This was our first trip to SXM, and boy, did we need it! After being stressed out with wedding details, we needed to just relax- and we did! Keep in mind that our food choices are hardly up to par with most of yours on this board- I'm a vegetarian, and a picky one at that, so I had some things that are probably a little odd to have on SXM! We don't have very high class taste, that's for sure. Anyway, on to the trip:
Airline: American from O'Hare to San Juan and American Eagle from San Juan to SXM.
Going was fine, no problems. Actually, we were put on an earlier flight from SJU-SXM than we had booked, which was very nice of the counter person. We didn't realize it until we were in SJU, though, so we had to rush to get to our gate! But it was nice to arrive a couple hours early. We had to call Unity Car Rental to tell them we would arrive early- we had issues with our calling card and it never worked.
The flight home was another story. We got to the airport with about 1.5 hours until our flight left. There was a really long line for American already, and then we had to have our checked baggage hand searched. I'm sorry, I'm all for security and all, but you don't need to be whipping out my underwear (and other honeymoon um memorabilia) in front of the whole airport. I was so embarrassed. I refused to watch, and turned my back while they pulled everything out of my suitcase. We had our suitcases completely full and had to sit on them to close them originally, so we took an evil delight in watching the inspectors attempt to close them again. They made Nick, my husband, drink some of the Bacardi Rum we had bought because it was open! I've heard of that but it was rather interesting to see- rum at 8am, I'm so glad it wasn't me. Then we had to resume waiting in line since they had one counter person for the whole line, and they had one couple up there for 20 minutes. We don't have a clue what they were doing, but finally they got another person so we could all eventually get to our gate.
Once we got to SJU, it was awful. We literally waited an hour for our luggage to arrive on the baggage claim belt. An hour. They kept saying it would be there in a second, and yet flights that had arrived after us had their luggage coming out, but not ours. The luggage eventually came on a different belt, and we were all pretty annoyed. Luckily we didn't have to have it x-rayed again (they made a lot of people put their stuff through the x-ray machines right after getting it off baggage claim, but for whatever reason, we didn't have to, and just handed it to workers who put it in line to go through the x-ray, as opposed to us having to stand there, as others did). When we finally got to Chicago, the baggage again took forever and ended up on a different belt. We will never check baggage again if we can help it!
Hotel: Captain Oliver's
Captain Oliver's was just okay. You know how the rooms are supposedly like three to a bungalow? Of course, we get a room in the only non-bungalow...some building with a hair salon right under us. We didn't have a do not disturb sign (I eventually wrote "Do not disturb" on a sheet of paper and stuck it on the door every night, since I'm a light sleeper and the thought of the maid coming in every morning bugged me!), and the maid hung out in front of our door until we left every day! She didn't sweep the floor so it was just a pile of sand every where. We had stray cats living on our balcony- it was so sad. The worst part of the trip for me was all the stray animals! I'm an animal lover and just couldn't stand seeing them everywhere. We had cat food and everything, that's why they came to live on our balcony. They were all very sweet, and it just broke my heart leaving them when I knew they had been dependent on us.
Car rental: Unity
We reserved a Suzuki Ignis but were given a Nissan Sentra, which was very nice. Michael was great, he went into great detail on a map for us, showing us how to get to our hotel. They were already at the airport waiting for some other couple when we arrived early, so they took us right away. The way back to the airport was great, too- very fast.
Monday 1/10
We arrived at about 4pm, and it was so busy in Phillipsburg by the time we got on the road that we just wanted to scream! We had no idea what to expect so it was a little crazy for us. We were frustrated with the lack of road signs, but got to our hotel eventually. We were tired from flying, so we just ate at Captain Oliver's restaurant. It didn't open until 6:30, so we had a few drinks at the Iguana Bar and then headed to dinner. Nick had the mahi mahi, and I had a Caesar salad. He said the mahi mahi was good, and my salad was okay, but not the typical American version of a Caesar salad. We also shared the cheese platter, but the waitress said she'd bring us more bread and never did, so we were stuck with a bunch of cheese and nothing to put it on! So, dinner was okay, nothing spectacular. We went to bed right away to be well rested for laying on the beach the next day!
