We looked forward to our second trip to SXM. Our first was immediatly after Lenny and although brown & flooded we loved it and bought a timeshare. This time no hurricane but we were disappointed that the weather was not that great, very overcast and somewhat rainy which increased as the week went by. I realize that a rainy day in SXM is much better than a nice day at home but the problem is my wife. She suffers from rheumatiod arthritis and that type of weather is hell on her joints. So we didn't get out to very many of the places that I wanted to go to. We got a rental car from Mr. SXM to take advantage of the caribbean card, Hertz treated us OK with a new KIA ~$160 per week.<br><br>Sat. After 2 days of travel we didn't feel much like venturing far from the Atrium so we went to Bananas and each had ribs. GREAT! They were the standard by which I judged every other rib meal.<br><br>Sun. Went cruising around heading towards Dawn Beach and ended up behing salt pond going to middle ground. Remembering maps I made it past international school and followed the signs to Scavengers where we stayed the rest of the afternoon. Nice enough place great beach. Ribs were not up to Bananas - burger not done enough for my wife's tastes so I shared my ribs and ate the redder half of her burger. I now know what everyone means about that road. We found the new road going home, much easier. Back to TS and she was not up to going out. I went searching for carryout and found Bananas closed on Sun.Too bad, I wanted more of those ribs. Looked over Boathouse menu and ended up taking carryout ceasar salads from Indiana's nextdoor. Pretty Good.<br><br>Mon. Used our caribbean card to get chairs and umbrella from Bikini Beach bar on OB. Plus 2 rum punches that were strong enough my wife could smell them coming before I got to the chairs. She didn't want to try one so I had to drink them both Oh Well. Tried the ribs Still not as good as Bananas.<br><br>TUES-Wed. Stayed mostly around TS as weather started to mess with my wife. Dinner tues at princess casino buffet with caribbean card coupon. Actually the buffett was free to all, the coupon was for $25 match play ( lost 4 of 5 hands blackjack) Buffet was outside very windy only so-so.<br>Breakfast mainly from Village Bakery across the street. We met Bill & Phillipe last time at summit and Bill recognized me from then. Lunches were mainly sandwiches except wed. when we went to Marigot market. We went to a little shop on the other side of pavillion for lunch. I'm familliar with island time but this was really bad. It was 45 minutes before we were served, they must of had to kill the chickens cause there were some around when we were seated but not towards the end of meal. Even some locals asked us why we hadn't been served yet. I guess they were busy sending lunches over to market stalls. Her chicken was way overcooked - Ribs not even close to Bananas. Don't remember the name of the place CHez something or other. <br>We had booked a sunset dinner cruise through the activities desk for $50 each on the Tango for wed. night. My wife was really in pain by the time we returned from market but it was too late to cancel. We made the best of it although there was no sun to set only clouds. The cruise and the sister cruise (drinks & snacks only) on the Lambada went from pelican marina past airport and sapphire before turning around at far side of Cupacoy and returning. We anchored off shore near pelican marina for dinner. For $25 each I was somewhat disappointed Ribs so-so creole chicken and salad not bad. I had originally intended to take a lagoon dinner cruise where I think the dinner part was in turtle pier restaurant, correct me if that's not true. Anyway we would have done much better going on the sunset cruise only and spending $50 elsewhere. <br><br>Thurs was rainy & cloudy It was so bad we didn't want to go anywhere for dinner. After looking over Indiana's menu again ( No Ribs) we decided to order Dominoes. I know UGH when in SXM but circumstances what they were with weather it seemed best. Plus we had leftover for Fri breakfast. <br><br>Fri morning went to Dawn Beach to try and cancel the 2nd week's timeshare reservation. Nothing to do with the weather, I didn't have vacation time and my company has no policy for LWOP. Spent morning at Mr. Busbys and while I enjoyed the 75 cent Caribes it was too early for ribs. Too bad I hear they're excelant. Last night on the island we had a break in the rain and went to Lee's. Very good ribs and fixins.<br><br>Sat. went to airport early to see about checking in. Short line at USAir - counter not open. Sign said 12:30 & I didn't want to wait that long. Nice lady in front told me not to give up on SXM because of the rain. She's been going 20 years and this was new to her. Not to worry we'll be back.<br>Short stop at Marigot market for t-shirt gifts. The sky really opened up and the downpour continued throughout the rest of the day. Our flight was 2:40 but I dropped my wife off at 11 and returned the car. The USAir line was much longer by then ( counter actually opened 10:30) but only waited 1 hr. The rest of the time spent waiting in departure lounge.<br><br>We didn't take any bus to the plane which was good I guess because my wife's wheelchair might have been a problem. We wheeled out 1st to the plane and walked up the stairs to the plane. Others started to come on board but were stranded out in the rain on the steps because there was a family of 22 up front who decided they needed to rearrange the seating order rather than taking thier assigned seats and dealing with it later. This made the stews vey upset as they were also dealing with front row passangers who needed different seat cushions and garbage bags on the seat backs as they left the door to the plane left wide open before boarding. We even had a lady come out to sweep the water from the plane.<br><br>After more delays for other traffic we departed for an overnight stay in Charlotte befor the next day's flight to El Paso. Next time we'll probably fly american to get 1 day connections even if tax-cut coupons are available.<br><br>Bottom Line<br>Best ribs - Bananas<br>Best Beach bar - Busby's<br>Even though the weather wasn't as good as we had hoped it wasn't a hurricane. Next time will be Sunny & Bright I'm sure.<br>Security was not a problem for any flight. I guess cause we had our own wheelchair we got through easier. Although it is somewhat annoying when people look at her and then ask me questions like "Can she walk up the stairs ?" instead of asking her directly.<br>We'll probably bank our week for 2002 but looking forward to our next trip to paradise.<br><br>dandy<br><br><br><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Administrator on 1/4/02 01:00 PM.</EM></FONT></P>