To all TTOL'ers:<br> We spent two glorious weeks on our favorite island and while I can add very little to what every one else has written about, I will put in our two cents. First week - had our daughter and son-in-law- and the 2 and 4 year olds - ran them ragged from one part of the island to another. Spent time on Orient, Pinel, Baie Rouge and at our home beach at Pelican. At Orient we all proudly wore our TTOL Tee shirts and several people did stop us and chattted. Kids had a great time. <br> Took the kids to the Butterfly Farm next to Orient Beach. This is not to be missed by either adults or children. Very educational as well as colorful. Our kids saw the birth of butterflies. <br> The bottom line is that SXM is good for little children as well as the adults. <br> Second week we rested from the kids - but we missed them.<br> For the first week we rented a van from AAA, and it was perfect for our needs. There were two built in children's seats in the van which were excellent. Second week we traded for a smaller car. We definitely will stay with AAA in future years. <br> Restaurants - We still think that L'Alabama is the greatest and we took the children there. Fortunately the two little ones slept while we had dinner. We also ate at Tropicana, and Laguna. At each we were so pleased that we ate at each twice. On the Dutch side we feel that Laguna is tops. John Dupont was also a success. For a change of pace from the rich French foods we recommend Casablanca - located next to the Atlantis casino. The food is North African, utilizing couscous instead of rice. The best appetizer was a sampling of seven different Meditteranean delicacies. The decor was unique and the place was air conditioned. <br> We billed everything in French Francs where we could and in some cases we were able to save money, in others it may have been a wash. I haven't gotten all the bills yet<br> We were pleasantly surprized by the cleanliness of the island, but were also surprized by the amount of cars on the road. There were no major traffic jams, but we think that there were more cars this year than in the past. We were definitely aware of increased police presence on both sides of the island, but at no time did we feel uncomfortable. <br> Our daughter, who has traveled with us to many Caribbean islands felt that in one week in SXM she only scratched the surface as what to see and enjoy and she, like us, can't wait to return. <br> <br> <br><br><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Administrator on 8/8/01 02:56 PM.</EM></FONT></P>