Overall, another great trip to St. Maarten/Martin-the trips never seem to be long enough!
Arrived on Friday the 17th and went through customs in no time and picked up the car from Thrifty. We checked in at the Port De Plaisance and then picked up the weekly supplies from the Grand Marche in Cole bay. First time staying at this resort and it is different. You can’t park near your unit and have to take a cart from the front desk to your building, about 200 yards away. The unit was on the third floor and when we arrived, the elevator wasn’t working. However, it was fixed the next day and worked the rest of the week. The room was nice, had a great view of the harbor but in general the facility needed some maintenance work.
We spent every day on Orient beach and had 6 good days of weather. The water was rough on two days but there was very little seaweed. On Tuesday, they must have had 5 cruise ships in Philipsburg as I have never seen the beach this crowded. It was wall-to-wall people. On Wednesday, we stopped at Cupecoy and there was some beach area but not a lot. We relaxed under the umbrella every day and read three books. The umbrella rentals were about $20 per day.
We originally tried to go to L’Escargot on Friday, for the cabaret show, but when we got there, we found that the show was canceled. We then drove over to Grand Case and went to Spiga’s for dinner. We had a great dinner and then walked around Grand case and did some shopping. On Saturday we went to Captain Oliver’s for their all you can buffet. The buffet was fine and the music was nice. On Sunday, we stopped at the Boo Boo Jam. We didn’t think it was worth the drive back on that road, if that is what it is called. That may be the worst road I have ever driven on, even for St Martin standards. We then decided to go to Peg Leg’s for Dinner. We both had a great steak and there was some nice music. The Princess casino is located right next to the restaurant so it was nice to go to and Peg Leg gives each person $10 worth of coupons to go play in the casino. The casino was nice even though I don’t like their roulette wheel as it doesn’t keep track of the last 25 numbers as you have to do that manually. If you like Texas Hold-um, they had six tables every night starting at 8:00 PM. They had a little dance show starting at about 10:30 and they had a drawing at 11:00 PM every night. On Monday we decided to just eat light so we went to the Sunset Bar and Grill (the old SSBB). The facilities have been greatly improved and topless women can still drink for free. It seemed that some nights were more lively than others. On Tuesday we went to Big fish and had a wonderful sea bass in lobster sauce dinner. On Wednesday, we went to Spicy in Grand Case and had a wonder fish dinner. And on Thursday, we went back to Spiga’s for our “last supper” until we go back in December.
We did stop in Philipsburg to do some shopping and went to Gulmohars to pick up some alcohol and cigarettes. They know their alcohol. We picked up some Blanton’s bourbon, Gosling’s Black Seal rum, Admiral Rodney rum, Rum Jumbie, two liquors, and some Tequila. We had no trouble bringing back 7 bottles through customs even though they did ask what the 7 bottles were for. Gulmohar’s had wrapped the bottles in air bags and that worked great in carrying them in the suitcase. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Cheers.gif" alt="" />
Tried to find the TTOL party on Monday night but could never find the Deep Blue. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />
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