Oh what a trip we had! Our 6th visit to SXM and we still loved every minute of it. And now that we are moving back East I hope we can make down more than just once a year! This will probably be a long report but I will divide it into sections of life on SXM that seem to generate a fair amount of talk on TTOL. I’ll do a separate report of the restaurants we ate at (better known as “How I gained 8 pounds in 14 days”!).<br><br>TRAVEL & AIRPORTS<br>We are in the process of moving from Salt Lake City to Northampton, MA so living in 2 different cities, so Don and I met in Atlanta then traveling together to SJU, using free miles on Delta. Both SLC and BDL were benign as it relates to security and lines. Overnighted at the airport hotel in SJU (which was it usual seedy self) and then out on AA (1 free ticket and 1 paid ticket) on the first flight of the day to SXM. Ticket lines were the shortest I have ever seen them in SJU. I was randomly selected to have the checked in luggage go thru the “super duper” scanner. Now this is when the comedy show began. They have a guy with a cart just walking up and down the ticket counter picking up our luggage and airline tickets from those who were lucky to be chosen. He then brings the luggage over to the scanner and leaves it there, unattended. Our tickets went to someone sitting at a card table to hold until WE told him our luggage had been scanned and sent on its way. About 30 people were congregated in a 4x6 foot area waiting to see when their luggage popped out. The luggage eventually gets scanned; we get our tickets back and then on thru security, which was painless. AA calls for our flight, and we proceed to the stairs that take us out to the tarmac. We wait there for 40 minutes as our plan does not have a crew – not one crew member was there but we were. They slowly drift in, one by one, and we take off 1 hour late, which translates into a 45-minute late arrival. Immigration was speedy (and no, there have not been any personality transplants as yet for the immigration staff) and our luggage was there also. <br><br>The Daily Herald had good size ads stating we needed to be at the airport 3 hours early for departure from SXM. That may be true for the afternoon flights on the larger jets but not true for the morning flights. We made it thru the ticket counter, departure tax window and security in 15 minutes. They were randomly searching all luggage in the AA ticket line. However, I found it very interesting Don did not need to be there for me to get his boarding pass – I only needed his passport. I asked the ticket agent about this as it seemed rather odd that they would hand out boarding passes without verifying identity. Let’s check luggage but not passengers – go figure.<br><br>CAR RENTAL <br>What can I say – we are cursed. But at least this year we had a happy ending. We rented thru Marius at St Louis due to the rave reviews he receives. Well I am sorry to report he was not there to meet us with our name on a sign. However, he was across the road and one of the other car guys called him over. Seems as if our reservation had been entered in his system for a PM arrival not AM. He came right over, called the office, got them started on cleaning a car for us and drove us to his office to pick up the car. He was very apologetic (if he apologized once he apologized a dozen times!!!!!) about the mix up and gave us a bottle of wine. Car was a white Corolla very new and ran just fine. Marius met us at the airport and came into the terminal after he and Don did all the paperwork to say goodbye. I thought it was a very nice gesture to come in and say goodbye (especially since it was the first year we had rented from him and didn’t know us). I would not hesitate to rent from him again and plan to next year.<br><br>WEATHER<br>Weirdest weather in the 6 years. Very marginal the first week – windy (got a free dermabrasion one day at OB!!), rainy (gullywasher on Thursday) with high seas. Now, none of that stopped us from going to the beach but it wasn’t the perfect weather we had experienced in previous years. Now week 2 was perfect. <br><br>BEACHES<br>We only go to Orient – sitting between The Perch and the volleyball net. Beach was the narrowest I had ever seen – only 3 rows of chairs could fit. First week due to the high seas it had lots of seaweed etc but cleaned up by week 2. The chairs were the emptiest I have experienced in front of Club O. Last year we had to hunt if we got there after noon, this year no problem. No beach at all by The Perch. High seas created a sand dune and the Club O sign became history. There one day and gone the next. Had to walk up and over thru Pedro’s to get to the other side. Now the good news is that this sand dune prevented a lot of black sock strollers. OB was real laid back this year. High winds prevented the parasailers from operating most of the first week. And I think the cloudy skies chased a lot of people away also. But not us – only thing it did was save us some money cuz we didn’t rent an umbrella every day. Really only lost 1 true beach day and have a fabulous tan so no complaints here! <br><br>TRAVEL AROUND THE ISLAND<br>Roads in good shape overall. The road to OBC was raised and filled by the French military and was in absolutely the best condition I have ever seen it. Traffic was much slower than before – use to take us 20-25 minutes to get to OB from the Flamingo (on the Dutch side) and this year it was 30-35 minutes. Grand Case use to be a 25-minute drive to get there but is now 45 (getting thru Marigot is a challenge). I swear I never went faster than 20-25 MPH. Tour busses and trucks were the bane of my existence. New speed bumps have appeared at the airport – 2 of them (one by Winair) and neither was painted. Made for an interesting ride one night.