back yesterday after 12 days of perfect weather with a few observations. Island did not seem as crowded as it was last April--had no problems walking into restaurants (with 7 people) and getting a table right away.Island looked great - no visible damage from hurricane that I found. Arrived on Easter Sunday-found guy from Panoramic-did not have my name on the list. When I got to the office he called Mohammed who very graciously gave me the price I was quoted a couple of months ago. Was on the beach by noon. Pelican no longer does the Sunday sunset cruise and is doing Mondays only from 4-5:10. Definitely not worth the $20 they are now charging but enjoyed seeing the area by the sea--747 was departing so he stopped the boat and let us watch it take off--really different perspective from the water. Actually met warmweatherlynn on the cruise and spent a lot of time with her and her husband the rest of the week they were there-fun people. She did run up excessive mileage on her car <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> about 12 miles. Also ran into wildbill at the manager's party. Ate at the new Toppers on the sea-excellent. That was when I saw the only damage from the hurricane--that end of the beach has lost a ton of sand. Ate three times at the new greenhouse-amazed at how large their menu is--good food, great bartender.
Caio at the Pelican has a nice breakfast.
Looked forward to going back to Pegleg's-had 2 good meals there last year after they had first moved--well, now I know why I had stopped going to their old location. Because we had a 2 year old with us we decided to forego appetizers and just order our steaks. Well, it took over an hour to get our food and everything was overcooked. I ordered a filet mignon "black and Blue" and it came out dry and barely medium rare if that. My friends strip steak which was ordered rare was delivered barely pink and not a drop of juice. Out of 5 only the double-thick rib steak had any juice and prepared as ordered. Definitely will not go back again--This is the third out of 5 times food and service was terrrible. They definitely need more wait help. There was only the one big guy (cannot remember his name) one waitress and a bus boy for a totally full restaurant.
The ugly--felt very bad for the three canadian girls that were in back of me in l;ine at the airport. They decided to go to Bliss their last night, parked on the street and put their purses into the trunk--you can guess the rest--probably being watched their car was broken into and damaged, the purse was stolen with credit card, passports, travelers checks, etc. The one credit card was maxed out by the morning. Felt bad for them but they were naive, young and kiind of dumb. Live and learn I guess (the weird thing about it is that one of the girls was leaving to go home after 2 1/2 years at the Medical school--after that much time on the Island I was surprised she would leave stuff like that in a trunk) All in all had a wonderful trip.
One more thought--Pineapple Pete's still had the best staff and lobster thermador on the Island