Flight Down: Continental from DCA through EWR. Reagan is a breeze compared to Dulles. From taxi to gate in less than 15 minutes. Flight to EWR uneventful. Connecting flight to SXM left the gate 10 minutes late. Taxied for nearly an hour prior to takeoff. I guess Newark Airport is as much a mess as my last visit there 8 years ago. Landed only 10 minutes late, though. I guess the Newark handicap is the reason why a 3.5 hour flight was scheduled for 4.5 hrs. Immigration line moved briskly and though baggage claim in less than 5 minutes.

Rental Car: Whisked off to Unity for my Corolla. Off with the luggage in the trunk in 3 minutes.

Accommodations: Villa Margot in Orient Bay (O Paradis). Nice-sized rooms with great outdoor seating area and views of Tintamarre/Pinel. Outdoor Jacuzzi an added plus. Can’t beat the price either!

Beaches: Stuck mostly to Orient and specifically Kakao. Relaxing days started with GP’s amazing Bloody Mary’s, strung together with caribs, a Ti Punch or two and lots of time in nature’s Jacuzzi (the water was so warm). Lots of seaweed at the beginning of the week cleared up after 2 days. Very calm water meant not much breeze, so the temperature felt more like August. Cedric and Nikolas are manning the chair operation for now until Karl finishes his contract at Kontiki in August. I was glad to learn that Philippe, who used to manage the chairs at Kakao, stayed on the island and now bartends at La Chapelle.

Spent two days at Friar’s Bay as well. Beach in front of Kali’s was really rocky. Nice sand by Friar’s Bay Beach Café, so planted ourselves there. Snorkeled and was rewarded with lots of fish.

Lunches: Pizzas at Kakao are still excellent, are the Nems. Friar’s Bay Beach Café’s stuffed mussels and smoked duck breast salad with mango are to die for. I may have missed it before, but the occasional automatic citronella spritz in the restaurant there chases off the bugs, too. Capt. Oliver’s food has improved greatly since Philippe has taken over; likely not a coincidence. The quality of the food and the service was very good. Being able to use the pool after lunch made it an even better experience. (Although the glass wall is still covered over since it was broken by some rowdy Heineken Regatta party-goers.

Breakfast: At the villa each morning. I always get a kick out of the local eggs from the supermarket, this time Match. Had to wash the feathers off the shells before making omelets. The pain au chocolat from the Quartier d’Orleans bakery is the best morning dessert.

Dinners:
**** Le Cottage is a must-do for me no matter how recently I was last there. The only slight disappointment was Stephane’s absence for a wedding in France, but Bruno and Laurent more than made up for it. Freshness and quality of the ingredients, as well as the presentation make it one of the best on the island IMO. currently charging 1:1.3 cash or credit.

**** Ti Bouchon is also on the must-do list. I think I might still visit to look at an empty plate as long as I cold talk to Momo for the evening. The food is delicious to boot. Carpaccio of Mahi, warm duck breast salad, and croustillant of goat cheese with ratatouille were all devoured at our table before duck breast in cinnamon/rasin sauce, rack of veal in cauliflower sauce, and red snapper with citrus in a grapefruit butter all met a great end. Apparently a new chef TBA from Grand Case is on the way during the summer. All prices continue to be listed in USD.

*** La California brought me back after a few years away. Last time I visited, the food was decent and the service awful. This time, the food was very good and the service was much more attentive and so much more friendly. Their artichokes stuffed with goat cheese are still one of the best apps on the island. The special of curried crab pancakes were excellent, too. Pizzas were well-liked at our table, although not quite as good as Kakao. My monkfish wrapped with bacon was a little dry but still tasty. For ice cream lovers, this is the place to have dessert. Sundaes are an event and the variety of flavors takes a while to read through. The banane flambee was excellent. Still 1:1 (although not that much cheaper than many others that aren’t). they also have replaced the table Polaroid photo with a digital take home pic.; Nice souvenir.

*** Pineapple Pete’s was consistently good. The servers there work their tails off. Thermidor was huge and fantastic. Lamb osso buco, ribs, and grouper also received good reviews. Always fun to hear House of Blues and Craig from Packlight’s mini Rolling Stones set.

