Trip Report – November 24 through December 8, 2007

I should preface this trip report with the fact that my husband and I determined this was our ninth trip to SXM, so over the years we have done all the touristy things (i.e. the Butterfly Farm, snorkeling tours, etc.). This trip was all about relaxing with each other, enjoying the beaches and trying some new restaurants and enjoying some of our old favorites as well. We order what we want and don’t pay much attention to the prices at restaurants (we are on vacation, so I DO NOT cook!). We are also generous tippers provided the food and service is decent, so I have included the prices of some of our meals to give you newbies to SXM an idea of the cost.

AIRLINE:

American Airlines from Houston to Miami to SXM and same on return. Very smooth, no flight delays, no lost or delayed luggage in spite of it being around the Thanksgiving holiday.

CAR RENTAL:

Lesley with Kenny’s Car Rental was waiting for us outside of baggage claim and everything with the car went smoothly. I would definitely recommend them and would use their service again.

CELL PHONE:

Rented from Sharon Harris again and actually got to meet her in person. She was very nice and gracious and absolutely no problems with her service.

ACCOMODATIONS:

Our first week was at our timeshare at Oyster Bay Beach Resort. We love it there, but the front desk had a little bit of an attitude and we were not able to get the exact unit we wanted in spite of making our reservations a year ago, but we did get a two-bedroom in a decent building, so I really can’t complain. However, when we arrived in our room there was no water, which was just around the time that people would be getting ready for dinner so I am sure there were some unhappy campers. The response from the front desk was there was no water in Oyster Pond at that time. This happened a few more times during our stay during different times of the day.

Our second week was at our timeshare at the Pelican. Our unit is in the Marina building facing Simpson Bay and we like it too, except we are kind of rethinking the fixed week 48. The unit could use a little updating, but it’s a good location so again, I can’t complain.

SUPPLIES:

On our way to OBBR from the airport, we stopped at an Asian-operated store next to Jake’s laundry. We never could determine the name of the establishment, but their prices were right on, i.e. a case of Carib, four bottles of wine (Chilean, Australian and Californian), two large and two small bottles of water came to $43.00. We though that was very reasonable compared to Peli Deli and the Mom & Pop store, and we did go back twice, although we did shop at Peli Deli and Mom & Pop’s as well for their convenience.

MEALS:

First week:

Since we had a long travel day on November 24th, we decided to grab a convenient bite at Beau Beau’s. Hubby had the burger, which he rated a 7 out of 10 and described it as “competent”. I had the Caesar salad which was quite good except for the croutons, and the calamari which was tender and excellent. For the food, four beers and three glasses of wine, the total was $75 including tip.

Breakfasts were as follows:

Big Fish – did not disappoint. They have done wonders with the décor of this little restaurant. Hubby had the three-egg omelet; I had the eggs benedict variation with the crab cake and fresh-squeezed orange juice (YUM!) Total with two coffees was $35 including tip.

Infinity – I had the omelet with fresh orange juice, hubby had the American breakfast with fresh grapefruit juice. Both were excellent. With two coffees our total came to $30. After trying the omelet at Big Fish later on in the week, IMHO Infinity has the better omelet.

Bikini Beach – this is one of our favorites on Orient Beach. Hubby had the omelet and I had the “Pirada”. Both were quite good.

Dinners were as follows:

Daniel’s by the Sea – is one of my favorites. I could eat every meal here while staying at OBBR. Maria is a wonderful hostess as usual and it is always nice to see Daniel there. For our first meal, we shared the shrimp and crab cocktail. I had the Linguini Vongole (perfection) and hubby had the Spaghetti Bolognese. With beer and wine our total came to $85. We returned twice during the week. It would have been only once, but when we went to Big Fish for dinner one night, the “manager” was there by herself and we had been seated for 35 minutes and still had not ordered. There were only two other diners in the restaurant. Maybe it will be better next time?

Tabba Khady – another one of my favorites, for the food and the ambience (and the cats). So sorry that it’s closed but I am totally excited that Philippe is at Captain Oliver’s now. We had avoided it in recent years because the food was not so good for the price, but now we will definitely try them again because of Philippe.

Le Planteur – it was nice seeing Gerard again. This is another restaurant with a lot of ambience. For our entrees, hubby had the onion soup and I had the shrimp salad. We both had the beef tenderloin with green peppercorn sauce for our main course, which was cooked to French perfection. Our total, which included three beers and three glasses of wine, was 117 euros.

Mama’s Pizza – one night we decided to stay in and have pizza delivered. Since so many people had positive things to say about Mama’s, we tried them and I must say we were not impressed. We will cross them off our list.

Second Week:

After checking out of OBBR, we went to Zee Best for breakfast. I had the chicken crepe, hubby had eggs/bacon/toast, with two coffees and two juices the total was $35 with tip. Other breakfasts were at The Veranda, Flamingo’s Palapa Beach Restaurant, and one morning at the Terrace Café at La Vie in Rose in Marigot, which was offering 1:1.

Pineapple Pete’s – this was our first time here for an early lunch instead of breakfast and it was quite good. For appetizers, I had the crab-stuffed shrimp and hubby had the onion soup. We both had the Spicy Jerk Chicken Wrap for the main course. It was a little pricey for lunch, with two cokes and tip the bill was $60. I would like to go back for dinner.

Thai Savanh – instead of breakfast, we wanted to have an early lunch at Lal’s, but it was not open. We had seen Thai Savanh before but hadn’t tried it and since Thai cuisine is our favorite we decided to drive over. The food was quite good (much better that Thai Garden in Sandy Ground) but service was S-L-O-W. Dumplings, Tom Yum soup, Tiger Crying, curry and two cokes was $47 including tip.

