19, with a great ocean view between 2 chalets. Couldn’t be better. I would recommend Club Orient to anyone wanting to experience the clothing optional experience.

Meals:

Our first meal was at Dinghy Dock. In all of our years going to the island, was never there. We got there after happy hour, but enjoyed some very good ribs. For me, a close second to Andy’s ribs.

On Tuesday, we stayed and ate at Papagayo’s, to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Joined by socalcpl2006, we enjoyed a nice dinner and a bottle of champaign.

We also had a few more meals at Papagayo’s, which we enjoyed. Good food, good service.

Other places we went to were Calmo’s Café, Le California and Pineapple Pete’s.

For lunches, we did Pedro’s, Papagayo’s, Baywatch, and Le Pirate. They are all great.


Tiko Tiko:

Ok…here I go. And I’m sure our tiko tiko companions will have fun correcting me if I forget something. We had planned a group a few weeks before our trip, and this coincided with my birthday (Marc) on August 11th. We were 11, and then joined by new friends Sue, Rhonda and her husband Curtis. The other guilty were lovesbeaches (John,Sue and Marissa), Lynette (James and Lynette), Bob and Pam, and socalcpl2006 (Ryan and Jennifer). So it was a full boat of 14. Seconds after departure, 2 of many rum punch bottles were open and consumed. Weather was great, and the ride over was enjoyable.

The morning was spent just floating around, having a few drinks, ….ok, many drinks, and enjoying the day. It’s now lunch time. As usual, rum shots after dinner, some having more than 1, and then it’s back to the beach for the afternoon.

After a few more refills of rum bottles, time for the mud….and then the trip back to Club O.

I was probably, no, I was the worst swimmer of the group, and by late afternoon, well, let’s just say I was just hanging on the a float and getting towed in by my so called “friends”, who fed me drinks all day to celebrate my birthday….!!!!!!! There were 3 non drinkers in our group, and we went through 14 bottles of rum punch, plus some beer, shots at lunch, etc…. So, it was an easy decision, that we were all staying in for dinner at Papagayo’s. Saturday night meant Prime Rib and Karaoke.

For the rest of this day, well I’ll just say this. What happens on the Tiko Tiko, stays on the Tiko Tiko…!!!!!!!!


Beaches:

We spent every day on Orient, at Club Orient. Lots of sand, except in front of Papagayo’s, where water was hitting the structure of the restaurant.

Others:

On a Sunday afternoon, we spent some time at the Kon Tiki, where they had a foam party. It started out pretty lame, but they were having an issue with their foam machine, but in the end, we had a good time.

Shopped at Caribbean Gems for jewelry and at Gulmohars for booze and cigars, both TTOL sponsors. We have been going to these 2 places since our first visit, and would highly recommend.

Went to the Casino Royal for about 1hr one evening. Small contribution, not even the cost of a couple of drinks. Followed by a trip to the Sunset Beach Bar where they had karaoke. Didn’t stay very long.

At our dinner at Calmo’s Café, they had a band playing, and they were very good. We had a great laugh, as one of our group, very quickly pointed out an item on the menu which was called “Cummin Meatballs”……It was a great night.

Finally….:

Our trips to Club Orient are always a bonus when you meet great people you can then call friends. So, to John, Sue and Marissa, Bob and Pam, James and Lynette, thank you for making our trip even more enjoyable. Next year will be my 40th birthday, and a Tiko Tiko repeat has to be in order. And to Ryan and Jennifer, we spent quite a bit of time with both of you, sharing some dinners and drinks, late night swims, or just hanging out having drinks at night, either at our place or at Lynette’s, it was a blast and a lot of fun Glad we got to hang out.

Glad we met ya’all again and will have to fixin’to get together next August, eh…!!!

It was funny, as in our group, we had South Carolina, Pensylvannia, California, New York/New Jersey and Canada. Talk about a mix of accents…!!!!!!!

Hope this was not too long.......To next year...