I will try to keep this trip report brief since Kevin (mmartinfan) has already submitted his and I know Jill and Charlie (JILL_USPS) will elaborate much better than I can. The above mentioned were my lodging companions but we all traveled at different times. My personal dates were 2-28 to 3-11
FLIGHTS: USAir was fine both ways. Monday (2-28) saw the CLT-SXM flight about 75% full and the return on 3-11 was about 95% full. The usual delayed luggage happened on the CLT-DAY leg on my return. This could have been avoided but a gate change at CLT must not have been conveyed to the baggage handlers so nobody going into DAY got their luggage. A little communication could have saved a lot of $$. Flights were on time or early going into SXM and the same on the return. USAir had changed my schedule so it allowed me to change my ticket at NO CHARGE. I had initially booked via PIT because of a great fare but due to weather concerns and health concerns of my mother I elected to change my ticket to fly from DAY. It gave me 3 extra days on the island, no 5 hour drive to PIT and no overnight hotel stay so it was worth the additional fare to me.
I was able to breeze through immigration in SXM as there was no line, my luggage was on the carousel and I was out of the airport in 5 minutes, only to be met by Jill and Charlie and “Big Time”, a local taxi driver, and the Carib was flowing already!!
RENTAL CAR: Lesley Bruce (Kenny’s Car Rental) is my agent of choice. I had made this reservation last June so as to assure a vehicle and was offered a good rate for booking that far ahead. With Kenny’s you do the paperwork in the car and you are on your way in a matter of minutes. Return is just as easy. Book early as Lesley is very busy most of the time.
LODGING: Royal Palm was our lodging choice. I was able to secure a 2 bedroom unit through a private owner. The price was fair and the location was fantastic for Regatta. The 2 bedroom units at Royal Palm are about 1,100 sq. ft. and are fully furnished. All units face the water. I had stayed at Royal Palm several times before but it had been about 5 years. I think all of us that stayed there agreed it was an ideal place, not only for Regatta but for anytime.
RENTAL PHONE: We rented from Sharon Harris. Jill and Charlie arrived before I did so they handled the transaction. No problems either picking up the phone or returning it. Decent reception most places and it is a good deal if you have the need/want for a cell phone. You might need one to call 911 if you run through a sliding glass door…….right Jill??
BREAKFAST: Breakfast was either Ric’s Place, Zee Best, Café Atlantico or Hilma’s Johnny cakes. All these places are within walking distance. Bloody Mary’s flowed freely shortly after or during breakfast, right Charlie?
LUNCH: Lunches were either at a beach bar or on the beach. Ms’ B’s, Chez Pat, Rosie’s Ribs, SSBB, BBB, and Barefoot Terrace come to mind. One lunch was on board the Celine but I will address that under another heading.
DINNERS: We tried several new places this trip but also returned to many of the tried and true favorites. Halsey’s was a new experience and was very good. I would return in a heartbeat. Presentation, quality and quantity were all outstanding. Temptations was another first. Jill had a birthday (50? 49 you idiot, right? Mom?) so we made reservations at Temptations. Top notch service with a nice setting proved to make for a nice dining experience. This was probably the most expensive meal I have had on SXM but it was well worth it and I would return.
Other dinner choices were Mark’s Place (great mussels and prime rib and a great value), Peg Leg Pub (great steak), Pizza Galley, Pizza Pasta, The Hideaway at La Vista, Lee’s Grill (I did hear some negative comments about Lee’s this trip with regards to the quality and freshness of the food but our meals were good), The Boathouse (dinner there with Junior and Monique Bruney, my local friends), and La Petite Auberge des Illes. I think La Petite Auberge is one of the best dining values on the French side. We were joined here by fellow Ohioan’s Dick and Pat Cardarelli.
I can’t say we had any meal that was less than good and there are still many restaurants I would like to try. I would have to say Halsey’s was the real “find” of this trip.
BEACHES: Dawn Beach (twice) and Ms’s B’s. Construction directly behind this area and also it is rumored Scavenger’s will be history. The $1 Carib is now $2 at Ms’ B’s. Something about a strike and the prices going up but everything else was as usual. You receive great service if you are a repeat customer here and the people take good care of you.
Mullet Bay (twice) was pretty rough one visit and extremely rough another visit. I have never seen Mullet as crowded as it was this trip except for when the resort was there.
Galion Beach was compliments of Chez Pat and Erich Kranz.
http://www.sxm-info.com/ Erich writes a SXM newsletter that offers a lot of good information, there is also a monthly contest that I happened to win. Thank you Erich and Pat and Tracy Turner! It was good to visit with Erich and Martha on the Celine day sail also.
We used the beach at Royal Palm sparingly. It is ok but with so many other natural beaches it is better to venture out.
