Trip Report 1/14-1/29

After being home for a week or so and unburying myself at work, I finally have time to write a report. I am just going to cover the highlights because frankly we had a horribly boring trip of just sitting on the beach and relaxing. That’s how we like it.

GETTING THERE – Holy crap it takes a long time to get to SXM from Seattle.

Going, we used Alaska Air FF miles and they partner with AA. We had issues coming and going. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/hammer.gif" alt="" /> Left 1/13 @ 7:40pm SEA-LAX. We were supposed to go LAX-JFK-SXM. Since we had flown Alaska to LAX, I had to go the AA counter to get my boarding passes for the remainder of our trip. AA doesn’t show us on the flight to JFK, apparently they diverted us to MIA-SXM (this was due to bad weather in NY and come to find out later the JFK-SXM flight had been cancelled). So we ended up getting to SXM an hour earlier than planned at 3:00pm on 1/14. Unfortunately our bags got sent to JFK and sat there overnight. We also realized that since the JFK flight was cancelled, Unity and Sharon would not be expecting us that day. I was able to use the phone at the taxi stand outside the airport the call Unity to come get us then once we got our car, waited for the drawbridge, picked up the phone from Sharon, drove to Orient and checked in it was almost 7:00pm! Needless to say, we were pooped!

Coming home we were scheduled on the 7:00am flight to SJU-DFW-SEA. Got up at an ungodly hour and pulled into Unity at 5:15am to drop off the car. Arrived at the airport about 5:30, the ticket agents start to arrive and we get in line. We are in line no longer than 5 min and up on the screens it says our flight is cancelled. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" /> That’s a dandy way to start my day! The next flight to SJU is at 9:50am (I’d like some sleep back please!!) Come to find out the reason for the cancellation was that there was no wind at all. I guess I really can’t blame anyone for that! I am starting to get nervous because I can hear the agents telling the people in front of us that the 9:50 flight to SJU is full. If we don’t get on that flight, we have to overnight somewhere. It’s finally our turn and I wish I would have written this agent’s name down because she went above and beyond the call of duty for us. After checking all of the other airlines and not coming up with anything, she put us on standby for the SJU flight. She was also working the gate for that flight. Not only did she manage to get us on the flight but also about 5 or 6 other people who were also on standby. The rest of the trip was uneventful……Thank Goodness!

LODGING – First off a huge thank you goes out to Jim Ruos @ CITS for taking care of our lodging for us. He worked with me when I had to make a change and move the dates of our vacation. Then we had a hiccup about 3 weeks before we were supposed to leave that was no fault of our own and Jim went to bat for us to make sure we were compensated for our inconvenience.
Townhouse Menorca #4 – We stayed here our first week. We have stayed in this townhouse before only in a different unit. They are wonderful units with kitchen, living room and ½ bath downstairs. Upstairs there are 2 Bedrooms each with ensuite vanity and shower and the “toilet room” in the hallway. The kitchen is more than sufficient including a dishwasher and an undercounter washing machine. The patio off the living room has a clothes drying rack. The fact that this place is walking distance to the village and the beach make it appealing for us as well.
Club Orient Studio #24 - We moved here for our second week. Proximity to the beach, lounges and umbrellas and clothing optional are what make this place nice.

RESTAURANTS – We tried a lot of new places this year and were not disappointed. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/dine.gif" alt="" />

Ti’ Bouchon (Cul de Sac) – This place is a gem. It was truly our best meal on the island. Inventive and unique dishes. Wonderful presentation. Todd had a seafood sampler plate that had 3 different types of fish, plus scallops and shrimp. I had duck & mango kabobs in a gingerbread sauce. Dessert was crème brulee for Todd and warm molten chocolate cake with pomegranate for me. You want wine? Just ask Momo, he will pick out something perfect for you.

Au’ Grain de Sel (Cul de Sac) – Another good find this trip. Diverse menu with pizza, steak, seafood ect. Very large portions at a reasonable price. I had a grilled flank steak with 4 different sides. It was tender and flavorful. I took half of it home for lunch the next day. Their pizzas must be good because we saw numerous people coming in to pick up pizzas to go.

Big Fish (Oyster Bay) – A group of 6 of us went here to try it out. It’s a really good place to go if you have a hankering for seafood. I can’t remember specifically what we all had but I know everyone was pleased with their meal. I do remember that the sauces that they pair with the seafood are very good.

Antoine’s (Phillipsburg) – We had never done dinner in Phillipsburg before. We heard good things about this place and decided to try it out. They have a fixed price menu that is a good value. Todd really wanted the carbonara and was not disappointed. It was awesome, so creamy and cheesy. We had heard that the chocolate soufflé was good here so at the beginning of the meal we told our waiter we would like to order it for dessert and wanted to get the order in because of the time it takes to make. He assured us he would. At the end of the meal, we were waiting and waiting. The waiter comes up and told us that the kitchen burned the first one. So we waited some more. The 2nd one come out burnt as well….that was a bummer.

Halseys (Simpson Bay) – Well Todd said the food here was very good. I’ll just have to take his word for it. I had way too many vodka Tings during happy hour @ Lady C next door to remember…..I digress… <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />

Moulin Fou (Maho) – We had a craving for steak one night and headed over to Maho to go to Bajatzu only to find them closed on Sundays. So we went across the street to Moulin Fou and had a nice tenderloin and ribeye. It would have been a lot my enjoyable if we didn’t have to yell over the show at Cheri’s.

La Gondola – (Cupecoy) This was a repeat visit for us. I was just as good as last time. I don’t think that there is better Italian on the island. Their pastas are so good. Todd had a scallop risotto with black truffles. He had to stop himself from eating it, for fear of making himself sick. I was so rich and decadent. Definitely need to make a reservation though. They do 2 seatings - 7:00 & 9:00. We did the 9:00 and the place was packed.

Le Piment & Tap 5 Pizza (Orient Village) – We got pizza at both of these places. Both have good thin crust pizza. I have to give Le Piment a bit of an edge though. If you are a strong cheese lover, they have a 4 cheese pizza that is too die for.

Bikini Beach Bar – (Orient) – We ate here once for lunch and once for dinner. Their food is a bit spendy, but it is very good and fresh. I love their tapenade and calamari.

Baywatch – (Orient) – What can I say that hasn’t already been said. We ate here multiple times for breakfast and lunch. Mussels on Wed. are a must, the buffalo chicken hero dripping with blue cheese dressing, Italian omelet…. It’s all good.

Kokomarina – (Orient) – We ate lunch here one day. It is a lovely place; beautifully decorated and the food was really good. It was a step up from your average beach food. I had a crab cake salad with curry dressing. Todd had a sushi sampler. Both our meals as well as the rum shot after were awesome!

CELINE DAY SAIL – This was another first for us. What an incredible trip! We had a great group; the weather was beautiful, the water like glass. Neil & his crew put on a feast that would rival any of the restaurants on the island, and you can’t beat the setting! We will definitely be repeat customers!

MISC NOTES – You could definitely tell it was high season. The traffic at times was bad, but we find that if you know in advance when those times are, to just work around them. Orient was very busy at times and the cruise ship gawkers were in full force. The Euro did affect us; we ate way more on the Dutch side than we ever had. We also made sure to do all of our grocery shopping on the Dutch side as well.


Two weeks is the perfect amount of time for us. We really had a chance to unwind and relax. We met up with old friends and well as made new ones. SXM is the place for us. We have looked at other destinations and nothing compares to SXM. We hope to be back soon.