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BobA
Stillwater, Minnesota
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Tuesday Night In Grand Case
StMartinFan
8 hours ago
We headed out late afternoon for Grand Case because we wanted to make a stop at the One by K shop so my daughter could pick up another “One Love, One Life” tshirt. Their new location includes a nice cafe area. She also found a cap with the logo so her collection of their stuff grew a little.
We made it to Grand Case about 4:45 so we were among the first in the grass parking lot just off the main street. The street venders were all setting up, even though the Mardis de Grand Case festivities don't officially start until 6 so we got a chance to browse the stores and check out all the stands before our dinner reservation for Bistrot Caraibes at 6:30.
There were lots more food venders than I remember from previous years and a wide variety of things like mini pancakes, crepes, Indian food, empanadas and someone with huge pan of shrimp. Lots of sweets like some beautiful cupcakes and homemade sorbet. There were also the usual stands with handmade craft items, but it felt like the mix had tipped to food stands.
While the “parade” is never a big deal it seemed even smaller this time with only 2 dancers and the drummers. But there were several bands set up at places down the street.
Our dinner was great, as usual. We indulged with lobster thermador and my daughter had the whole sea bass special that she devoured. JC the waiter, formerly at LaVilla, recognized us and stopped to say hello even though he wasn’t working our table. He always brings such humor to the job it’s fun to watch him in action. While their menu doesn't change much, I love that the food is always prepared perfectly and presented so nicely. We shared their classic molten chocolate dessert and the crème brûlée, and those were tasty and gorgeous as well.
By 8 pm the street was packed with people and all the tables set in the street by the lolos were full. There was a mix of locals and tourists in the crowd and it was a fun atmosphere. When left there were lots of security people helping direct traffic and staffing the barricades that blocked the traffic. We were surprised to see how many cars were jammed into every inch of parking along the streets and they extended a long way down the airport road which is how you have to exit. It definitely felt like they had a great turnout for the evening.
We noticed several projects underway to fix buildings empty since the hurricane, so it was nice to see that some of those areas are finally getting renovated. I also noticed a sign that indicated construction of a boutique hotel next to Oceans 82.
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Probably The Most Fun We've Had This Trip - Tonight
Whale Tail
11 hours ago
We spent a down day today because we needed a day off. So we went to SMYC for breakfast and came back to the resort to have a lounger day. Which we did.
Then came the daily question. Where do you want to have dinner? It's a daily thing.
So I said let's do happy hour at Roma's. So we left SBR at 4:46 and pulled into Sonesta parking lot at 5pm
and walked over to Roma's shortly there after. Plan B was a pizza at the Driftwood and my first rum punch
there this trip.
When we got to Roma's there were no seats at the high tables or the bar. I needed to use the restroom so off I went while my wife waited by the side entrance. Then I came back to the bar area and my wife is talking to a lady seated at the bar with her husband. She said that she recognized my wife from pictures on TTOL and said that they had reservations at a table for dinner and that we could have their bar seats. See there are benefits from being on TTOL. Her husband is on TTOL but doesn't post often but have been checking out the site recently because of their upcoming trip.
Then it gets better, we sat down beside Ron and Carol who apparently are regulars there. So much so that they have wooden coasters with their names on them supplied by Roma!! They have a condo at the Royal Palm and spend about 6 months of the year there and the rest of the time in Massachusetts. Well we hit it off together and I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes all night. They have been married for 65 years and boy did they have stories. And she wasn't afraid to drop the occasional F bomb, and she was hitting on me.
In jest I think.
Then while we were sitting there our favorite waitress from Reveil Matin Kareen came over and gave us hugs. We didn't know that she also works at Roma's
It was quite the night!!
Oh and by the way we had Korean Wings and a Pepperoni pizza and brought the leftovers home.
A quiet day and eventful night.
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Day 4 and 5
eilandmens
Yesterday at 10:39 PM
Sunday came with beautiful weather. We went to Philipsburg for church. After church, we went to Chesterfields for breakfast. Always good for a breakfast, not as crowded as past years. Enjoyed breakfast of eggs, bacon, Sausage and French toast. Talked to Basil, the ubiquitous waiter, who works at Chesterfields in the morning and Skip Jacks in the evening. Very friendly and accommodating. Stayed by beach all afternoon. Had G and T on patio. Beautiful evening. Went to Skip Jacks, and had Basil as our waiter. My wife had scallops, now market price, at $42. They were good but don’t understand market price for scallops since they can be caught in Caribbean. Nevertheless, they were delicious. I had my stand by blacken grouper. It tastes the same as 20 years ago when Skip Jacks was Skipjacks.
What we like about Skip Jacks is the consistency of the food.
Monday, baguette in room with French butter and French jam. A bit hot on beach but we survived. G and T on porch. Then to relatively new place in the Hills Residences. ll Bacio ( the Kiss) just opened in January 2026. We saw the early reviews( very great) and said let us try it. The theme is the chef’s Nonna and Mama’s recipes. I can tell you. Our meal was fantastic. We shared a beef carpaccio which was fantastic and we both had Nonna’s Lasagna. Nonna according to Chef Pietro was allergic to cheese so she made her lasagna cheese less. It is a taste sensation. We both highly recommend Il Bacio. It is across the street from Pineapple Pete’s and parking is above the restaurant.
An enjoyable evening with a bottle of limoncello on table.
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York Car Rental
CaribLee
Yesterday at 01:30 PM
Anyone have experience with or knowledge of York Car Rental? It appears to be a part of Hardy's Car Rental (which seems to get good reviews) as York has the same physical address and local phone number. It's not unusual for SXM car rental agencies to operate under several different names. Don't need other recommendations. Just wondering if anyone has experience with York. Thanks.