Most evenings started off with a walk to the Buccaneer Beach Bar for sunset viewing and a cocktail.

Toppers – another of my favorites. Food and service were excellent. I had the calamari appetizer and the crab-stuffed mahi mahi. Hubby had the lentil soup and the spaghetti and meatballs. With two beers and two glasses of wine the total was $66 plus tip.

Hideaway – this was our first visit to this delightful little restaurant. I can’t believe we waited so long to try it. I had the ceviche and the steak; hubby had French onion soup and spaghetti Bolognese. Both food and service were excellent. With wine and beer, the total was $62 plus tip.

Halsey’s – this was our first visit here too and it was another excellent pick. I had the shrimp appetizer, hubby had the garlic soup and we both had the Kansas City steak. We will be back.

One evening while we were at the BBB it started to rain, so we decided just to eat there since we were on foot. I must say, this is probably the most romantic dinner we had on the island. It started raining hard, so we had to run to the bar and sit for a while. Thank goodness it was not very crowded that evening. I had received the news earlier that day that my best friend’s husband had passed (it was not unexpected) and my husband and I talked about how fragile life can be, counted our blessings that we have our health and are completely in love with each other, and comforted by the knowledge that we are lucky enough to visit this paradise each year and will be returning to SXM in April 2008 for our first springtime visit.

Caesar salad $6
Swordfish stead sandwich $9
Cheeseburger in Paradise $8
Three beers ?
Three glasses of wine ?

Beautiful memories . . . Priceless

ENTERTAINMENT:

First week:

Most of this week was spent lazing on Dawn beach. It was so much fun playing around in the crashing waves and a couple of them kicked my butt and displaced my swimsuit (oh well). We soon discovered that Mrs. B’s had been reduced to a chair rental only and they told us that if we showed our OBBR room key, there would be no charge. But we tipped them anyway. I missed the tent and the smell of her grill, but I really didn’t need more of an excuse to eat! One day we decided to brave the rocks and walk down to see what the Westin was all about. We took a quick tour, and I found it to be nice and charming. It seems like a good destination vacation spot. The service must be good because we were treated very welcomingly. The menus looked good and the prices were a bit high, but not completely out of line for what you would pay on the French side. It has a decent-sized casino, a large gift shop and a beautiful pool. The big negative for me was the storm drain to the beach. We had two cokes at the beach bar and walked away saying we would consider staying there for part of our April 2008 trip. Upon our return home, when hubby inquired about this, we found out the least expensive room during that time is $600 per night, so we have rethought that!

We also spent a day on Orient Beach at the Bikini Beach Bar. We saw one naked guy strolling on the beach. Both Orient and Dawn beaches were kind of quiet, not too many cruise ship passengers, very pleasant.

More entertainment came in the form of an earthquake. We had just returned to our room from the beach and the building started to shake and shimmy. At first I thought it was due to the construction, perhaps they had hit a water main or something. But as it continued, I realized that it was indeed an earthquake. I should have known this after living in California for so many years. It lasted a good minute to minute and a half and I was concerned that SXM had sustained some damage, but it was good news for the island thankfully.

Second week:

I discovered a new favorite – Mullet Beach! When the waters are calm, this is by far my favorite beach. The other times we had visited Mullet, the water was very rough. But it was beautiful and pristine during this trip, with just enough wave action to make it fun. It reminded me of the beaches in the Bahamas. One day instead of breakfast we had a picnic on the beach. We bought sandwiches and fruit from the Peli Deli, pitched our Insta-tent and had a great time.

We also made an unexpected trip into Phillipsburg. We go there maybe every other year or less, but hubby’s underwater digital camera went kaput, so he got an early Christmas gift. As usual, there was no parking to be had, so we parked at Rima’s, bought a couple of souvenirs and then bribed the security guard to let us stay parked their for an hour while we walked to Front Street and bought the camera.

Another gem we discovered was the sunset cruise that leaves from Aquamania at the Pelican on Sundays and Mondays. For $10 per person, they sail down the coast to Baie Longue and return, with plenty of beer, rum punch, wine, sodas, etc. This is one of the best deals on the island!

On Wednesday, we drove over to Marigot for the market. It was really hot that day with no breeze, so we did not stay long. I went in search of the lip balm “Amilab” that everyone raves about, but two French pharmacies did not have it so I gave up. We stopped at Mary’s Boon to get some info about staying there for a few days during our spring trip. I really liked it, but hubby did not. He likes larger places where you can get lost in the crowd. My only reservation is I am not sure I want to give my business to an establishment that is treating their timeshare owners so badly.

MISCELLANEOUS/OBSERVATIONS:

There is so much new construction – Cupecoy, Baie Rouge, Baie Longue – it’s unbelievable. I don’t see much improvement in the infrastructure, so I am not sure how the island can cope with it. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next couple of years.

We had fantastic weather during our stay – only two days of rain. Over the two weeks, we only hit a couple of traffic snags longer than one hour. But we try to plan the times that we drive and where we are going in order to avoid them. The pedestrian crossing at the airport in the afternoon seems to be a problem and another is the people parking, leaving and chatting along Airport Road.

We were not affected by nor did we witness any crime during our stay. We always use common sense. We walked almost everywhere in the evenings and only carry with us what we need to pay for our dinner and libations. We don’t drive at night so I can’t comment on any sobriety checkpoints.

Sorry this report is so long, but it’s my first and I had a lot of information I wanted to include. I hope to have my pictures ready to post soon.

Thanks for reading!