Tuesday 1/11
We woke up bright and early and headed to Orient. The original reason we wanted to go was because it was nude- we weren't sure if we were going to go nude, but we liked the idea of a nude atmosphere, if you will! We liked the beach right away and just lounged around, then got in the ocean and swam a bit. We like a little bit of waves, so we can get knocked over by them once in awhile- calm waters bore us! We then headed to Baywatch for lunch. Nick had a cheeseburger and fries and I had the special, which was jumbo cheese ravioli, which was good, but not exactly good food for going swimming. Everything was fine, Cheryl was very kind to us. We had the key lime pie for dessert, which was fantastic. We then headed back to the beach. I did eventually go topless, but I was so self conscious I practically ran into the water so no one could see me! We both took off our bottoms in the water but felt we looked pretty stupid hanging on to our bottoms so we put them back on. It started to rain a little bit so we left. It wasn't until a few days later that we realized when it rains, it doesn't rain for long! Then we just relaxed in our room until we went to look around Marigot. I really wanted some tacky souvenirs and could not find ONE tacky shop in all of Marigot! Then we ended up going to dinner at California, where I had the pizza margarita and Nick had the salmon, both of which were very good. For some reason I just love the presentation of his salmon- it was on a square plate and the colors were just amazing. I don't normally notice things like that but it looked so nice! Afterwards we went back to the hotel and hung out at the Dinghy Dock. I love that place, it's very relaxed and the bartenders were great. I like to mix my own drinks- I hate strong drinks, so it's nice to make them how I want them. We wandered over to the Activities Desk at Captain Oliver's while we were drinking, and booked the Celine pub crawl for Thursday night. Then we headed back to the Dinghy Dock, where I had entirely too many Caribs and rum and cokes. I spoke with a Frenchman named Benjamin who works at Orient.....I have no idea what we were even talking about! We went back to our room where I, in turn, puked. I won't touch rum and cokes now! Ew.
Wednesday 1/12
We got up before noon (much to my chagrin), and headed to Cupecoy. We had decided that even though we thoroughly enjoyed Orient, we had to check out some other beaches. Cupecoy sounded nice, so we went there. On the way, we realized we had forgotten to bring lunch with us (we bought sandwich supplies at Ram's the day before), so we stopped at the Sugar Cane Cafe on the way to Cupecoy. I'm not sure how to describe where it is, other than on the main road to Mullet and Cupecoy. It was pretty good- I had the veggie pasta salad and Nick had the chicken dijon wrap. It was raining while we ate, but it soon cleared up and we headed to Cupecoy. It was beautiful, but there wasn't anywhere for us to lay our towels (the shore was basically gone and there was just stone), and the water was too calm for us, so we enjoyed the scenery and left for Maho. I don't think we went to the right beach for Maho- we ended up right by Bamboo Bernie's and Bliss and Sunset Beach Bar, but according to Frommer's, Maho is a very busy beach with windsurfing, and this beach wasn't that at all. We were there too early for a lot of planes and only a few went over, and the water was again too calm for us, so we went to Mullet. Mullet was beautiful, but I have to ask- what's with the abandoned hotel on the golf course? It really creeped me out. Mullet, while pretty, wasn't as exciting to us as Orient so we agreed to keep to Orient the next day. We had dinner at Subway (I know, so classy! I was still exhausted from the night before so we just kind of stayed inside).
Thursday 1/13
We went to Orient again, this time bringing along sandwiches for lunch. It started raining while we were in the water (it felt like hail, but Nick said that's just because we were in the water? I don't know, but it hurt!), so we just got as low as we could in the water and waited it out. We stayed out in the sun entirely too long and left when I could no longer open my eyes due to all the salt in them and my whole body was burning. We had the pub crawl that night, so we had an early dinner at Ric's (since I'm a picky vegetarian, I was afraid I wouldn't like the appetizers served on the pub crawl, so I ate ahead of time). I had the cheese quesadillas with a salad and Nick had the meatloaf with potatoes and macaroni pie. Both were very, very good. We were supposed to be at Turtle Pier by 6:45 for the pub crawl so we called the front desk at 5:15 to say we needed a cab. They said they called, and we were still waiting for that damn cab an hour later! It was raining, but we drove ourselves anyway and got lost in the dark (we'd never driven to PBurg in the dark), so didn't get to Turtle Pier until 7:15. We were so upset, thinking we missed it, and it turned out they didn't go anyway! So, we headed to Cheri's for our entertainment. We felt from the second we got there that they wanted us to not just sit at the bar and drink, but to order food, too. They kept asking if we wanted something to eat. After awhile we did order- Nick got a burger and fries while I had a grilled cheese and fries (Nick couldn't believe I wanted to pay $11 for grilled cheese! LOL). I didn't eat much. By that point I was sore from the sun, had the chills, was nauseous, and had a headache, but we stayed a little while. The show was so funny! I wasn't feeling well so I didn't exactly participate but I enjoyed watching. I wasn't prepared to have men sitting by the bathrooms with tip jars, though- I hadn't seen that anywhere on the island and had no money with me, so I felt pretty bad. I'm wondering if they are there to ensure that no one comes in who wasn't from Cheri's? Anyway, we had fun (and a couple of Straw Hats!) and then went home, as I felt pretty bad.
