Trip Report – 8/18/01-8/27/01<br><br>This is our first attempt at a trip report. If this is too long, forgive us. We included as many details as we felt necessary. If you think we should have omitted the choice of food at the selected eateries, understand that we felt folks who had never been there might like some idea of the prices. We appreciate that sort of forewarning ourselves.<br><br>8/18 - Saturday<br>Left from JFK after a 2-hour delay (God, traveling from New York is such a pain), however, from that point forward, this was one fantastic trip. Arrived in SXM and were through customs and immigration in no time, and three minutes later we were dropped off at the Maho Beach Resort. Breezed up to the 9th floor for a room with an exceptional view of the incoming flights. If anyone is leery of the jet noise, it’s not a problem at all. In fact, the Air France and KLM 747’s are reasonably entertaining. The Maho is a first class hotel, but don’t believe the 9 restaurants stuff. Only the Oasis Grill was open. There are 3 or 4 eateries right outside.<br>We unpacked quickly, had the front desk send up a refrigerator (for an additional $5 per day which they never charged us), and headed for the beach. Maho Beach is nothing to write home about. Deb got blasted by a wave within the first five minutes – the water was very rough that day and we adjourned to the pool. There is a great pool at the Maho, great pool bar, and a great pool bartender, Ramon.<br>We went to La Rosa Too for dinner, as we weren’t picking up our car until Monday.<br>Lobster linguine<br>Tuna Steak<br>With drinks and tip <$80.00<br>NICE RESTAURANT A bit too much garlic<br>It had been a long traveling day, especially after getting up at 3:45 AM to wait at the airport until 10 before leaving.<br><br>8/19 – Sunday<br>Went to get breakfast but found the only place convenient was the restaurant in Maho – the Oasis Grill. They do a buffet that looked pretty good, and tasted fine, but, when the bill arrived, at $30 for eggs, bacon, sausage and toast, we were a little put off. Planned on shopping, but most stores were closed. It’s nice that they still have Blue Laws somewhere in the world. While relaxing by the pool, we decided to get our car a day early. Spoke to Jennifer at the Maho Alamo desk, paid the extra money, were whisked off to the Alamo depot and picked up a Hyundai Atos. If you’re unfamiliar with this vehicle, it looks like a cross between a super small mini-van and a sub-compact car with the trunk cut off. The left rear quarter panel was dented but it was clean. Checked for the spare tire, and headed out onto the roadways.<br>Now, something must be said about the roads in SXM. First, they have speed bumps in the oddest places, and when you’re driving a small vehicle, these bumps can seem like Kilamengaro. The best roads are two lanes with only small potholes. Some of the secondary routes resemble the backside of Aruba – little or no paving, with huge ruts and craters large enough to swallow a Volkswagen.<br>We journeyed up to Grand Case for dinner at Le Tastevin but found we were early and took a short ride over to Boo Boo Jams to kill some time - great reggae, nice shops. We headed back to Grand Case.<br>Lobster soup and Shrimp and Scallops St. Jacques<br>Tomato soup and Shrimp with tomato and basil<br>A special chocolate cake shared for dessert<br>With drinks and tip $125.00<br>EXCELLENT RESTAURANT!!!! Great atmosphere, great service, great food. Tie for first place in our book.<br>On the way back to Maho we took a wrong turn and wound up in Philipsburg going in the wrong direction and found ourselves at the commercial piers and then in a residential neighborhood. The street signs are bad, it was dark, and we were almost lost when we somehow found the route back over the mountain to the airport. From there it was easy to get back to the Maho.<br>The Maho has a parking garage, but they charge $5 every time you leave. Jennifer, from Alamo, told us to buy a weekly pass which I’m not sure is available for anyone but hotel guest for $30. Boy, what a bargain that turned out to be. I should mention that there have been some disparaging comments about Alamo on various boards but we found them to be excellent and extremely courteous at all times.<br><br>8/20 – Monday<br>Shopping Day. We got up early and headed for Philipsburg. We found parking across from the government building and the KFC for a fee and began the jewelry orgy. I think we were in every jewelry store in town before arriving at Touch of Gold where Heeru and company showed us the most unique, best-priced stuff. All the recommendations for Heeru and TOG are right on the money. We had assembled our treasures, but before we could agree to spend that much cash, we hiked down to L’Escargot for some lunch.