Sat, May 17th-BWI to San Juan then SXM. Wanted to use FF miles. Uneventful. Arrived SXM at 1pm. Thru immigration in 2 minutes, both checked the form for “honeymoon” instead of vacation as it was our 11th anniversary. Bags 5 min. later and met Lesley Bruce of Kenny’s Car Rental. He had our phone from Sharon Harris and rec. Bajatzu for dinner. At Divi Little Bay. Checked in by 2 pm! Massages at Divi, nice, first caribs and definitely in “island mode”!!! grande Marche for groceries, realize prices in gilders, not USD!!! Wine on the patio and then Pineapple Pete for dinner. Bottle of wine, salmon special (just ok) and rib eye (just ok) dinner $80 incl. 12%tip, left her more as the waitress was great. Live music with dinner, nice.

Sun, May 18th-Caught the first ferry to Pinel at 10 am. Packed with locals. Get the 1st ferry, the island is all yours for a few hours and fabulous! Sat with Carlos at the “key” (orange umbrellas-1 for 1). $20 for 2 chairs, table and umbrella. Lunch by on the key, tuna salad and ribs and LOTS of caribs. $75 including the chair/umbrella rental. Gave Carlos nice tip as he was wonderful and fun. Highly rec. Pinel!!! Met a fun group of people and left Pinel for Boo Boo Jam for music. Going to Boo Boo Jams, the motorcycles are OUT OF CONTROL!!!! My husband felt like he was in a James Bond movie with them!!! Left Boo Boo’s and our new friends for the Cliffhanger for sunset. Then to the Lady C but it was closed. Oh well. Dinner at the condo of yummies from Grande Marche----the BEST Gouda in the world!!!! Way fun day!!

Mon, May 19-Zee Best in Simpson Bay for breakfast. Fabulous crepes and pastries and coffee for both-$30 incl. tip. Went to Gourmet Marche in Simpson Bay, Grande Marche much better selection (just an FYI). Hung on the beach at Divi, just ok, lunch at Divi, rec. miss it, not real great and more expensive than elsewhere. Happy hour on the patio at Divi, (Boy do I miss that). Dinner at Bajatzu! Don’t miss it! It’s the best! Filet incl. salad and potato, Bone in filet and salad and potato plus a great bottle of wine and another glass of wine at the bar with Sandra the gorgeous bartender for $110. the owners are animal lovers and as I’m a vet, we bonded. Went over to casino royale for the first time and donated money at the 3 card poker table, but had fun doing so. On the way to the car, heard Neil Diamond from the Sopranos—had to go in—had a BLAST!

Tues. May 20th- Zee Best in Port de Plaissance—Eggs Florentine (not to be missed) and scrambled eggs ham and bagette $20. Much better ambiance than Simpson Bay and MUCH cooler!! Baie Rouge-Our favorite beach-$15 2 chairs and umbrella. Lunch Chez Raymond—Cheeseburgers and friesx2 plus lots of caribs. $35 incl. tip, Marco the waiter a little snooty. Tried to get to Paradise View, traffic in Marigot at a stand still (didn’t know there was a riot in Marigot). Turned around, Sunset Beach Bar, the WORST steel drum player/singer ever! Went down to the Drift Wood—Great! Met Lesley Bruce from Kenny’s Car Rental. Had a few beers with him, great talking to him. Lady C for a beer and to say hi to old friend. Pizza at Pizza Galley. Dinner at the room in Divi. Fun day.

Wed. May 21-Philipsburg-rimas first, got stuff for gifts, great prices. Got lucky with a spot in parking lot and had breakfast at Kangaroo court. Awesome ambience with the trees, service not so good, but hey, it’s the island man. $20 incl. tip. Went to DK Gems JUST to get a watch battery for the hubby watch!! Yeah, we all know how that goes!!!!! Had a LOT to think about after spending time with Jeff and Vicky!! Deepti was off island. Went to Loterie Farm for lunch at Hidden Forest Café. This place IS NOT TO BE MISSED!!! Thank you to all you TTOL’ers for this find! 2 fabulous salads and a bottle of wine in a great setting--$75 not incl. tip---this was definitely a favorite of the trip! Peg Leg Pub for dinner-Wed night has Cover to Cover the band—Way fun! Petite filet and fries, rib-eye and potatoe with a bottle of wine and another glass or two--$100 incl. tip. Sandy the waitress wonderful, Jack the owner an absolute sweetie and the band way fun and the people there a riot!! Danced and had fun. Poured rain about 15 min. Somehow had the energy to go to Sopranos and laughed when the piano guy played “Cartmen” from south park. You South Park people (and you know who you are, would love it).

