TRIP REPORT OF DECEMBER 5 –15, 2001<br><br><br>TRANSPORATION<br><br>American Airlines advised us to arrive at least 3 hours prior to departure, so we go our butts out of bed at 3:30 A.M and were off to JFK. <br><br>The lines were long and slow moving however the inspection /security in all other respects remained the same. <br><br>The same cannot be said for the departure from Princess Juliana. Here a hand inspection of all carry on items was made. They found a can of hair spray and a book of matches in our bags and took it. Other items I thought they should also have taken were overlooked.<br>This was followed by the x-ray inspection and AA also conducted a random inspection as well.<br><br>The departure was further delayed due to bad weather.<br><br>The airport now provides transport to and from the terminals / planes. <br><br>WEATHER<br><br>Sunny and beautiful until Carl Stone departed on Thursday. I think Carl took the sun with him as it poured cats and dogs Thursday afternoon, Friday and Saturday with only a short break Friday morning.<br><br>HOTELS / TIME-SHARES<br><br>We again stayed at Le Flamboyant in the Nettle Bay area. This property has two swimming pools, one quiet, one with music all the time, one beach bar / restaurant and a full service restaurant, tennis courts, exercise room, water sports, a nice long beach.<br>The units all have kitchenettes located outside on the patio or terrace, a nice touch.<br>The one downside is that they are on the lagoon, however we like to go to other beaches so this is not a concern for us.<br><br>The next week we moved over to Divi Little Bay Beach & Racquet Club. This property has three swimming pools, three bars, two restaurants, tennis, exercise, water sports, a strip mall of fine shops, mini-mart, car rental, laundromat, a long quiet beach shared with Belair. <br><br>The beach is in fine shape thought the sand continues to be coarse, the water is excellent.<br><br>BEACHES<br><br>We spend a couple of days on Little Bay beach for a change and found it to be quite nice, worth a visit if you have not been there before.<br><br>Friars Bay Beach was enjoyable as always, located between Marigot and Grand Case.<br>Friars Bay Beach Café was closed for roof repairs but Kali’s was open for business.<br><br>Mullet Bay Beach – we enjoyed a day at this “restored” beach. It was not too difficult to dream of what the old property looked like in its hey days and then compare it to the Beirut like atmosphere it enjoys today. There'sRosies BBQ on the beach, chairs / umbrellas are available as is a rest room left over from the good old days. We had some ribs for $3.00, not bad at all.<br><br>Orient Bay beach – a must for any visitor was in great shape as far as the beach and the facilities, restaurants etc. are concerned, and we enjoyed several visits and the BBQ at Pedros.<br><br>TRAVEL<br><br>New road signs everywhere on the Dutch side. Getting to Orient from Philipsburg, just go around the back of the salt pond and follow the sings for MIDDLE REGION, want to go to Oyster Pond / Dawn Beach, just go around the back of the salt pond and follow the signs for SUCKER GARDEN. You can interchange these routes, which will add time to the trip.<br><br>DINING<br><br>Breakfast – Zee Best, for great pastries, La Croissanterie for croissants, Chesterfields for breakfast by the numbers. We also used the MAP at Little Bay, they have two excellent restaurants.<br><br>Lunch – Zee Best and La Croissnaterie were our two choices on the days when we dined at lunchtime along with a visit to Talk of the Town for BBQ.<br><br>Dinner – Two dinners at Divi including the BBQ, rubs, steaks, chicken and assorted hot and cold items and a live show.<br><br>Greenhouse – happy hour is two for one, the food good, the prices reasonable<br><br>Rics place for burgers and brew.<br><br>Peg Leg Pete’s – Here the entire group of about 35 strong met for a get together set up by none other that the infamous Carl Stone, who gets all the glory for a job well done along with Neil Rooney for providing us such a fine establishment and also to all those who took time out to attend this fun event .<br><br>Pasanggrahan Royal Guest House – We returned to this 19th century establishment for a fine dinner on the beach at Great Bay – a chalkboard full of specials starting at $12.95<br><br>La Petit Auberge des Iles – This quaint little inn on the Marina waters edge in Marigot brought back some of the guests from Peg Legs, Carl and Ray Mann and his lovely wife and Alan and his lovely wife, a complete dinner for $21.00, unheard of in these parts.<br><br>CASINOS<br><br>Won at Casino Royale and Diamond<br><br>Lost at Casino Royale, Dolphin,Princess, Jump Up and Atlantis<br><br>Net + $1,500, we usually come home with zip.<br><br><br><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Administrator on 12/17/01 01:16 PM.</EM></FONT></P>