<br>Quiche Lorraine (the best we’ve ever tasted) and Caesar salad<br>With drinks and tip $30.00<br>EXCELLENT RESTAURANT!!!! Great atmosphere, great service, great food.<br>Back to TOG, pick up the booty, back to the car (there’s an overstatement) $5 for the parking, back to the hotel, back to the pool and the pool bar. Met a very nice couple (Jeremy and Megan) and chatted away the next few hours.<br>We went over to the Sunset Beach Bar for cocktails before dinner. Jill, the bartender, steered us to a wonderful little place called Bananas for dinner suggesting that we try their stuffed mushroom appetizer.<br>Stuffed ‘shrooms and a cheeseburger (in Paradise)<br>Lobster bisque and another cheeseburger<br>With tip $30.00<br>EXCELLENT RESTAURANT!!!! Great service, great food. The appetizers could have been entrees.<br><br>8/21 - Tuesday<br>We tried to hit Zee Best for breakfast but they were closed for vacation. We wound up at Le Croissanterie on the marina in Marigot.<br>2 Crepe Specials and fresh-squeezed OJ for < $20.00<br>We strolled around the shops in Marigot for a while, spied some art that we liked and headed for the beach.<br>We tried Cupecoy, but it was crowded and there wasn’t a lot of beach. There were some naked men, some topless women, but more gawkers than we cared to deal with and fairly rough surf. We tried Friar’s but it was also very crowded. We wound up at Mullet. The destroyed villas are depressing; the golf course is going to seed. If we had a spare couple of million, we buy the land and renovate, but the beach is nice and the surf wasn’t too bad at all. We were down the beach from the lolo’s and away from the parking area on the end close to Maho. It was lovely, though very hot. We thought we had found a great beach and intended to return, but the best was still to come. The sun is very hot! We needed to head back for the pool and the bar. Before we could get into the car, we were cornered by a guy on a scooter who handed us scratch-off tickets. I scratched and got 3 stars that he claimed was a grand prize and, if we did the 1-hour time-share thing at Sapphire, I would get $1500.00. I’m from New York, however, and if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Doubting that this could possibly happen, we decided not to follow him to the hotel, promising to stop by tomorrow. Covered in sand and sweat we returned to the hotel and spent a couple of hours talking to two women who had just arrived.<br>We went back to Grand Case for dinner at Il Nettuno and just happened to arrive on the last night before they closed for vacation until October.<br>2 House salads (Huge portions)<br>Veal Scaloppini<br>Linguine Calabrese with hot sausage<br>Lemon Torte for dessert<br>Galliano<br>Wit drinks and tip $110.00<br>EXCELLENT RESTAURANT!!!! Great atmosphere, great service, great food. Tie for first place in our book.<br><br>8/22 – Wednesday<br>Rain! We awoke to torrential rain. It looked as if we were going to get stuck in the room for the day, but we took the lemons God was sending and tried making lemonade. We got into the Atos and head toward Philipsburg to drive up the east coast to Orient. We headed north out of town and the rain kept coming. We skirted the lunar craters looking for Oyster Pond and the rain kept coming. We found Captain Oliver’s but continued driving hoping for better fare further up the road and still the rain kept coming. We stopped momentarily at Dawn Beach but couldn’t leave the car for fear of being washed away. When we arrived at Mr. B’s it was closed and the guard at the hotel there told us the road to the French side was closed for repairs. We would have to retrace our trail over some of the biggest most foreboding hills and floods in order to continue. That little Atos was like the little engine who could as we crested the biggest hill which possessed the warning “slippery when wet.” All the way up, my foot was plastered to the floor and the words “I think I can, I think I can” played over in my head. Oh, yes, and the rain kept coming.<br>Somewhere up the road, we came across a sign for Club Orient and turned onto a dirt trail that changed our impression of the roads thus far. Suddenly, the course we had traveled before this looked like a superhighway, but the little Atos bumped and jerked its way to the front door of the club and we got out to rest our tired bones and visit L’Orientique.<br>We had never visited a clothing optional resort before and while we were examining the boutique a naked man came in to do some shopping. Well, there we are trying not to stare and he’s just strolling around looking at the souvenirs. We had to giggle a little once we left, as I’m sure most first-timers do in this situation. The sight of nude people on a beach seems somehow more understandable; in a store, on the other hand, is not something one usually encounters on Long Island. This gentleman did answer a question that I had wondered about – what do you do with your keys and cash; he carried one of those little watertight cases on a lanyard around his wrist.