Thurs. May 22-Breakfast sandwich from Divi—Yummy-like $5. P’burg to DK Gems to drop off my engagement ring to upgrade the diamond, have Kerry’s new ring sized and my old stone set in a pendant. Left with my new ring, not the upgraded one. Walked P’burg and kept “flashing” DK Gems from the street with my new gorgeous ring, not the upgraded one tho! (Hubby’s new ring matches my new one). Please realize we had discussed we were NOT buying jewelry on this trip-yeah, the best laid plans. Went to Gulmohars for Ma Dou Dou, rum cake and t-shirts. Veneeta, Juliette were wonderful.. The vacuum bags for the booze is awesome! I had brought bubble wrap and in the future will leave it home. This proved to be so amazing, and we had weight in the bag at the airport we were sorry we didn’t buy more. Until next year—Just wait Gulmohar’s we’ll be back!! Drove to Orient and on the rec. of this board found Baywatch!! Wow! What a great place. Ok, you people ROCK! Those were the best mussels I have ever had, I can still taste them. The place was packed with TTOL’ers, but we sat with another couple who had never to been to the island and gave them lots of info, by the time I was able to try to say hi to TTOL people, they had left. Oh well. Sat in Baywatch chairs and umbrella for $14 incl. 2 free drinks. Up to Paradise View and met Bernadine. She had a very sick cat named Benjamin. I’m a veterinarian and tried to help her with him. Gave her phone numbers and told her to call me tomorrow. Back to DK Gems to get the “jewels”—most expensive watch battery EVER!!! We were going to go to Temptation for dinner and Jeff said, go back to Bajatzu, you know its great and will cost way less. So we broke our SXM rule and went back to a restaurant we had been to in the same week. So glad we did! Smoked Duck special (unbelievably good) and jerk pork (amazing) bottle of wine and a fabulous crème brulee for $113. Awesome meal. Great service, ambiance, people and a new NOT TO MISSED on the island!!

Fri, May 23-Breakfast at Divi-split the breakfast sandwich $5. P’burg, drove around awhile to get a spot to tell the guys at DK Gems how much we loved our new purchases and to say hi to Deepti as she was back. Drove up to Paradise View to check on Bernadine and the cat and she had gotten an appointment with a vet. She said she’d call me. La California Grand Case, great lunch, shrimp special with salad, and salad diego, 2 glasses of wine each $65. they do 1 for 1. Great lunch in a special spot. Baie Rouge, AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!! Sat by Gus, this time, $15 for chairs and umbrella. For our last night on island we saved the best for last. Tropicana in Marigot Marine. Nadeesh, the best. Such a fun dinner!! On the water, beautiful, bottle of wine, spring rolls, rack of lamb, filet in cognac, crème brulee. $169 plus tip. Well worth the money. Great dinner, ambiance, service and we love this place!! However, crème brulee much better at Bajatzu.

Sat, May 24-Sandwich divi. Returned the phone to Sharon, still haven’t met her as she was ill, Wendy took the phone and was very sweet. Drift wood bar for Caribs and our last SXM moments. Dropped me at airport with bags, met Lesley in lot at 12:30 to drop off car. Security took 40 minutes to get thru. Sat at Raphe’s in airport for 3:20 flight to PR then BWI. Uneventful flight.

A few parting thoughts”
Gouda from Grand Marche
Bajatzu, Tropicana, La California not to be missed
Pinel new favorite place with Baie Rouge

Sorry this was so lengthy, thank you to all on this board for your wealth of info.
Crime: we met a honeymoon couple who on there 1st night in there friends villa off Billy Folly Road had there car stolen, they said the P’burg police were awful, and they are both lawyers!!
We never felt threatened our in danger. But, always-use caution and be aware of your surroundings—I don’t care where you are.
Gas--$38 total spent on gas—you figure the mileage
Traffic-more than in previous years, but coming from the DC area, not an issue
SXM in General—Still our favorite place on earth—can’t wait til next year!!