PARTIES: During Regatta there are parties on 4 nights. They alternate at various places on the island. We attended 3 of the 4. Thursday night it was at Port D’ Pleasure (right Wendell?), Friday was the new Boardwalk in Philipsburg, Saturday was in Marigot (did not attend) and Sunday was the BIG party on Kim Sha beach. This is what made Royal Palm ideal as we could walk to this party and not have to deal with the traffic, although traffic was not near the issue it was last year.
There was also a TTOL party on Monday, March 7, hosted by Kevin (mmartinfan) at Spinaker Bar at the SMYC. There were about 40+ people in attendance and it appeared everyone had a good time. Duct Tape name tags were even worn by some!
LADY C was the usual nightly gathering spot for many of the “group” of Regatta TTOL people. The Lady C also does a Lagoon cruise a couple times a week. It is free, all you do is show up and buy your drinks on board. Colin is a great bartender and very interesting to talk with. Many of nights were spent at the Lady C, right KevinNYC, Jamie and Danny, Andrea, Jill and Charlie, Kevin, Wendell, Lois, Gretchen, ETC….. Now, there was an incident on Tuesday, March 1 while on the Lady C late at night. Seems there was a SEVERE case of mistaken identity…..RIGHT JILL & CHARLIE?!?!?! I will let them go into detail on that one………Be sure to ask.
REGATTA DAY SAIL: We booked the day sail on the Celine for Saturday, March 5. I had done the ½ day sail on the Lambada last year but opted for something different and more personable this year. I had done the Pub Crawl on the Celine before so I expected good things. Things started out ok with meeting at Turtle Pier, there were breakfast snacks onboard and we motored out for the 9:00 bridge opening. My first indication of problems might have been counting about 29 people onboard when it was billed as being limited to 20 (all about $$ ?) and the ONLY beer I saw onboard was “Bergen Brau”. This beer was terrible!! The joke of the day became asking if they served Heineken at the Bergen Brau Regatta? At least some domestic beer would have been appreciated. We motored over to Marigot and anchored for 5+ hours. It was nice to swim off the boat but 5 hours of sitting became VERY long. A buffet lunch was served. Chicken and ribs along with 3 or 4 different salads and side dishes was served. It was very good and no one went away hungry. Most cruises like this have rum punch and several people serving you. This was totally self-serve (although there were 2 crew on the boat in addition to the captain), which was not a problem but I wondered how the “tip” situation would be handled at the end, especially since I specifically heard the one crew member tell a lady she had to make her own drinks but she offered to show her how. After sitting for 5 hours we motored in thru the Sandy Ground bridge, only to become stuck on a sand bar. The channel was crowded but I think this took everyone by surprise. We managed to get pulled off by another boat and finally returned to Turtle Pier at about 6:30, AND the tip jar was out. I am a very generous tipper, especially when I get even good service but to have NO service I really questioned the tip jar at all. I never did see any money in it. I would not do the all day sail for Regatta again on the Celine. I don’t understand sailing catamarans using motors 100% of the time either.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS: Simpson Bay is growing with lots of building going on. Traffic was not a major issue. The island looked good and seemed busy. I would go for Regatta again, this was my 2nd time. Casino’s seemed busy at night. Charlie is the gambler of the group and he lit them up about every night. Hollywood was his favorite, even at 3:00 am in the morning. The new Cake House road seemed to really help with traffic flow. We used it several times, even with staying in the Simpson Bay area.
SHOPPING: Did the usually shopping at Caribbean Gems, dealing with Max. Visited Deepti and Jeff at DK. I don’t think you can go wrong with either of these stores, we just happened to become associated with Caribbean Gems early on. Got the wife a ring for her “allowing” me to go so SXM for Regatta without her. She actually did not want to go and deal with the traffic and crowd.
Another highlight was visiting my godchild, Aiesha Bruney at her pre-school in the Madame Estates area. She is the daughter of Grace Bruney and Michael Roberts. We stopped by the school one morning, several of the kids had just had their baths, ALL were very well behaved and alerted the teacher to visitors approaching. Aiesha will be 3 in October. The Bruney family has made me part of their family and that has special meaning also.
FRIENDS: Many of the same faces from last year but it is always great to run into people again, or run into a sliding glass door at Ted and Cheryl’s, right Jill? This is one of the MANY things I really like about SXM. People who go there have a passion for it and having many local friends on the island make it a wonderful place to visit and party. Thanks to Ted and Cheryl for their hospitality, hope to see you again next year. It is always great to spend some time around Wendell also. KevinNYC, it was great sharing stories with you. I always stop by the Horny Toad while on the island, Betty and the girls are always great to visit with even if not staying there. Thanks to Kevin, Jill and Charlie and Andrea for making it another great visit. I am sure I have missed something or someone , if I have, I am sure Jill will cover it in her report. As we said many times on the island: “There was alcohol involved”!!
Thanks.
J.D.
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