<br>The rain was finally letting up and we headed for Marigot for lunch. We found La Main a la Pate on the marina.<br>Excellent onion soup<br>Mediocre brochette and burger<br>With drinks and tip $50<br>OVERLY EXPENSIVE RESTAURANT. Good service, mediocre food.<br>Drove over to Turtle Pier for dinner<br>Conch fritters<br>Lobster Champagne<br>Shrimp St. Maarten<br>With drinks and tip $70.00<br>OK RESTAURANT – Good food, fair atmosphere, decent service.<br>We stopped by at the casino, watched one really bad shoe of 21 and decided that this wasn’t the night for gambling. We just got one of those feelings that this wasn’t going to be fun.<br><br>8/23 – Thursday<br>Happy Birthday to me! We threw on swimsuits and headed for Baie Rouge. Before we found the parking area for the public beach, we drove down the road to Residence Baie Rouge. Talk about gorgeous accommodations! These homes look really top notch. Once we found the beach, we rented chairs and an umbrella for $10 and felt as though we had found the best beach on the island. Lots of topless bathers, very few kids, beautiful surroundings, calm and wonderfully clear water.<br>We had lunch at Chez Raymond, right on the beach. If this is a lolo, I can see why so many people like them.<br>Two burgers, a beer and iced tea for $16.00 with tip<br>ASIDE: Maybe someone can explain the Heineken thing to me. What’s with the pony bottles? Here I am on a partially Dutch island and I’m paying the same price for a miniature Dutch beer as I would for a full sized American one. Am I missing something? Is this an attempt by the Dutch government to counteract some unknown alcoholism problem? Everywhere we went they gave me these little green bottles. If anyone understands this, please drop me a line. I tried a Caribe somewhere along the line but it was too much like Corona for me. I like beer that doesn’t need a lime to be drinkable.<br>We returned to the Maho, met a nice couple from the Royal Islander (right next to the Maho, same owners), Frank and Diane, and proceeded to run up a good sized bar tab.<br>This was our special dinner night. We had made reservations earlier in our stay at La Samana and we dressed for the evening. We had heard that they require jackets for the gents, but that’s not true. Still, I did not feel over-dressed with a sport jacket. This is a truly beautiful restaurant. The view of Baie Longue is breathtaking. The table appointments are incredible. The service is top-shelf. The presentation of the food is a marvel. The food itself is stupendous.<br>Duck Magritte (sp?)<br>Giant Prawns appetizer<br>Filet Mignon<br>Lobster Medallions<br>Some sort of Napoleon Dessert<br>Galliano<br>With drinks and tip $180.00<br>EXCELLENT RESTAURANT!!!! Great atmosphere, great service, great food.<br>We stopped in at Casino Royale again and had a great time at the blackjack tables. It was a fun group of players and the dealers were friendly. Even the pit boss had a good time. We even walked away with a little extra cash.<br><br>8/24 - Friday<br>We went to Ric’s Café for breakfast.<br>Traditional eggs over-easy with bacon and a Breakfast burrito (jalapenos for breakfast?) for around $20.00<br>OK RESTAURANT – decent food, good service<br>Back to P’burg to have Deb’s ring resized. Had to leave it with Heeru until the next day. We came across a coupon in one of the tourist magazines for a free bottle of champagne with our purchase, which we brought along and turned in. After two hours in town we felt as though we had been through a war so we returned to Maho beach where we found the surf much calmer. We headed over to the pool bar and relaxed.<br>We went to Brasserie de la Gare in Marigot for dinner. Earlier in the week we had walked by this place and a man, we think he is the owner, offered us a table with the comment, “Lousy waiter, good food.” We decided that with a come-on like that we had to try the place. This time he said, “Service sucks.” It was wonderful.<br>Caesar salad<br>Pasta with calamari and saffron<br>Pasta with shrimp and tomatoes<br>With drinks and tip $70.00<br>EXCELLENT RESTAURANT!!!! Great atmosphere, great food, “service sucks” (not really)<br>They had made a mistake on Deb’s order (she hates calamari) but the dish was delicious so long as she pushed the squid aside. When we notified the waiter, he was most apologetic and bought us two extra drinks. It’s nice that nowhere on the island do they measure the pouring of alcohol. Three-fingered shots are a nice change of pace from some of the local drinking establishments here in New York.