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Returning in June and a note of appreciation
wabid
03/23/2026 03:14 PM
Finished ironing out most the details for a 2 week stay at SBR in June. (Leslie, we will be in contact soon  ) . After a long absence we are now on a two year cycle for visits and now that life is becoming more "relaxing" we hope to visit more and more....
With that in mind I want to express my appreciation to everyone who manages and contributes to this forum. I don't contribute much but I have learned to love the trip reports and advice over the years. Because of you we avoid being fish out of water when we arrive.
Also special shout out to Whaletail this last few weeks. As a fellow SBR visitor your trip reports are very helpful and fun.
All that said, don't get your hopes up with my trip reports. They tend to be boring: Woke up, drank coffee on deck, watched boats, headed to beach, snorkeled, rested, snorkeled more, migrated to pool, rum punch, made supper, bed, rinse, repeat. JK. we do get out, but we really enjoy the down time.
So with that. Thanks everyone!!! And, I hope to get a few good reports filed in June. 
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Trip Report 1
Teresasxm
03/23/2026 02:27 PM
The 2 a.m. alarm was nasty.
However, with our annual St. Maarten trip about to begin, we were out the door pretty quick and walked right into a mix of freezing rain, ice pellets, snow, and high winds. We live in Toronto and this winter has been a mean one. The high winds and freezing rain had slicked the highway up like a shiny skating rink and at -9 degrees Celsius, the snow had started to fall. Our car went from sliding down the highway in a blizzard to bursting through large snowdrifts in sections because the plows hadn’t come yet. We drove in icy silence as we white-knuckled it towards the airport. Thank goodness we made it safely and were soon on our 6:30a.m. flight direct to SXM.
One of the best things about getting up so early is that we landed at 11:15a.m. with the entire day ahead of us. We picked up our car from Triple A and checked into paradise for two weeks at Mary’s Boon. We really love it here with its character, charm and beach front units that are only 23 steps to the beach. The next few days were spent enjoying sand gravity, chilling out, swimming, watching airplanes and being boring. We’re usually very active during the day driving from beach to beach, picnicking on the sand and at night going out for lovely dinners but with a lot going on at home with work and renovations, we were exhausted. The restaurant at Mary’s Boon was quite frankly, perfect for our first two days. The first night we dined in the Bar with the waves of Simpson Bay crashing right in front of us and the next night some friends came over and we dined in the restaurant, also right next to the waves. Highlights for us were the mahi-mahi in a lemon butter sauce, a tasty Thai curry, clams and mussels in a garlic cream sauce and a Fettuccine Alfredo that put my husband into a garlicky, cheesy food coma. Their wine list was more than adequate, and we had lots of leftovers for lunch. The food was two thumbs up!
It was extremely windy and little stormy the first few days of our vacation. I’ve been following the weather and realized what we were experiencing was quite lovely compared to the solid days of rain that others had experienced. We were happy when the wind slowed down a bit but then the sargassum arrived in Simpson’s Bay and rolled in with its stinky brown carpet clogging up the shoreline. So far, it’s been manageable and nowhere near what they are experiencing in Cul De Sac on the French side, so no complaints from us.
Pre-Carnival events have started in St. Maarten and Friday night we went to the Causeway Jump Up. Starting off in Simpson Bay, the three gigantic, double decker semis loaded with DJs and bands thumped and bumped their way down the road followed by lots of excited young islanders. We joined the fun near the airport and walked the entire length of the Causeway not once but twice to get back to our car. There were lots of police around and we felt safe as we walked and danced our way through the streets. Afterwards we stopped off for ice cream at Dinghy Dock and called it a night.
We spent a day at Maho near Driftwood people and plane watching. We had stopped at Zee Best for a French Rosette Sandwich (butter, mustard, French salami, lettuce, tomato, red onion with little cornichons) amazing! We also chose a ham and cheese sandwich that was equally decked out plus two almond croissants for dessert. What a feast. All afternoon we bounced around in the waves, cautiously took in some sun and watched the big jets glide over the beach. We finished up at Tortuga’s for their happy hour. We decided on two pina coladas and they were outstanding, carefully made by master mixologist Marco who topped them off with Italian maraschino cherries that apparently cost $24USD for a small jar. As far as I’m concerned, they were worth every penny that the bar paid for them, and we were so glad Marco decided to share with us!
The sunsets have been beautiful so far, and so has this trip. You couldn’t wipe the grins off our faces if you tried right now. Out of all the people that love TTOL and St. Maarten, we’re sure you understand and have had similar moments over the years when you sigh, smile, and say, “I’m so happy to be back in our Caribbean home”.
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Arrival and Day 1
StMartinFan
03/23/2026 12:48 PM
Flight in on Sun Country from MSP went smoothly, and for some reason the security person at the airport randomly diverted the 3 of us from the long regular line to the nearly empty one for crews and residents. A great start to the trip!
Picked up our car from Lesley Bruce and headed to Divi only to get stopped at the end of the runway by a massive traffic jam. Inched our way down Welfare Road, often just sitting for long periods. The usual 15 minute drive took us nearly 2 hours! Later learned there had been a fatal accident when a scooter hit a parked bus, so that plus rush hour traffic at 5 had created the bottleneck.
Dinner at Divi with a surprisingly good experience at Gizmos, with fast service and two well made salads. Not usually a fan of food or service at Divi but they got good marks this time.
Sunday beach time with a small amount of seaweed along the Divi beach and some in the water. Not pleasant for swimming. When we drove out for dinner, we saw a large mass of seaweed had accumulated in Great Bay along side the road out of Divi. Nice dinner at Mark's Place, as always. Never been there on Sunday night before and realized it's a good time because the grocery store is closed.
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