If you want to see the Report with Pictures , click the link. Otherwise:

Up until this trip, my reports have always been very detailed, as I like to journal in the early morning on the beach. But this trip, I forgot a notebook. After several days of futile attempts to purchase one (none at the boutique, Grande Marche, Food Express, Pharmacy...apparently you have to go to an office supply store to get one...forget that...I then had the intention of sitting down at the computer each night and typing my thoughts (that's what the blog on this webpage is for, but I still haven't managed to start it!), but by the end of the day, it just wasn't happening.

So to the best of my ability, having been home for more than a week after a 2 week trip, I am going to attempt to recollect enough to write a report. Pictures help, but that too is getting harder to remember to do as the number of trips we take increases...guess that means we're no longer 'newbies'!

This was our 8th trip since 2004, and once again, we stayed in a Mini-Suite at Club Orient. I just love the gardens there!

We arrived June 24, via USAirways PIT-CLT-SXM. Had planned on carry ons, but when checking in at PIT, was told that bags were too big and had to be checked. Paid the checked bag fee and were on our way. We then already started making plans on how much alcohol to bring back, since we were going to have to check bags anyway!

In looking back over our time away, this trip really was about relationships. We had a wonderful time with our 16 yr old daughter, who in a couple of years will be venturing out on her own, but I'm guessing will still want to come to St Martin with us!

It was about spending time with old friends and meeting new friends.

Every summer trip that we've taken has been in August and we have had some great times with several great families over the years. This year, due to my work schedule and Marissa's summer travel plans, we were unable to go in August, so we decided to take our trip so that we'd be in St Martin to celebrate my birthday on July 4th. We were very sad about not seeing the people with whom we've come to share our past several trips. One of those couples was Marc G and his lovely wife Annie. As it turned out, Annie was unable to take time off work in August as well, and a plan was made for them to join us for this June/July trip!

For the past 2 years, we've celebrated Marc's August 11th birthday on the Tiko Tiko and had a great time! (We also share the same wedding anniversary, August 7th!) So we figured that we might as well do the same for my birthday (although, fortunately it wasn't one of those milestone ones like Marc's was last year!). Marc was kind enough to make the arrangements for a July 3rd sail and our boat was filled to capacity with TTOL folks, all great people, old friends and new!

I don't know if it is fortunately or unfortunatley, but we didn't even come close to drinking all of the rum punch this trip, as we had been known to do in 2 previous trips (because some of all y'all weren't there!) This time we had several non-drinkers; a couple of people were fighting seasickness from the waves (it was a bit rough heading out) and a couple of us were pacing ourselves from having too much fun night before (Elaine, did I say us?!)

Thanks to everyone who joined us and made it a special birthday celebration! It meant a lot to me. I'm not a particularly sentimental person, but the card that everyone signed is very special to me and I intend to keep it forever! And to Philippe and Nelly...you are wonderful hosts! And thanks to my hubby for his efforts to 'surprise' me. I knew he'd get a cake aboard...he went to great lengths last year for Marc's birthday...no doubt he would do the same for me! Steve, you'll be surprised that there was no watermelon this time...I put my foot down and said it wasn't necessary...mum's the word!

We had a wonderful time, and as always, it was one of the highlights of our trip.

It was a pleasure meeting quite a few fellow TTOL'ers this trip. I'm not even going to try to mention everyone, because I'm sure that I will leave someone out. But prior to the trip, we had sent private messages and emails back and forth to 2 couples, JimCandD and Popatop (Ken and Faye, aka 'Texas'). We had been trying to make sure that both of them would be able to get to Dinghy Dock for the TTOL gathering the night of our arrival, June 24. As it turns out, Ken is self admittedly directionally challenged, so we offered to drive them to the party. It was the start of sharing some great times with them! JimCandD were able to find a ride with another couple, but we also enjoyed chatting with them on the beach several times a day, comparing notes on dinners out, shopping and the like.

So after a quick bit of beach time on arrival day, we got ready to head to Dinghy Dock.

We also attended another TTOL get together on June 30th at Buccaneer Beach Bar. Again, it was great meeting old friends and new, but unfortunately, we forgot the camera, so no pics to share!

The day after our arrival, we planned on eating at Cito's, but when we got there, they were closed...Plan B...we didn't have a Plan B! We decided to just keep driving until something struck our fancy. We finally decided on Topper's, somewhere new to us. We had a very nice meal (I had a scallop special, John had brisket and Marissa had a filet) but what was most memorable was the rum. Right next to us was a display of their own rums. Cinnamon caught my eye. After dinner we were given a sample of another flavor and politely asked if we could try the cinnamon. They kindly obliged and we left with a bottle!

After dinner, we decided to head to Maho to visit our friends at Riviera Jewelers. A purchase was made (not for me!) and we did a bit more browsing and shopping in several other stores. By the end of the evening we had a belly ring, toe ring, sunglasses and purse in hand. (1 out of 4 for me!)