<br><br>Road construction along Simpson Bay – looks like they are pulling cables. No impact on traffic.<br><br>Road construction at the Food Center round-a-bout up to the road to the hospital. They are widening the road so there is a left hand turn lane to the hospital. Suppose to take 21 weeks and they started when we were there. This one did slow traffic a little.<br><br>Best way to slow down traffic is to have the gendarmes in the middle of the road directing. First for us when we saw them in Orleans and Grand Case.<br><br>SHOPPING<br>Didn’t do much of it this year as my annual jewelry allowance was spent on granite countertops for the new house (Yes I know, my priorities all screwed up as multiple folks have pointed out to me). Did purchase some lithographs at the Greenw??? Gallery on Front Street. Alcohol was the least expensive at Cost U Less and we did do some pricing around. They don’t have an extensive stock but they had what we wanted so we were happy. I must admit I thought they had banned cars on Front Street while cruise ships were in but I guess I was incorrect. I was told they only did that when 4 ships were in port. And they do allow parking on Front Street but with a permit only. So the bottom line is that you still have to dodge cars if you shop Front Street.<br><br>RANDOM WIND<br>8 of us charted the Random Wind for the day during the Regatta. Martin asked if 2 other couples that were friends of his could join us and we all had a marvelous time. We went out to a point where the boats have to round a buoy and generally have to drop their spinnaker to do so. Unfortunately it was very windy that day with rough seas so we saw many a boat that had lost their jib or cracked their mast before they eve3n got to the buoy. We did try to sail but the winds were too high – we took on some water at one point – thought Don was going to lose it – now this is my husband who got shot down 4 time over in Vietnam and freaked over a little water coming over the side. So Martin smartly motored into the area in front of La Samanna and we anchored close to the shore for lunch and swim. We were close enough we could swim to shore if we wanted. We were served a chicken in peanut sauce for lunch after some tuna and caper hors d’oeuvres and I tried desperately to get the recipe for the sauce but it was a no go – it’s a family recipe and is made by Martin’s wife. Winds died down a tad and we sailed to Phillipsburg Harbor and around that area. It was a full day with all the food and drinks you could want. Martin and Barbara were very accommodating and we already reserved the boat for next year. Martin was talking about crewing on one of the race boats next year, but then also recognizes he gets a tremendous amount of business over the Regatta weekend. This is one of the best days of our vacation in my book. We go out with friends, catch up on the past year and just love being out on the water (except for Don maybe – after this year). <br><br>Martin did tell us he had a lot of trouble with his Internet connection and knew he was missing some contacts. I spoke with him about becoming a subscriber on TTOL but no commitment.<br><br>GAMBLING<br>OK – I know everyone talks about how much they won and not what they lost but we really won this year – not a break even but a win!!!!!!!!!! Came away with about $650. Gambled at Dolphin, Casino Royale, PDP, and Hollywood casinos. Only play blackjack but did look at the video poker machines – those payouts were terrible.<br><br>TTOL PARTY<br>Had a really great time meeting folks. Hideaway was such a nice place to get together especially since we were the only ones there. Peter was a gracious host and Calvin really made the party happen. Augie as the grand organizer did a great job. It was his suggestion to go to the Hideaway and it was a good one. Loved putting names to faces. We stayed for dinner and it was excellent – a buffet with chicken and mahi mahi. It really is a small world – we sat across from Sheila during dinner and discovered we spent some time in the same places some years ago. I’d list everyone we met but I know I didn’t capture all the names – but to name a few…Augie & Sue, Pam & Brian, Sheila, Amanda, Ginny, Pat, Shelby, Bob etc etc. <br><br>MISC<br>For the stuff that doesn’t seem to fit anyplace else…..<br>§ Etna ice cream is the best – especially the coconut<br>§ No Pepsi on the island except at KFC and the snack bar at the restaurant. KFC was taking out ads stating they were the only place to get Pepsi<br>§ Nurses were picketing the hospital last week. They were at the Food Center round-a-bout, all in the same t-shirts, with placards walking around and chanting. They went back to work the next day.<br>§ Don went deep-sea fishing out of Lee’s - $100 for 4 hours and no fish. Wouldn’t recommend it.<br>§ Article in the Herald one day that Jamaica was bringing in from Cuba some experts in rebuilding beaches. Sounds as if Negril took a beating last year and they don’t want it to go further downhill. Might be an idea for Orient if the erosion continues.<br>§ There is no easy parking in Maho if you are not staying there.<br>§ For those of you staying in the Flamingo/Pelican area, Windward Bank is putting in an ATM next to the Peli Deli.<br><br>So to summarize: We had a marvelous time doing what we love to do – meeting up with the friends we have made over the years of going to SXM. It’s like a reunion when we meet up on OB that first Sunday on the island. The island was in fine shape but is feeling the pains of fewer visitors. Our days really didn’t vary much – one might say we were old farts – got up, had coffee, read the Daily Herald, drove to OB, came back, took a nap, went out to dinner either alone or with others, gambled and called it a perfect day. Now I just hope I can do it more than just one time a year!!!<br>