Flew Delta through Atlanta from DTW. Flight from DTW was over two hours late. Serendipitously, the flight from ATL was late too, so we made it. We had to run through the airport but we made it with about 5 minutes to spare. We had to pick up our baggage the next day. Some really nice flights though. I got a good deal on first class so that was a special treat. Spent Christmas week in SXM. Everyday, except Friday, at Club O beach. The beach was great. Plenty of people and entire families having a wonderful holiday.
On Friday we spent only an hour in the morning because the weather was so rough. The winds were really strong. The sand actually hurt. We were one of only three couples on the beach. We wound up at Sol E Luna for a leisurely-nearly-three-hour lunch. Excellent restaurant—try it if you haven't yet. We also ate at the Perch Lite, Yellow Sub and Mt. Vernon Pizza. Had a nice burger at Yellow Sub, but didn't go for the 48 euro rotisserie chicken. We bought a beautiful Buche Noel from L'express--sorry no photo. They do a great job there. We went to Petit Casino a few times, but didn't go grocery shopping because we used Shop n Drop. Perfect service as usual. We had some ice cold champagne and guavaberry waiting for us, so that was nice.
We rented a car from Automax again. We like his service and find it incredibly easy. The car is waiting at the airport and there is zero paperwork to sign. Drop off is at the airport and we simply leave the keys in the glove box. He only asks that we return the car with the same amount of gas. We got a dented Kia Picanto for $290/7 days. I know there are probably better deals out there, but it fit into the budget with absolutely zero planning. Just an email to Louis.
There was a bit of excitement one day, at the beach, when a creepy dude got caught sneaking photos of a family. About five or six guys confronted him. He didn't want to surrender his phone and actually said that he would erase the photos--thus admitting what he had done. The father went ballistic and the brother tackled the guy. The phone wound up in the ocean. Cedric came by a bit later after speaking with the creep.
Other than the above mentioned incident, it was a wonderfully boring trip, just like we like it. Wife snorkeled a bit and I forgot to flip over again, so I've got a really nice tan in the front, but I'm all business in the back. My wife is so Celtic--she remained white as snow. Can you believe they make 110spf. I was surprised. I use 4spf. Generally, orient bay was comparatively empty. There were a number of 4 wheeler tours happening though--more than I've noticed in the past.
I barely turned my phone on--I took only a couple of photos, which I'll attach here. The first photo is just us at Mt.Vernon. We stayed at the Bistrot Caraibes bros. studio. It's in great condition. Mt.Vernon complex, however, is not. They said work will begin this week.
The second photo is a shot of the moon our first night. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Full Cold Moon because this is the time of year when the cold winter air settles in and the nights become long and dark. Thankfully, it was a beautifully warm night for us though. There are very few functional outdoor lights at Mt. Vernon now, which made for some excellent star gazing.