Friday 1/14
Since I had entirely too much sun the day before (and Nick was pretty bright red himself), we decided to skip the beach for a day. That was a very good decision- we felt fine the days after. Anyway, we headed to Phillipsburg to do some shopping. I felt bad when I woke up, but it wasn't anything a bit of shopping couldn't cure! I was desperate for some tacky souvenir shops! Boy did we find our share in P-Burg! Nick did very well- naturally, most men think all the tacky shops are the same, but he tagged along well. We ended up with quite a few tacky things, and I got two designer purse knockoffs that are so realistic I can't believe it! We had lunch at Kangaroo Court- I had a cheese and Nick had a pepperoni pizza. They were good- I can't believe how big portions are! We were afraid that everywhere we went, we'd leave hungry, but we never did. We stopped in a casino just to give Nick a shopping break, but lost miserably on the slots. We went back to the hotel to relax and hang out with our stray cats, and then attempted to call a cab for the pub crawl, since it was rescheduled due to the cancellation the night before. We actually got a cab this time and arrived at Turtle Pier at 6, with plenty of time to spare. We sat at the bar for a bit and saw the people getting off the Celine from the Sunset cruise, so we thought that was a good sign. Sure enough, though, he cancelled the pub crawl! Since we hadn't eaten dinner, we decided to eat at Turtle Pier. I couldn't stand watching the lobsters getting pulled from the water......I'm so sensitive to things like that, but it about made me lose my appetite. Anyway, Nick had the grilled snapper filet and I had the tomato garlic penne. He said his was a bit plain, and mine was okay- definitely different from something I'd have in the States! We then headed back to the Dinghy Dock and hung out with our lovely bartenders.
Saturday 1/15
We were ready to go to the beach again and so headed to check out Dawn Beach. The waves were just too huge so we immediately hopped back in the car to go to Orient. That was our fave by far! I loved the waves- I have the skinned knees to prove it! I got knocked to the ocean floor quite a few times. I took my top off for a bit because the waves kept knocking it off anyway. We had lunch at Bikini Beach- the food was basically all meat, so I had fries while Nick had another cheeseburger (I swear that's all the man eats!). We lounged around on the beach and in the waves and then headed back to relax. We went to Indiana Beach for dinner, and I must say, this was my favorite restaurant, foodwise anyway. Nick had the chicken kebab with fries and a salad (I ate the salad!) and I had primavera penne- it was soo so so good! I'm still craving it. I really wanted one of the shirts the servers were wearing, that said "I tasted Leon's love juice" on the back, but never found out whereI could get one. We then went back to our room and finished off the case of Carib we bought earlier in the week.
Sunday 01/16
We again headed to Orient and this time had lunch at Kontiki. I had another margherita pizza while Nick had a chicken pita and fries. The pita wasn't really his style, and the pizza was good but a little thin. The waves were pretty strong and banged us up pretty badly, but there actually wasn't any rain that day so we were happy! We had dinner at Il Nettuno. Now, I know this is a nice place, and that was our problem with it- it was too nice for us! We're too American to eat there. I had the Gnozzo with mozzarella and tomato sauce (I think that's how you spell the pasta) and Nick had the veal ravioli in a mushroom sauce, and for dessert we had a lemon tart. The food was delicious but we had a hard time picking anything out, we didn't know what half of it was! It was an experience, but a good place for a last meal.
Monday 1/17
We left at 7:30am and then had the whole airport ordeal. We got back to Chicago at about 6pm and went to bed fairly early in order to leave early to get back to Iowa yesterday (we had to pick up our dog from the kennel). All in all it was a very relaxing vacation, and now that we know what we like and what we don't, it will be even more relaxing the next time around! We wish we could have done the pub crawl, but other than that, no regrets!
I have a couple of questions-
Again, what is with the abandoned hotel by Mullet Beach? It really freaks me out!
Why all the random herds of goats? Are they wild? How do that many goats come to be wild?
What is with all the honking? I think we eventually figured out it means "thank you", but it was nonstop!
Do natives of the island speak both Dutch and French? We noticed most employees spoke English to each other, so we were wondering if each side of the island learns their native language as well as English, and then they communicate in English if they're not from the same side. Any info on this?
.
