Hello everyone!
We are back from beautiful St. Martin. Here is a short rundown of our trip and I will post pictures this weekend once I have them all stored in a file.
Air Travel: We flew on SunCountry from Minneapolis. SunCountry just started this charter to St. Martin and we flew on their first week. There were no glitches even though we left during a snow storm in Minneapolis. The flight is direct to St. Martin and then stops in St. Thomas. Interestingly, most of the passengers were going to St. Thomas. On the way back, the flight stops at St. Thomas for immigration and to pick up more passengers and then also in San Juan, PR for fueling. They cannot fuel the plane in St. Martin or in St. Thomas because the runways are too short.
Accomodations: We stayed at Le Jardin condo/villa which is located in the Vista Royal development on Point Blanche. We had a beautiful view of the Phillipsburg harbor and sunsets. We were able to watch the cruise ships arrive and depart each day from our balcony. We rented this through Alan Samit and he was great to deal with. He owns 16 other units on St. Martin in various locations and I recommend dealing with him. This was an ideal way for us to stay as we were looking for a really relaxing vacation and were not interested in staying at a crowded resort. Also, we wanted a full kitchen, washer/dryer, living space and a private deck. We also got a hot tub, which was fun!
Car Rental: On Alan Samit's recommendation, we rented through Alpha Car Rental. Again, very easy to deal with. They met us at the airport with the vehicle, a Suzuki Samaurai, we did paperwork and were off. We also got a great rate based on the research that I had done with many other car rental places noted on this board. For one week the Samaurai cost $325.00.
Beaches: We visited Orient, Dawn Beach, Friar's Beach, Happy Beach, Baie Rouge, Maho Beach and Le Galion. Each had its own flavor and all were very beautiful.
Restaurants: We BBQ'd two nights in our condominium since it had a beautiful kitchen and great view. But, we also ate dinner at Quaichi (first nite Ph'burg), Antoine's (NYE in Ph'burg), Pasta Cafe (Simpson Bay), Le Marine (Grand Case), and Chesterfield's.
We had lunch at Taloula Mangoes, Baywatch (Orient), Kali's Beach Bar (Friar's), Mr Bushby's (Dawn Beach), Chez Pat (Le Galion- the best), Chez Raymond (Baie Rouge).
Day Trip: We made a day trip to Angilla on the ferry. It was really a fun day. Our taxi driver gave us a short tour of the island and then dropped us at Shoal Bay. We had lunch at Ernies and then walked the 2 mile beach. The trip was one of the highlights of our week and made us wonder about the other 32 beaches on that island. The taxi driver picked us up when we had asked so that we could make the last ferry back to St. Martin.
Overall, our trip was one of the most relaxing, scenic and fun trips that we've taken to a sunny local in quite awhile. We had a great time and came back rested and refreshed which I cannot say about every vacation that we have taken.
I'll post some photos shortly. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" />
Redhead
.
