On this our second trip we made reservations through Jim Ruos of Caribbean Island Travel Service. Jim provides excellent service and has helped us get deals I know we could not get otherwise. It was nice to have a longer time on the island - we did not feel as pressured to get it all done in one week. We got to do some of those things last year we just didn’t have time to do. American Airlines got us there and back on schedule, smooth flight, with no surprises. <br><br>Cap Caraibes Hotel. We chose Cap Caraibes Hotel on Orient Beach because of its location and their off-season special. Our room 312 was a second story end unit looking out over the Waikiki Beach Bar and with a northern view of Mt. Vernon Hotel and offshore views of Pinel Island. It has 7 units in each of five buildings. The pool is small but inviting; providing welcome afternoon shade. We ate most breakfasts in and cooked about six simple evening meals there without difficulty. The first week we had the hotel almost to ourselves. We were pleased with all the hotel’s accommodations and glad we stayed there. Irwin our manager was always cordial & helpful.<br><br>General Impressions. The weather was warm with daily highs around 88 and 89 and very high humidity. The first week it rained an hour or so most nights. During the second week, it rained a good part of two days. Other than that, it was beautiful and warm - you might even call it sensuous. As SXM Addicts know, St. Marten sizzles in more ways than one. <br><br>Due to a problem with the main water line outside Grand Case, the entire area was without water for about 18 hours and a week later for half a day. Nowhere we went were the beaches really crowded. Somehow, we have actually gotten accustomed to the craziness of driving on the island. Plus, we knew our way around much better so it seemed almost normal! We know now to make room for motorcycles in their own lane, which is right down the center line.<br><br>The island was very green and clean. Despite the occasional online story about crime on SXM, we never saw or heard of any. We saw patrolling gendarmerie, mostly on bikes, in the Orient Beach area. At no time did we feel unsafe and the locals seemed much friendlier than I remembered last year. Perhaps we were more at ease with them.<br><br>Orient Beach remains our favorite place to stay. The beaches were never crowded but unfortunately some of the beach bars (LaPlaya, Kon-Tiki, Baywatch) were closed during all or most of our stay. Surprisingly, we saw only very occasional nudity on OB, except at Club Orient. <br><br>The new Villages of Orient are beautiful and some shops are already open. The local merchants there say they are to be completed early next year and they compare it with the feel of the French Riviera. The new Alamanda Hotel is now open and we inspected a lower level poolside room there. It is stylishly decorated, inside and out, with colorful West Indian trim, decor, and furnishings. The large pool is gorgeous. Room rates are comparable to Esmeralda and basic kitchen facilities are comparable to Esmeralda or Cap Caraibes. While we were there, they closed off, with large boulders, part of the unpaved road between Alamanda and the beach, apparently to develop a new guest or staff parking area.<br><br>We met Andy at Baywatch and, although not open, he provided us with a cold beer on the house. He and Ms. M. swapped New York and New Jersey stories and we swapped football tales with him. We gave him one of our yacht club burgees to add to his diverse collection of tags & flags. Cruise ship buses came in while we were there, but thanks to the TTOL schedule, we avoided most of it. Wendell will be glad to know that although I searched high and low, I saw no blacksocks, plaidsocks, or beersocks (but lots of Heinies.)