Flights: PHL to SXM, on time leaving, early arriving US AIR
SXM to PHL Departure – arrived at 2:00 pm (after getting boarding passes online, thus avoiding lines at the terminal) for a 3:45 flight. Everyone was on the plane at 3:15 waiting for 3 passengers. We were away from the terminal and lifted off at 3:45. Arrived in PHL on time – at the gate. This folks is a first!
Car: Tropical-Tropicana great service as usual, tho due to our early arrival, I had to wait for Mickey. Traffic back to the office was awful, but hey, we're here! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />
Day 1: TTOL party at BBB. Finally had the joy of meeting Bill & Elaine, Caribdugan and Bob1P! Plus many more. We are still laughing over some of the jokes and glad we finally met so many fab folks. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/circle.gif" alt="" />
We weren’t sure we would even make this trip due to complicated eye surgery on Steve’s only functioning eye 2 weeks prior to the trip. But our surgeons encouraged us to go and relax, so armed with the name of an on island Ophthalmologist (Thanks to TTOL ers) we embarked on our most recent visit to our beloved island. We stayed at Tradewinds of Cupecoy. Most of our days were spent lapping up the breezes and soaking up the sun on Cupecoy Beach. We also tried Mullet and Grand Case. Grand Case was wonderful except for the passing rain clouds. We would have gone back more frequently, but hubby loved the c.o. friendly Cupecoy. In order to get on the beach, we had assistance the first day from Danny, who made sure hubby could navigate the sloped entrance safely every day. Others we met on the beach including Rick & Kim from upstate NY, Dick & Kat from Cleveland Heights and many others, all took time to watch out for us as we navigated the beach. By the end of our 2 weeks, he was able to see better and was very happy to even try the waters. As much as we love Orient, the winds were not our friends these 2 weeks. We went up one day to see Cheryl and Andy and hubby walked out to the water, but came right back. Too much blowing sand is really bad for extremely sensitive eyes. Next trip we’ll try again. One of the things we love best about SXM is if a particular beach isn’t great one day, there are others to choose from. On this trip, due to wind and “30% chance of rain” daily – we chose Cupecoy Beach. Great barbeque chicken!
Breakfasts were all at Kissing Fish with Chloe and Thierry, our favorite host and hostess. Where else do you get a singing chef for breakfast? On 2 days, the visiting African Green Vervet monkey – always with a hand out for bananas, arrived. He then took over the kitten tree (as seen in the youtube video provided by WildBill) with the cats wondering how to get him out of THEIR tree! The monkey was named “Spanky”.
We met friendly folks at breakfast including “Rainbow Rabbit and friends as well as Gary and Randy from New Paltz, NY. The owner of the Summit Resort, Bruce, was there with his family, though we never actually got to meet him. It was, after all, vacation time for all.
Hubby was most pleased that Oliver Twist, Sambucca and ManaNichole all came by to say hello. He is very fond of Chloe’s kitties and much relieved that they were all in good health.
Massages twice for Hubby at The Spa in Maho. Wonderful. I had French Manicure that actually lasted the entire trip without repair. A first for me!

Restaurants:
Kissing Fish –breakfast yum,yum,try the banana pancakes. Dinners – mahimahi and grouper to die for.
PegLegPub – still the best steak on the island. Loved the kabobs. Fish also superb
Le Charolais –a personal favorite for Lobster Bisque and a great view of the action in Maho. This year a parade complete with marching drummers and dancers for a visiting trade group.
Bella Napoli – hubby’s fish was good, my lobster ravioli was frozen and dry,sauce tasted like Campbell’s tomato soup. Dinner with 2 waters, 1 cappuccino and the aforementioned was $100. Never again.
Barefoot Terrace – lunch intown. Love the native rotis, hubby loved hamburger & fries. Great view of Great Bay.
Le Ti Sucrier : The most incredible meal of our trip. Lobster Bisque was a meal here and OMG delicious each bite. Tuna was pan seared with wasabi and sesame. Vegetable tower was excellent. Pascal and Silvan (chef/owner) are the best!!! Sorry I had no room for desserts- which I understand are also to die for.
Valentino’s and Jimbo’s Both wonderful.
Halsey’s – Filet Mignon and Asian Tuna are fabulous. Love that green sauce for the bread.
Sunset Café – we only got here once and want to go again. Very nice.
La California why haven’t we been here before? Wonderful food and great service
1 euro – 1 $.

Made it to Grand Case the last Tuesday for Mardi –Grand Case. We went in at 5pm and avoided the crowds, but managed to get great bargains from the street vendors and enjoyed the music. When we were leaving, about 8:30pm, the streets were packed and traffic coming in was at a stand still. Glad we went while hubby could see what was around.
We went early this year, due to ff miles and time we could use them. Hope to return later this year. It was another great 2 weeks in paradise. 2 weeks is not enough, need more….Thanks to all who assisted us. We had a very relaxed vacation and met some truly lovely people. Hope to see you all again.