TravelTalkOnline Forums Trip Reports (Read Only) SXM Trip Reports and Photos Trip Report 3/23-3/30

<br>Rather than do a 'report', I thought I would list observations, give suggestions, express viewpoints on things and events we saw and experienced on the island this past trip.<br>We booked travel by using FFmiles from American and one of the pluses was that they couldn't get us back with regular miles so we had to use more miles and fly first class from Chicago to SXM. If you ever have the possibility to do this and not check bags, it is the ultimate way to travel to SXM. We arrived on time at 3pm on Sunday and by 3:30 had picked up our car from Leslie of Kenny's Car Rental and were sitting at SSBB having the first of our many Caribs for the week. People kept coming up to us and were incredulous at the fact that we were on the plane that they had just watch land!!, in fact we were bought a round by a customer just because he was impressed with our adgenda(Carib before checking into condo)<br>We stayed, for the second year, at the partyvilla owned by Cole Combs and his wife. Cole is a member and advertises on the board,(ColeinKC). The condo is located in Guana Bay, you can see pictures on the partyvilla web site, and let me tell you that the pictures don't do the place justice. It is much prettier and nicer in person. You overlook Guana Bay and can watch the sun rise from the balcony every morning. It is away from all the populated areas so you have plenty of privacy. If you're going to be on the island, i would strongly suggest you drop Cole a line at find out what a really great deal this is.<br>Wound up the first day by going to the Greenhouse and partaking of their two for one specials. Probably one of the best deals on the island, we make a meal out of their appetizers(especially their conch fritters) and more Caribs!!<br>Went to Orient on Monday(a little note about the weather, all week 80-85 and sunny, what a rough life!!) and camped out at the Club 0 end of the beach and noticed something that seemed to happen all week. It seems that more 'boat people' are partaking of the nude sunbathing that ever before. Sure there are a few gawkers, but not as many as in years past. To see so many towels from the ships on the beach and naked people running around with their ship's wristbands was quite a site to behold.<br>Wanted something light that night, so we headed off to Hot Tomatoes, based on what we read on this board, and were not disappointed. The pizzas are excellent and not your run of the mill type that we are used to back home. Met Brad the owner and talked about the TTOL gathering for the next night, and he pointed out Richard,aka Dicky, sitting in his nghttime office at the bar. Not only met Dicky but also met Neil of the Celine, what a pair!!!! By the time we left, we felt as though we had known them both forever, we also were going to be with them the next two nights we realized what with the TTOL party and then joining them on a pub crawl on the Celine.(more on this later)<br>More of the same boring weather on Tuesday. We had a great time that evening meeting other TTOLers at Hot Tomatoes. Met Deepti and Jeff and can't tell you what nice people they are, very helpful with island info and with things to do and see that are off the norm. After the party we headed out on their and Neil's reccomendation to Jimbos for dinner. Great Tex-Mex food!!! The fajitas were fantastic!! Come to an island to have Mexican, go figure. In fact Deepti and Jeff came in a little later and also were having dinner there, so I guess they must like the place.<br>Went on a snorkeling trip on Wed. to Anquila on the Tango. What a disaster!!(sorry Dicky). They dropped us off to snorkel by Sandy Island, not only was the area a poor place to snorkel, the currents were terrible, in fact we almost lost two people because the currents took them away from the boat and it seemed that the crew thought this was funny. For lunch the took us to a private bay,Crocus bay i think, and we had to swim ashore to Roy's. Roys being the only place on the 'beach' to eat. We then had an hour to lay out on one the worst beaches ever, all pebles and rocks quite uncomfortable. When a herd of goats joined us on the beach we decided that it was time to go. Oh well live and learn, next time we will do it on our own.<br>The day was saved by the pub crawl, what a great idea!! Hopefully for Dicky and Neil's sake I hope this idea catches on. What a great way to try out a couple of different restaurants in one night and meet new friends on the crawl.<br>While we only were able to do Hot Tomatoes, Harrys and Peg Leg, the potential for this to be a staple for all our visits is huge!! Dicky, I will send you some ideas in a later e-mail.<br>Thursday we explored a couple of different beaches, spent the morning on Dawn and had lunch at Mr.Busbys. The ribs were great . We then gambled and tried out Guana Bay beach and really enjoyed our own private beach. The water was very calm and the sand was smooth and soft and best of all there was hardly anyone there!<br>Dinner that night was at Spiggas in Gran Case. This was the find of the trip. Italian food with a French twist. Laura and her husband opened the past November and have a diamond in the rough on their hands. Had the best beef there that exceeded any thing from the Mid-west. Luann had the grouper encrusted with lobster that was to die for. It's located on the road leading into Gran Case from the airport, just before the left turn onto the main street through town. Give it a try, you won't be dissapointed.<br>More of the same boring weather on Friday. Dinner was at Marys Boon, food was delicious as usual. Dicky and Frank were there getting ready to head out to his evening office, so it was nice seeing them again.<br>Spent most of Saturday morning shopping, spent time with Deepti and Jeff, not in the market for jewelery this trip but feel very comfortable in reccomending them to anyone who is. By the way, if you are interested in colognes, Jeff is your man. What a cologne freek!!! He knows all the fragrances and if you like a certain one he can reccomend others that are very similar. In fact he took us to his favorite store and spent an hour with us picking out new frangrances that are not available in the states yet. Who knows, we may have found a part time job for him being a cologne advisor. If you're shopping for cologne, do yourself a favor and stop in to see him and get suggestions. Their store is Gems International at 69A Front st.<br>Dinner that night was at Marios. I personally felt the food was better at Spiggas, but was not dissapointed with what I had at Marios. Service was good, atmosphere was great, just a great way to spend our last night on the island.<br>Had a 9:30 flight so we got to the airport at 7:45, fearing long lines etc., not the case. Maybe because we were flying first class and were not checking luggage, it took us all of 10 minutes to check in and pay our departure tax. They were not checking luggage that you carried on, but they were hand checking luggage that was being checked on. Customs in Miami was a breeze no waiting for luggage meant we were first in line for customs and had no wait time there as there were plenty of open lines to wait in.<br>Arrived back in Chicago at 5pm and were home within the hour and were immediately planning our next trip to paradise.<br>Thanks to everyone that made this one of the most enjoyable stays ever. Cole for the use of his condo, Dicky and Neil for all the fun we had together, Bruce and Linda for paling around with us most of the week, and all the people we met: sungodess, patsyh and hubby, pat and his wife julie, deepti and jeff, and the loads of people whose names have been erased from my mind because of all the grey cells i lost to extreme consuption of caribs during the week[img]/images/icons2/cheers.gif[/img].<br><br>Paul<br><br>so much for not doing a report, just reread this, oh well!!!