Flights: (Delta)

Chicago-ATL (Wife, Myself and 21 year old twin daughters)– We started off the trip with them having to jump start the engines because the auxiliary power didn’t start by itself. Still arrived a few minutes early

Cleveland-ATL (23 y.o. daughter) Left on time and arrived 3 minutes early

ATL-SXM – We all had to get from either Terminal A or B to Terminal E. We get down to the train and they are out of service. After walking for 10 minutes, we notice the shuttles are working and jump on them. My oldest got stuck on the train again and made the plane by 3 minutes. We arrived 25 minutes early. In and out of immigration in 10 minutes and picked up bags to meet Leslie Bruce….More on the rental car later

La Calanthe (Pelican Key) Villa Link

This was a graduation celebration for the twins and for me it was to celebrate the conclusion of a 2 ½ year project. The villa is breathtaking when you walk into the open floor plan. You immediately see the ocean, pool and deck. The caretakers live on the property and have an adorable 5 month old german shepard puppy.

All 3 bedrooms have queen or king size bedrooms. TV is only in the main room but has French Satellite
and US Satellite. Wifi worked ok but it’s the island. The catch is the bedrooms are A/C but the common areas are not. They close at night with storm shutters. They offer fans and if you open the windows there is a decent cross breeze. The issue is when you close the shutters it gets hot. They also ask you run the A/C only at night. We followed this rule in 2 of the 3 bedrooms as the third didn’t cool down quickly.

Wednesday – April 22

What we did: Unpacked and Grocery shopping at Carefour on Bush Rd.
What we ate: Izi for dinner. Food was great. Home made gnocchi and lasagna. David is the ultimate host as we talked about his 1 year old
The Good: Back on the island. The progress in the past year is huge.
The Bad: Our rental cars from Kenny’s where in really bad shape. We rented (2) Sentra’s and they hard a hard life. The first had a low tire so everytime we hit a speed bump the hub cap came off rolling down the hill. The rubber on the trunk had come loose so we had to push that back on. The second car would bottom out on all speed bumps. The back passenger door would sometime open up without warning.

Thursday – April 23

What we did: Day relaxing at our pool
What we ate: We brought in sandwiches for lunch from the café across from Texaco. The sandwiches were good (all on baquets) but each had like 1 or 2 pieces of lunch meet. Dinner was at Le Piment in Orient Village. Highlights of the meal – Burrata, red snapper special in a foil pouch, escargot, Filet with Camberte. Dessert was in Grand case at the ice cream roll shop. Great service at all 3 places.
The Good: One of the top meals of the vacation at Le Pemint
The Bad: Where’s the beef

Friday – April 23

What we did: Parrotvile – How much fun. No ships in port and we had it to ourselves. We learned a lot from the people and got some amazing photos.
What we ate: We cooked breakfast at the villa. Dinner was at L'Auberge Gourmande. The girls tried Escargot and loved it. We started with French onion soup also which is distinctive and rich. Three of us had Rack of Lamb (Best on the Island), Veal Chop and Filet. I thought the filet was a bit chewy.
The Good: Great time with the parrots.
The Bad: It was cloudy all day


Saturday – April 24

What we did: Buchaneer beach bar
What we ate: Zee Best, Buchanner beach bar, Isola
The Good: Pizza at Pizza Italy
The Bad: I was sick with stomach flu or something. Throwing up all day and the main room wasn’t air conditioned.

Sunday – April 25

What we did: Cupecoy Beach – Danny’s beach restaurant. The food was standard island fare. The girls really enjoyed the grilled fish.
What we ate: Croissants and other sweets from Zee Best. Dinner was at L P’tit Bistro in Orient Bay. Food and service was enjoyable, well paced and so personable. We’ve known Val from his years at Bikini beach and Sebastian is hilarious as he runs trying to remember everything. They draw a very French crowd so smoke can be an issue. They offer true French alps food. Val has partnered with another Bikini alum to open an Italian restaurant just next door.
The Good: Great food for dinner, wonderful hosts and Orient Village
The Bad: Smoking allowed in a dining area

Monday – April 26

What we did: I was still suffering so I went to the Maho Medical clinic. No appointments needed in SXM for a doctor just wait your turn. Hung out at the pool.
What we ate: La Sucerie and Isola. Isola was very good. Pastas, fish and veal. Finished dinner with a Nutella Calzone
The Good: Best service on the dutch side at Isola
The Bad: Didn’t feel well again. My Crohn’s kicked my butt

Tuesday – April 27

What we did: Day trip to St Barts. We decided to take a flight from Phillipsburg to St Barts. I love planes and simulators so I wanted to experience this flight. We ended up being the only 5 on the plane to St Barts. 10 minutes later you are swooping down over an intersection and then a steep descent to the tiny runway.
What we ate: Pearl Beach Bar on St Jean Beach. $20 PER CHAIR. A place down the way wanted $50 per chair. We had shrimp tempura for $27 and it had 4 shrimp. Dinner was at Sale & Pepe. SERVICE WAS SO SLOW. The food was ok but not 5 star. DID I SAY IT WAS SLOW. I don’t remember what we ate because I was so pissed.
The Good: the flight to and from St Barts.
The Bad: Sal & Pepe

Wednesday – April 28th

What we did: Sand Gravity at Buchaneer Beach
What we ate: Had a good old American lunch at Buchaneer. I was able to figure out the exact brand of the kosher hot dog they use just by taste. Burgers cooked exactly as ordered. Nice simple lunch before an amazing dinner.

Dinner was at Bistro Caraibes – One of the top 5 on the island. The brothers always greet you as family and the rest of the team fill in right next to them. Service is efficient, professional and not rushed nor slow. Appetizers included a great onion soup, Caesar salad and Escargot. Dinners ranged from Rack of lamb, Filet, Lobster Thermador x 2 and Veal. Everything was cooked to perfection and finished off with their Ginger Rum
The Good: Dinner at Bistro Caraibes and freaking my family out by being able to tell the brand of hot dog they used
The Bad: Mostly cloudy since we got there. The nicest day was in St Barts I’ve never seen such a cloudy 7-10 days.

Thursday – April 29th

What we did: Pinel Island. Took the boat over to Pinel at 10AM and was one of the first on Yellow beach. It’s been a long time since we’ve been there and it looks great. Chairs are 2 for $20 and the food was very good and reasonably priced
What we ate: Yellow Beach and Izi. Yellow beaches menu reminded me of the old Bikini. It had a wide variety and fairly priced. We love Italian food because it seems like the French restaurants all have similar menus (Lobster, Carbonara, Filet, Rack of Lamb and some fish). We tried the Cappeletti at Izi this time which is a home made ravioli with prosciutto and beef. We paired it in an alfredo sauce and also had gnocchi (pillowly soft) with four cheese. Dessert was crème brulle, Fried oreos and a crepe.
The Good: Great service at all the places.
The Bad: It’s the last night

Friday – April 30th

What we did:
What we ate: La Sucerie
The Good: Immigration and security was no problem. It’s so much nicer than last year in the tents
The Bad: Delta check in was slow.

We got to Atlanta a little early and whizzed through immigrations and customs. They don’t really use mobile passport anymore so had to stand in the normal line.

Recap later….