Since we had gotten so much sun the day before we decided to take my mother to the Maho shopping area. While getting ready Bill could not find his American Express. We looked everywhere, including the car. The last time he remembered using it was at the Cost U Less the day before. I could not find a phone number online but the front desk had a telephone book. I called and although was cut off and had to dial back several times, ascertained they had not found a card. He immediately called USAA to report the card missing. The last transaction recorded was the one we made at Cost U Less so at least the card was just MIA and not misappropriated. Later he remembered dropping all of his stuff in the Grand Marche and thought he had picked everything up. I tried to call that store but no one ever answered the phone. I was not about to drive all that way to inquire since the card was already deactivated.

Before we left we reported the ant situation again and a housekeeper came up with some bug spray. She asked if we wanted her to spray or do it ourselves. We did it. Bill pulled at the edge of the dishwasher and sprayed into the gap between washer and cabinet. We also did the gap around the stove. So far so good but later we saw the little b*#%tards coming out below the built in microwave! Had to empty the counter and try to aim the spray into the gap between the back of the microwave and the wall. If they live through that they deserve to hang out in the kitchen. They don't bite, and I had brought zip locks to put anything we opened in, mainly because I was concerned about humidity. It's a good thing we used to tent camp.

On the way to Maho we stopped by The Scuba Shop because I had seen online that they had a free Snorkel Guide available. Continuing on we parked in front of the Maho Pharmacy and were going to visit the shops only to discover most of them were closed. The only one that was open on that side was J&L Jewels & Linens. They actually had pretty good prices, with the Guavaberry Liqueur at $5 less than anywhere else I'd seen and some reasonably priced Larimar jewelry. I don't know if the other shops were opening later in the day or not. I find it somewhat amusing comparing the reality of the shopping areas to the hyperbole of their advertisements. This area bills itself as "a destination within a destination."

The other side of the street looked equally closed and my mother was already tiring. I decided to drive towards Sunset Beach Bar just to see how many people were there. There wasn't any car traffic but people were standing in the roadway and not really budging as I tried to inch the car along while trying to avoid hitting them, and more importantly, not hit the high concrete curb and thus damage the rental. Does it sound bad that my view is if you stand in the roadway and get hit by a car you only have yourself to blame? I am actually quite serious when I say I do not know if I would feel bad if I had hit someone when they would not even try to move out of harm's way. Halfway through, right where the runway is I spotted a JetBlue flight coming in. Since there were no cars behind me I stopped the car so my mother could experience the thrill of having the plane go overhead. I did not have time to fish out my camera but I think it would have been too close anyway, to get any kind of perspective in the shot.

I drove around Beacon Hill Road then over to the Simpson Bay area and Karakter but my mother was refusing to leave the car. She said she'd sit in the car and read a book while we went to the bar. Geez, this is turning out swell. If I didn't think the heat and humidity might actually do her in I would have taken her up on that. We stopped at Taste to get some croissants only to find that it was.......wait for it.....closed until October.

While mom napped my husband was up for a swim so we headed out to the beach at the Atrium. We ended up swimming pretty far out, past a couple of moored boats, in search of turtles we were told would be there. No turtles but I did see some colorful fish and 2 smallish eagle rays. I was a bit nervous being so far out since I could hear jet skis somewhere, although I was not seeing them. It was a good swim, however. We then went to the pool and had a lively conversation with some other guests while enjoying mango daiquiris from the Greenhouse.

We ended up cooking in the unit and I did run down to take some pictures of the Fireball at the Buccaneer. It looked like fun all around as there were a number of children running around playing while their parents drank and chatted.

Ended the evening with more Etna ice cream and football.

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Saturday morning we spent moving my mother's stuff from the 1 bedroom unit down to our unit. The Atrium normally cleans and changes the linens on Friday for guests staying another week but we had been asking for 2 days for them to NOT clean and just change the linens on Saturday. They had just cleaned and mopped on Wednesday and we really hadn't dirtied anything. We asked again Saturday morning about the bed linens and were told they were going to clean our units after they did the regular check outs. Again we said we just needed fresh sheets but later around 2 pm the lady showed up with her mop bucket anyway.

Since I was picking up 3 people and their luggage from the airport AND their was college football on TV all day my husband graciously volunteered to stay with my mother while I headed to the airport. I wanted to head over to the Sunset Bar & Grill in order to video each plane as it landed. Parking was plentiful at the Allegria. I found that the Airport website of landing times and the Sunset's surfboard sign should be taken as suggestions, or vague approximations, for actual flight times. I was sitting under an umbrella chatting with a couple from Atlanta who had come in on a Carnival ship when we saw a plane coming in around 1:30. I decided to do a practice run taking a video on my phone. It's a good thing I did because it turned out to be my daughter's Spirit flight, which was not due until 1:50. The man from Atlanta was so cute as he was shouting "she has family on that plane, everybody!" After that the planes were coming in totally out of order. The Air France was way too early, the Delta plane way late. I videoed every plane coming in so that I could catch my son's American Airlines.