<br>As we were leaving we noticed a horde of little white moths on the table where the menu is displayed. Looking up, Deb saw what looked like a blizzard of the same bugs surrounding the lights around the marina. What seemed like a short walk from the public parking lot when we arrived became a trek across a continent, swatting and spitting at these little critters. It could have been worse, I suppose; they could have been bees or wasps. As it was, we made it unscathed.<br>We tried the casino again, but it wasn’t the same as last night.<br><br>8/25 – Saturday<br>We went back to Le Croissanterie for breakfast, off to P’burg to pick up Deb’s ring and then to Orient Beach. How could we come to SXM and not visit the nude beach? We parked by Bikini Beach and hiked up the shore to the yellow umbrellas. It was beautiful. The beach was just like a postcard. We returned to the car, drove further along the dirt road and parked by Pedro’s. We found two chairs and an umbrella and made ourselves comfortable. Within minutes, we knew this was the best beach on the island! <br>We went to Grand Case for dinner. Most of the restaurants were closed for vacation but we found Restaurant du Soliel and had another great meal.<br>Scallops with apple, mango, and grapefruit appetizer<br>Lobster in puff pastry and citrus sauce<br>Jumbo Prawns<br>Complementary after-dinner drinks<br>With drinks and tip $100.00<br>EXCELLENT RESTAURANT!!!! Good food, good service, nice atmosphere<br>Our little complementary drinks were a passion fruit something or other for Deb and a ginger something for me. The waitress said the ginger was an aphrodisiac. Somehow, after a day on Orient, I didn’t think I needed any help in that department, but I drank it anyway.<br><br>8/27 Sunday<br>We got up early, stopped by at the Burger King truck for breakfast on the run, and zoomed back to Orient Beach. We stopped by at reception and asked to see one of the beach chalets to check out the facilities. We saw #86, which had obviously been closed for some time. It was musty inside and everything was packed in the hallway. Obviously, they were not expecting our visit. The fact that the units are not completely air-conditioned seems like a problem for us. The fact that there is no TV?<br>Yesterday we had parked ourselves sort of in front of the first beach bar inside the Club O sign. Today we walked further down, found a spot we liked and got right into the swing of things. We walked down to Papgayo’s for lunch.<br>French cheeses<br>Fresh fruit<br>With drinks and tip $36.00<br>EXCELLENT RESTAURANT!!!! Great food, excellent service<br>We went back to our chairs, but a group of three local girls and a guy planted themselves nearby and began pointing and calling out rude comments to some of the naked men passing by. Although we couldn’t translate the information literally, the hand gestures were easy to read and crude. Five or six couples around us seemed to feel the same way about this. Does this crap happen often? Or is it just a Sunday thing?<br>We had to return the Atos anyway, so we backed our stuff, and tearfully bid adieu to a place I know we will return to.<br>We went to Cheri’s Café for dinner. Deb found it amusing; I was a bit put off by the audience participation entertainment (I just don’t like that kind of thing).<br>Mozzarella sticks<br>2 Cordon Blue Burgers<br>Chocolate mousse<br>With drinks and tip $55.00<br>OK RESTAURANT – good service, good food<br>I now understand why this place creates such dialog on the TTOL board.<br><br>8/27 – Monday<br>It was last day blues and the aggravation of packing. How do we accumulate so much stuff as to need an extra suitcase on the way home?????<br>Three minutes to the airport, a breeze through customs and emigration $40 departure tax (talk about a gold mine for the country), and a short wait for the boarding of our flight home.<br><br>All in all, this was a fantastic trip for us! We would like to thank all of the TTOL posters who gave us excellent information. The restaurant recommendations were accurate. Touch of Gold jewelers and Heeru in particular were the best bet. You might have mentioned the need for a 4X4 instead of a car and that the traffic on the primary roads is abysmally bad, but we’ll know better next time. Any of you who can drive around the island in 40 minutes or so must send me those directions. You all helped us to have maybe the best vacation of our lives. We will definitely be back to SXM. We will definitely be back to Orient Beach. Anyone who knows anything about the other hotels in the area, like L’Hoste, Esmeralda, Le Plantation, please forward it to us. Drop us an email at jai6556@optonline.net. Please mention the hotel in the subject as I normally delete mail if I don’t recognize the sender.<br>Thanks again for everything.<br><br><br>JoeandDebora<br> <P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Administrator on 10/29/01 02:18 PM.</EM></FONT></P>