This year we decided to arrive a couple of days early to take advantage of more reasonable (?) air fares. We flew on Thursday, November 18, and spent Thursday and Friday at Grand Case Beach Club before moving into our timeshare at La Vista Beach for our usual three weeks. I'll divide this report into categories, as dates and details are already fuzzy.

Travel:

Our flights down and back were uneventful. We flew RDU/MIA/SXM on the way down and the reverse on the way home. We usually spend the night before our flight in Raleigh as it's two hours from home. Because our first flight departed at 6 AM, we couldn't take advantage of the hotel shuttle, so parked in the airport lot. This was very convenient, but certainly not inexpensive for 22 nights.

Flying home was also relatively uneventful, although immigration and security in MIA was a $hit$how. Even though we have GE, half of the kiosks were out of order, and once we got past that the lines for security were ridiculously long. They don't have a separate line for TSA Precheck, but give you a card that supposedly gives you the precheck screening benefits once you finally get to the front of the line. We still had to take our electronics out. We did make our connection with about ten minutes to spare, but Todd and MJ nearly missed theirs.

Traffic on the Island:

For the most part, traffic was about what we've come to expect during this time of year. One exception was on the day we arrived, when it took us nearly two hours to get from the airport to Grand Case. Traffic was at a complete standstill from the roundabout at Maho until we escaped it at the causeway. We found out later that there was an accident involving a bus.

A couple of days it took us quite some time to get back from the French side, but it's the price you pay to be in paradise.

Accommodations:

We had not stayed at GCBC before, but we really enjoyed those two nights. They've done a beautiful job of restoring the property after Irma; pretty much everything in the units is brand new.

La Vista Beach has some new furniture, and is as comfortable and well-maintained as usual. Even though we had been on the island for two days, I didn't feel like I was home until we checked in to our studio there.

Beaches:

We generally go to a different beach each day, with a couple of exceptions for a down day at home. In no particular order:

El Zafiro: We went there twice; had one very nice day and one that was the complete opposite. The first day we had delicious appetizers on the beach and great service. The second time, they had two different cruise groups in (one quite large), and while the groups were very quiet and not at all disruptive, the restaurant just wasn't adequately staffed for that many people. Still, it's a beautiful setting, and we haven't given up on the place.

Grand Case Beach Club: Of course, we spent our first two days on the beach there, and returned several times with the rest of the November Gang. The beach there is small, but the water is always calm and a fun place to float around. The restaurant there is excellent, being run by Koko and Marina from KokoMarina, and then later, Palm Beach, on Orient.

Friars Bay Beach Club: Again, a beautiful beach with calm waters for floating around. And again, fabulous food with excellent service. My only wish is that they'd have pads on the chairs, but bringing a small inflatable wheelchair pad helps that.

Le Temps de Cerises: Again, in Grand Case, which has become a favorite because of the great beach restaurants and calm water. We encountered very little seaweed on any of our days on the beaches in Grand Case. Great service here, which includes a nice beach towel and a small bottle of water with each chair.

Captain Frenchy: A close second to LTC, and while we only got there once this trip, we'll remedy that in the future.

Anse Marcel: Although this one is a longer drive, the fabulous food is definitely worth it. The beach is beautiful, and again, the sheltered cove makes a great spot to float around.

La Playa: We love Orient, just because of the great people-watching, the ability to take a long walk, and the variety of restaurant options there. The wind and the seaweed are detractors if you let that bother you. We don't get into the water on Orient since the waves are always so strong, but we do enjoy watching the kite surfers and other water sports. Bruno is no longer operating the restaurant there, but the service and food were still excellent. More on food later...

Coco: Coco has become our new favorite on Orient. Fabulous beach service in the most comfortable chairs I've found on the island. Chairs come with a nice beach towel and water, and the beach boys continually bring fresh ice for your drinks and ice bucket. It's our new "last full day" tradition.

Part two soon to come...