*** The Stone is again open. I didn’t notice any renovations that had been reported in April when I called, but it appears their permit issues have resolved. Food was excellent. I love their biltong and cheddar soup, as well as their scallop appetizer. The beef is as good as any on the island, with the filet/shrimp surf and turf mouth-watering good. Only negative is that a large party was so loud in that small dining room that it was tough to hear any conversation at our table.

***The Dinghy Dock is a great value. No frills but a nice view of Oyster Pond and IMO the best ribs for 37 square miles. Huge portions plus salad and sides for $12/plate.

*** Poulet d’Orleans is the type of experience that keeps bringing me back to the island. I don’t think there are many other restaurants that feel like I’ve been invited to eat in someone’s home. Christian is all grown-up, but still helping his Dad out by serving on his days off from an internship at Le Pressoir. Maybe he’ll follow in his father’s footsteps as a chef. The accras, lambi boudin, and crab backs are phenomenal here, as are the chicken with peanut and creole sauces.

* Well, I guess every place is entitled to an off night. After being one of my favorite new restaurants during the past couple of visits to SXM, Quai Ouest really disappointed this time. The menu was a bit more limited, as expected during low season. I would think this should improve the quality, but portions were much smaller and not well-prepared. The swordfish was very bony and overcooked to the point of toughness. Chicken cordon bleu had a watery and non-descript sauce. Our entire party of 5 agreed that it was the biggest let-down of the week, especially after I had previously raved about it. Though on the basis of past performance, I’ll plan to give it another chance before it is taken out of the rotation.

Crime: None observed or heard of first-hand. Walked down a mostly-deserted Blvd. de Grand Case around midnight without incident. Surprisingly, I did not see any of the usual security guards in Grand Case this trip. Gendarmes and Dutch Side police were more visible on patrols than in previous years.

Gas: Still cheapest on the French Side, although the price increased from 1.13 to 1.3 per litre since April. It still seems cheaper than the US nowadays since the price difference is closer, but I drive smaller distances and leave my SUV back home.


Misc Observations: The presence of 1:1 continues to dwindle. I noticed that Spicy now offers 1:1.25, although we did not go inside…their prices now seem to make it perhaps the most expensive restaurant in Grand Case. Main courses were mostly 26-34 Euros!

The pay parking lot near La California was chained off and appeared to be permanently closed. It could be that the closures of La Marine, Sebastiano’s, and no dinner hours at Rainbow, plus L’Estaminet being closed for vacation make it a non-profitable lot.

Mosquitoes were by far the worst I’ve experienced. We frequently found ourselves not wanting to open windows or doors as the bugs had amassed an army just outside and immediately invaded. Mosquito coils and Mosquito Milk were not as effective as usual for some reason. Luckily, no Dengue symptoms for anyone yet (cross fingers, knock on wood, etc.).

Traffic was basically non-existent for much of the week, although the island really filled up on the 14th. It was a nice change to make it from Orient to Simpson Bay in 20-25 minutes.

Construction continues unabated on the Dutch Side. I think there may currently be more cranes that egrets on the island at the moment. The Indigo Bay development, touted as eco-friendly, displays excavation that appears more like strip mining from the top of Cole Bay Hill.

For those who frequent the Oyster Pond area, the small market near Tabba Khady’s site has reopened under new management with very friendly staff and much more reasonable prices that made me stock up so I wouldn’t have to take out a loan to shop at Tap 5 on returning to Orient.

Flight Home: I hereby solemnly swear that I will never complain about connecting in Miami, Philadelphia, or Atlanta again. Newark has them all beat. When the pilot can be heard faintly cursing in the background of a PA announcement, I know it is bad. We arrived in the Newark area approximately 20 minutes early, but were forced to circle in the air for roughly 40 minutes because of congestion. Upon landing, we sat on the ground without a gate for 45 minutes, although this was a pleasant surprise compared to the initially-promised 90 minutes initially announced. Customs and immigration wasn’t bad, but the connecting flight left the gate an hour late and then became number 41 for takeoff, meaning another 75 minutes of taxi time. All of this was capped off by the most last minute aborted landing in DC that I have ever experienced. Approximately 10 seconds before the wheels were to touch pavement, the plane throttled up and climbed pretty steeply, turning sharply. Apparently, another aircraft moved onto the runway, leading to a few more pilot curses, I’m sure. I think the divine plan of all of this is to make me happy to arrive home.

In all, another great trip to a special place. Countdown 43 days… <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/dine.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/wave.gif" alt="" />