<br><br>Groceries & Liquor. We love to shop for groceries & liquor at the big SXM grocery stores. We tried Match in Marigot, US Imports/Exports in Sandy Ground, and Rams in Cole Bay. When you spend two weeks, you begin to feel like a local. So you get to compare and bargain hunt a bit. My take on this (and yours is certainly as good as mine.) is that Match has the best wine selection, US Imports/Exports has the best produce selection, and Rams has the cheapest liquor prices. One of the first things we do is shop for cheeses, wines, snacks, mixers, liquor, and - oh yes - food. <br><br>Car Rental. We rented a Dahaitsu Terios (it was a free upgrade) through Hertz for two weeks and it was fine if underpowered. We found that gas varied from .54 to .62 Euros/ liter. Cheapest gas we found was at Gess in Orleans. Almost everywhere, Euros were exchanged equally with U.S. Dollars. <br><br>Laundromat. We found a nearly new and modern laundromat, Le Cerices, a few blocks off the main road in Spring, just north of Orleans. Two loads of clothes and one dryer load were less than $7, self-service but full-service is available if desired. While waiting, we anxiously watched a high, thin, well-formed water spout develop over land a mile or two to our north, but it never touched down and dissipated after 15 minutes.<br><br>Anguilla Day Trip. We took the ferry to Anguilla, about six miles west of SXM and a 16 minute ferry ride from Marigot. Ferries run every 40 minutes back and forth, up to about 6:40 p.m. The ride was smooth and taxis line up at Blowing Point to take you anywhere you want. Our taxi was driven by Toppy, a local musician who played us tapes of his own music and showed us scenic places to take pictures. For $14 each way, he took us Uncle Ernie’s Beach Bar at Shoal Bay East and picked us up after we had lunch of ribs and beer. There was very little breeze and it was stifling hot. Next time, I’d rent a car so I could see more of the island on my own. I’d also take a soft side ice chest and snorkeling gear (just like in SXM). Talked to well-known personality, the “Pressure King” who hangs out at Ernie’s and rents cars, houses, etc. He’s very friendly and interesting to talk to.<br><br>Recommended Reading includes: Anthony Bourdain’s “Gone Bamboo”, James Michener’s “Caribbean”, and Herman Wouk’s “Don’t Stop the Carnival”. They’ll get you in the right frame of mind for island living & limin. <br><br>Food, Glorious Food. SXM’s delectable cuisine is a major reason we go there. I won’t try to give a rating system, but here is a brief summary of our overall impressions. We were never disappointed by a single meal. Some had better service and some had better presentation, but all were very good and some were excellent in all regards. One advantage to the off-season is that perhaps they concentrate a bit more on each meal. Note that few meals included cocktails and only a few glasses of wine at most. I list them here in the overall order of our preference:<br><br>L’Astrolabe. Excellent breakfast and most outstanding evening meal we had. On selected nights, their $34 special lets you to choose any appetizer, main dish, and dessert on their menu. We had delightful appetizers of salmon & scallops Antillean seviche and green salad; main course of lamb chops provencal and seafood (mahi, tuna, salmon, shrimp) cassolet; desserts of puff pastries; yummy. Excellent service, presentation & ambience. Weather perfect for quiet poolside dining. $73 <br>Il Nettuno. Outstanding meal with excellent presentation. We had veal scaloppini and grilled snapper; both came with melange of peppers in fancy pastry shell and small biscuit atop a dollop of spinach. Over cocktails, we watched the sun set behind Fort Louis from our water side table; excellent service. Where else could you order Italian food in English and be served by French garcons? Including drinks & wine, was $83 <br>Bistrot Caraibes. Grilled snapper was not the least bit smoky, but very good; recommend their mixed seafood, bouillabaisse style. Overall, quite good. Their lagniappe of ginger-spiced rum was too spicy for us. $57 was reasonable<br>Le Piccolo. Cul de Sac. Creative menu of tapas or “degustation” portions priced from $7 to $10; great presentation. We both had lobster bisque (all salty, oniony bisque & no lobster taste), smoked salmon with dill slices (great), beef/cheese quesedillas, sliced cold duck (the best) with salsa & seafood stuffed mushrooms. You can order full-size portions of anything you like. With a glass of white burgundy and riesling, was well worth $56.<br>Chesterfield’s. Great Bay. Very tasty breakfasts, but especially liked their curried chicken salad for lunch. Loved their conch fritters (cakes actually). Like last year, super food & slow service. Their wait staff seems to have a certain lackadaisical thing going - not exactly dying to please. We have found their meals to be consistently very good. I like the nautical atmosphere & Great Bay views.