Saturday, July 1

Where has the time gone? My three weeks at Divi are up, and I have five nights at Horny Toad Guesthouse, then must head back to Oregon. So many things I still want to do.

Left Divi late morning. At the first roundabout going down the hill, gendarmes were telling people to turn around. The reason became clear when I got to the Sonesta: a caravan of about ten vehicles, likely local dignitaries since one of the license plates was P 1. Again went to the road up the hill across from Kooyman, which this time was not backed up at all. No further traffic incidents getting to Horny Toad, where my room was ready. Fabulous view of Simpson Bay from this Guesthouse.




Did some partial unpacking and then headed to the Marigot Market for a few more gifts. However, the car was feeling really wobbly right as I was getting to Leisure Car Rental. It appeared I was on the verge of a flat tire so I’m glad I was so close to Leisure. They had no air compressor so exchanged my rental for a very bright, newly painted red car. Yikes!! The market was starting to shut down by the time I arrived, but I found what I was looking for. After a few hours on the balcony at Horny Toad, it was time for dinner at Temptation.

Jeff Jhangiani has a particular way he likes his duck at Temptation (which is a secret recipe) and had contacted Chef Dino telling him I would be in and asking for “Jeff’s duck.” Hands down, this was the best duck I’ve had this trip; it was melt-in-your mouth tender. Rounding out the meal were a watermelon/goat cheese salad and white chocolate panna cotta.



Sunday, July 2

After all the running around yesterday, I stayed at Horny Toad during the day. Weather was all over the place: beautiful sunshine, then heavy showers, then sunshine.





I was glad I hadn’t gone to another beach. Being “home,” I have lounge chairs on the balcony so could still relax in the chair looking at the ocean, even though it was raining.

The rain let up late afternoon so I headed to Hidden Garden in Grande Case for dinner. This place is tucked away at the end of an alley across from the lolos.



While it does stone cooking, I didn’t order a stone-cooked meal; rather, I had a special of flank steak with goat and blue cheeses. It was cooked very nicely, and service was lovely.



As I was perusing the shops in the alleyway after dinner, the server came running out wanting to shake my hand. She was thrilled that I had included two-dollar bills in my payment as she said they are good luck. Very sweet.

Monday, July 3

It really is lovely here at Horny Toad,



but I was lonesome for Anse Marcel. I’ve taken so many pictures of the place that there’s really nothing new to show. It’s just a wonderful place.



I had salmon rolls for lunch. They were delicious but really oddly plated.

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I tried going to Blue Fin for dinner, but they were closed. I headed to Bar Code, where island friends joined me for a bit.

Tuesday, July 4

A new place in Grande Case, Le Temps de Cerises, a nine-room hotel and restaurant, had been recommended to me as a place to hang out on the beach for the day so that’s where I headed. After doing two circles and being unable to find a place to park, I gave up; it will have to wait until the next trip.

What to do? Lunch at Dreams was the winning choice, and it was a great one. I overcame my natural inclination to have the bo bun nem salad and tried a special of the day: scallops and salmon duo. Being from the Pacific Northwest where Copper River salmon is king, I was a bit leery of trying salmon from elsewhere. However, it was delicious. Bruno told me it was from Sweden and is flown in fresh a couple of times a week. The scallops were also incredible, and the chocolate fondant was really good. It was a superb lunch.

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Eventually the skies opened up; apparently there’s another tropical storm in the vicinity.

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Bruno generously gave me a nice “Dreams throw” as I was leaving.

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A big dinner was out of the question. I did meet some island friends for a couple of drinks at The Palms and spent the rest of the evening in.

Wednesday, July 5

The last full day on the island is always a bittersweet one for me. I spent most of the day on the beach in front of Horny Toad. It’s a beautiful area of the beach although the water is a little rough, at least for me, for floating.

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The Horny Toad is charming in many ways. It’s right on the beach, and the sound of the crashing waves is constant and soothing. The gardens are beautiful. Every morning, the gardener was at work early, actually sweeping the sand to keep it looking smooth. There’s lots of greenery that is well kept, and birds hang around all the time.

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Eventually it was time for the Last Supper and another trip to Grand Case. En route, I noticed the gas tank was down to just above half although I filled the tank on Monday and drove very little after that. I stopped to get more gas as I’ll need to return the car in the morning; the attendant said the tank was full despite the gauge’s reading. Not sure what that’s all about.

Le Cottage was the destination, another first for me. The appetizer was refreshing and beautifully presented: a trio of cold soups - beet, zucchini, and pumpkin. Wonderful! The entrée was equally delicious: lamb shanks with vegetables and potato. Service was delightful.

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After getting back home, I reclined on the lounger on my balcony for awhile, listening to the waves. A resident cat bounded up the stairs, jumped on my lounger, and proceeded to perch on my chest. This after pretty much ignoring my overtures the previous day. I happened to have a can of uneaten tuna fish so fed that to him? her? My thanks was a dead mouse on my doorstep the following morning.

Thursday, July 6

I awoke early and went out for a last bit of time enjoying the ocean. There were quite a few other early risers walking or running the beach, but I was content to sit on Horny Toad’s wall and just drink in the ocean.

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These kiddos were the most fun to watch. Such joy on their faces!

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Back inside I checked emails and was distressed to learn that the first leg of my flight, to PHL, was going to be delayed half an hour. Since I had only 90 minutes in PHL to go through CI and get and recheck luggage, I felt I wouldn’t have enough time to make my connection to DFW, where I was overnighting. I headed to the airport early to see about a reroute, which was accomplished eventually, through CLT to DFW. I never really wanted to go through PHL anyway and my flight to CLT left about the same time as the one to PHL had been originally scheduled to leave so overall I was a happy camper. Global Entry worked very smoothly at CLT; however, after that it was about a half-hour wait to retrieve luggage so the benefit of GE may be negligible.

Friday, July 7

I overnighted at the Grand Hyatt at DFW, a hotel I really like. My flight from DFW to PDX was on time and uneventful.


This was my longest stay to date in SXM. Were it not for missing my felines, I’m sure I could have been content staying a couple more weeks. The island was very green. Traffic was totally unpredictable: sometimes there were terrible backups, but other times it was about 20 minutes to the other side of the island. The food highlight was the Winemakers Dinner at La Samanna, followed closely by “Jeff’s (Jhangiani) duck” at Temptation. My favorite beach continues to be Anse Marcel. The sail on the Passaat was wonderful, and it was disappointing that the weather got in the way of a sail on Celine Too to Tintamarre. Neil and I tried to work out another sail, but our calendars didn’t cooperate. I’m trying to put together a trip in November but don’t know if I’ll be able to pull it off. Am missing the island terribly, as we all do after a wonderful time.