After I was sure I'd gotten the videos I headed over to the Airport. They are definitely fanatical about not standing or stopping out front but I had to keep circling as I didn't know if my children would call me after they got their luggage. It would be nice if the airport had a cell phone lot to wait in for free. I finally spotted them and honked my horn and we loaded up. They were surprised Bill wasn't with me but I pointed out we were in a Corolla. The cost difference to get a larger car was not what I wanted to pay and I had figured my mother would not be going to any beaches. On the way to the Atrium we stopped at The Scuba Shop so they could rent snorkel gear. It's only $30 for a week.

We had stocked my son's fridge with a case of Heineken and left some red wine on the counter for his girlfriend so they were happy. My daughter and I got to our unit to find Bill happily ensconced on the sofa watching football. Everyone rested a bit and then we debated where to eat dinner. I suggested Karakter for the view. Of course now we needed to transport 6 adults....I really don't mind driving so I made 2 trips. We had a lovely large table under the awning and the view was wonderful. We could clearly see a neighboring island. The only negative was that the sun sets over the airport, so any pictures of it would have had the barbed wire fence in them. I did take some pictures of The Atrium across the Bay. As it got darker seeing all the lights twinkling in the distance was nice.

The drinks were pretty good. We ordered Samosas and Bitterballen. I am thinking these came out of a package. I have had samosas that were much bigger and actually filled with meat. These were very small, maybe half dollar sized and filled with a gelatinous material with a scarce bit of meat here or there. They seemed too uniform to be hand made. The bitterballen likewise seemed of the frozen variety and were more gooey roux then anything, although they were quite crispy. Both were served with a dusseldorfer type mustard and a thai chili sauce. The fish cakes were billed as homemade and were also served with the chili sauce. These were okay, a bit on the fishy side for me. Portions seemed small for the prices. My mother got the Cheese Platter, which was large enough for 2 meals but it's price was also more than double the other items. It had Brie, smoked Gouda, some other mild cubed cheese, chèvre, grapes and bread. She thoroughly enjoyed it. My son and his girlfriend Meg split a chorizo starter and the Beef Character, which was the highlight of the food. Beef tenderloin skewers drenched in garlic butter and huge potato wedges. There was live music to enjoy, which was interesting. The 2 musician/singers were very talented, singing American classics but looking definitely Island....interesting.

I ended up taking my mother and Bill back first so he could watch more football. When I went back for the kids I ended up driving them around to see the lay of the land. They were definitely interested in Casino locations and we also ended up at the Grand Marche so they could stock up. While there I stopped at the customer service desk to inquire about Bill's credit card. Holy Moly they have full decks of them in the drawer (!) but, alas, not his. They also had several full wallets, with people's driver's licenses and everything. Now that would cause me to panic. Everyone was so tired by then they all turned in. I uploaded the videos of their landings to Facebook and my boss immediately commented "gee, your vacation is half over already." Thanks boss.

Thanks for another update. Traffic and pedestrians around Sunset can be a challenge. Throw in the alcohol and cruise ship excursions and you have the potential for a real mess.

For some reason Karakter seems to have lost some of their lustre, especially with the food of late.

Thanks for the continuation of the report. Interesting, your mother's trip with you. I would love to take my mom along to SXM, but I think she would probably stay at the unit the whole time also and maybe not enjoy it very much.

As JD said, the crowd at Sunset is pretty stupid sometimes, literally standing in the road.. Idiots. We drive through there all the time, since we normally stay in Beacon Hill and it is amazing how they walk in the road or on that concrete divider, drink and then walk out in front of cars.

Thanks for the report.

Re the ant comments, we take a spray can that uses pyrethrins [sp] for bugs, safe to use on bedding and little ant traps [plastic containers, they are lighter than the metal ones]. We have to remember to buy in the summer as the local store does not always stock them in the winter!
We also take zip locks bags, handy for lots of things

Look forward to more

J&B

Usually there is ant spray there under the sink at Beachside, but we ALWAYS try to put EVERYTHING that is not in the fridge, in a ziplock. Doesn't matter where you stay, if you leave even CRUMBS on the counter, ants will be there!! It's the Caribbean!

I have read that Jorritt has sold Karakter, although no one that I actually know has confirmed that. I've never ordered any of the items that Medtech ordered, but have always enjoyed their tapas. The Taste for Two always has a nice selection which includes the coconut shrimp, which are a favorite of mine.

We went there in June and what we had wasn't BAD, it just wasn't up to what their previous standard had been, which is sad. Jorrit definitely moved off island a while ago and even if he still owns it, it's difficult to keep up standards from far away.

I ate there a couple of times earlier this year and thought the food was decent. There does not seem to be the consistency there once was and service was not what we were used to. There are 2-3 items I usually get and none were what the poster mentioned.

No idea on ownership now but I had heard the same thing also.

I'll find out for sure in a couple of months.

To be honest, I've noticed service inconsistencies in the past, but the food has always been consistent in my experience. As Carol said, it's hard to keep a business under control from a distance. But I'm definitely looking forward to the more comfortable chairs!

Jorritt has sold Karakter in SXM and is living and doing exceptionally well with his "Karakter" in Curacao. It's a top rated beach bar. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

Who is the new owner of Karakter? Is Bert still the manager there? He has been in charge there now for about three years with not many changes.