Major sand gravity, a little more shopping and dinners out made up the rest of the trip!

OK, those and more than a bit of alcohol consumption!

Once Marc and Annie arrived on the 26th, they joined us for dinner more than a few times! The first dinner was at Le Pub in Grand Case. I'd always heard that the pizza was very good, but opted for a seafood trio platter that is one of the house specialties. Marissa had steak, John had lasagna and it was a wonderful evening!

Another evening that we were really looking forward to was Sunday night at Calmos.

Toes in the sand, watching the sunset, enjoying live music, having a great meal with wonderful friends; it doesn't get a whole lot better than that!

There's a new industrial, shopping area right at the turn (actually it's no longer a turn, but a new roundabout!) at Cul-de-Sac. The first time we drove past, Marissa immediately saw a Roxy store. She pleaded that we had to go, as you can buy Roxy wear at our local mall at Pac Sun, but this was an honest to goodness Roxy store. We told her that we weren't making a special trip to shop here, but if, while we were out and they were open, we would stop. One evening, on our way to dinner, we saw that they were still open and we stopped. Well, they looked like they were opened, but the doors were locked and they were just ready to pull the shutters closed. The young man kindly re-opened for us. Marissa had in mind to get a pair of board shorts, but I told her even if they didn't have what she wanted, she needed to get something, as the young man went out of his way and we probably weren't coming back. No problem! Well, they didn't have the shorts, but she did end up with a pair of pants, a skirt, a swimsuit and a wallet and she was ecstatic

Then it was off to Cito's.

I do have to say that we love Cito's but it was a bit of an off night. It was their first day opened after a 2 week vacation...Cito was still out shopping, so some of our choices were limited. But in spite of it, we had a nice meal. Most of us had the garlic shrimp, which I like better than the lolo's.

We did have a couple of dinners out without Marc and Annie. One night, Marissa wanted lobster, so we decided to try another place new to us, Skipjack's and we made our way over to the Dutch side.

She was so funny...She wanted lobster, but didn't want to be responsible for choosing the one that would end up on her plate. So her dad made the choice for her.

Another one of our favorite places to have dinner is Yvette's.

I think it's one of the best restaurants on the island! Nothing fancy, just great local food at a very reasonable price! Ahhhh....johnny cakes, rice and beans, plaintains....We all had conch chowder. For dinner, I had a sampler of ribs, chop and chicken; John had shrimp; Marissa wasn't too hungry so she opted for stuffed crabback. I almost passed on the coconut tart for dessert, as I was quite full from dinner, but I knew I'd regret it if I did....it was better than I'd remembered!

Lots of beach walking was on the agenda for this trip. In addition to walking the nearly 3 miles to Mt Vernon and back every morning, I was hoping to work myself up to about 10 miles every day. The Club O beach is about a 1/4 mile, so 4 times would be a mile, and surely I could do that once every hour or so...

Unfortunately, a callous and blood blister on the bottom of my foot derailed that plan. I forgot to pack my little sewing kit with needles and pins, so I attempted to try to alleviate the problem with nail clippers...note to self...don't do that again...Marissa kept telling me, 'I told you not to!'. I ended up doing minor surgery which left me with a gaping wound on the bottom of my foot. I spent the next week or so, trying to keep it clean, and any extended periods of walking became quite painful. I managed to do my sunrise walks on the Club O beach, pacing myself a lap or two at a time, but it was pretty disappointing to not be able to walk to Mt Vernon. John's knee started to act up, too, (he had meniscus surgery in January on the other knee!) so after the first week or so, we really didn't walk the length of Orient again.

Early mornings are still my favorite times of the day. The sunrises weren't as spectacular as we've seen before...lots of clouds and haze. It got to the point where I wasn't in such a hurry to get out to the beach to catch the sun on the horizon, because it just wasn't visible. It gave me the exuse to 'sleep in', but I was usually walking the beach by 6am.

By the second week, sand gravity became a major force to be reckoned with. We had already planned on a couple of dinners at Papagayo's. It was Prime Rib Night on the 3rd, following the Tiko Tiko and then there was a BBQ planned on the 4th, which was very good. But even after that, we just didn't want to bother getting dressed and ready to go out, so we didn't!

Even on the nights that we did head out for dinner, we'd come back and go up to Papagayo's for some drinks and to enjoy whatever entertainment was there. Following that, it was usually back to #165 for shots of whatever rum was available!

If we don't go back next August, I doubt very much that we'll go over the 4th of July. We've been there during the height of high season, when it was pretty crowded, but this was a bit too much for us! You couldn't even walk between the beach chairs. We like it somewhat more laid back. It was an interesting crowd, to say the least!

We are already talking about what we want to do for our next trip. We're thinking of just having a taxi pick us up at the airport, stopping at the grocery store and just planning on not leaving the resort. If we really want to, we can rent a car for the day or get a taxi for the evening...we'll see....