<br>Le Fish Bar. Villages of Orient. The best value we found on the island. Food was consistently and surprisingly good. Very complete breakfasts (eggs, sausage and bacon, fresh bread and large croissants) for $5. Good variety of evening meals around $8-$11. Try the salmon and linguini with buerre blanc sauce or swordfish sates. Open air bar with fast service; some patrons in swimsuits, pay at the counter when you leave. Try it before the Villages are complete & prices (I predict) increase.<br>Le P’tit Pizzeria (Cul de Sac). Ate in once & took out to go once - in is better. Ultra-thin 15” pizzas in ~10 combinations, all from $8 to $10. Bottles of house wines good & reasonably priced. They have other limited items, but we only got pizza & salad. Covered patio seating. Definitely a must try and a best buy.<br>Konrad’s Kitchen. We returned there repeatedly, despite its near total lack of ambience or style. The chef loved to cook with wine, maybe too much. It should be pointed out that, unlike fine dining establishments, at Konrad’s we were never rebuffed upon entering for the state of our sobriety. Konrad gets marks for accomplishing much with little. Typical fare: steak and chicken sauteed in butter and garlic or onions with chardonnay or Bordeaux wines, served with mixed green salad, potatoes, and buttered or Emmenthalered offerings from the local boulangerie. Or, pasta with marinara sauce and sauteed chicken with sides as above. Don’t miss it if you can. <br><br>Others restaurants or bars we visited (no particular order) were:<br>Ric’s Place. Always dependable sports bar food. Ric & wife are amiable hosts & food is consistently good. We watched FSU-Clemson (won) & FSU-Miami (lost) game there. Recommend their chicken salad & chocolate banana cake.<br>Sunset Beach Bar. Still a happening place; not to miss<br>Mary’s Boon. Yes, the infamous Dicky did save some cold ones in the fridge for us! He’s an affable raconteur and PR man, willing to share a lot of local lore. Hope to eat there next time.<br>Pedro’s. Another happening place; ribs were just OK; slow service but great reggae<br>Sheryl’s Rib Shack. Best ribs we had & cheapest too at $4<br>Kali’s. Grilled chicken was good; mostly locals swimming there at Friar’s Bay<br>Uncle Ernie’s. (Anguilla, Shoal Bay East) Ribs were surprisingly just like Pedro’s but beach was wonderful & we hung there several hot hours. <br>Mr. Busby’s. Nice breezy, shady place for limin; had sandwiches, beers & guavaberry coladas <br>Peg Leg Pub. Had quick club sandwich & beer before return flight; nice pub atmosphere. Drats, they were out of the skull & crossbone T-shirts<br>Waikiki. Lunch of penne pasta & marinara sauce, gingered chicken sates very good. Liked the shady, palapa covered outside benches where beach crowd eats lunch.<br>Passangrahan’s. What a fine old West Indian hotel, right in Philipsburg across from the Guavaberry Shop; had drinks on their sea-grape shaded patio overlooking Great Bay. Ms. M loved their lime coladas and I got bartender’s secrets for making guavaberry coladas. No, I won’t tell you.<br>Nawels. Several small shops across from Villages of Orient, including very complete grocery & notions, magazines & postcards, boulangerie & patisserie. Breakfasts are convenient & reasonable; sandwiches & pizzas for take-out. They have a wide variety of crepes. French roast coffee is superb, if pricey.<br>Club Orient. For us, Happy Hour at Club O means several rounds of BBCs while watching the eastern sky redden at sunset. They now use Bakers Liqueur for all their frozen drinks and the BBCs have banana liqueur instead of bananas; I think they’re too sweet. The first week, the happy hour crowd was quite small; toward mid-October it was jumping again. Somehow, Club O feels like home.<br><br>Well, there you have it. Despite all the descriptions above, it is really difficult to explain what it is about St. Martin that draws us back. We don’t gamble and don’t like the high rise hotel scene. And we don’t even spend that much time on the beach. Thanks for all your trip reports that helped us plan our trip. In so many ways, SXM still feels like our own island paradise and we hope it stays that way. [Linked Image]<br><br>Konrad<br>October 17, 2002<br>