Trip Report April 19 – 26, 2010

Our U.S. Air flights were smooth and after a stop in Philly we arrived on time in glorious St. Maarten. After picking up our bags we meet Lesley for our rental car. I booked our car from Kenny’s Car Rental specifically because of all the great comments on TTOL and we weren’t disappointed. Lesley is very prompt in answering his e-mails, he is also efficient and fast - bing, bang, boom and you are on your way! Thank you Lesley! We had a white Toyota Corolla (which by the way we’ve decided that 90% of the cars on SXM are white Toyota Corolla’s. After several funny instances of not remembering exactly where we parked a good tip here is to memorize your license plate.) We don’t usually rent a phone on vacation but my husband needed to so again, I relied on TTOL comments and we rented a phone from the “Queen”. Sharon is also prompt when answering her e-mails and she explains everything. We went and picked up the phone and we were out the door and on our way to our final destination of the day - The Pelican Marina Residences.

This was our 3rd trip to the island and each time we have stayed someplace different. First year, Royal Islander, last year, OBBR and this year Pelican Marina. The lobby here is lovely with a great view of Simpson Bay. I do have to admit that I thought check in was slow, but I kept reminding myself I’m on island time now but the thought of a cocktail on the balcony was just too much for me and I wanted to get to my villa. We shared a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom villa on the 6th floor. Our travel buddies loved our accommodations as much as we did. The unit was very clean and everything looked brand new. Great kitchen with the usual appliances (stove, refrigerator, dish washer) blender, toaster, coffee maker and microwave. Then there was a glass table with 4 chairs, TV, DVD, stereo, sofa and another 2 chairs and a huge balacony. It looks exactly like the web site pictures, imagine that! Bathrooms are a very good size, they have double sinks and a separate room with toilet and bath/shower. There are plenty of towels and there is a safe in each bedroom with a large closet. Pool area is lovely and well manicured. It is a very short walk to the Pelican beach. Our room was in very easy walking distance to the Hollywood Casino, Red Piano Bar and Peli Deli. Having the Market Garden at the corner was very convenient too. Now back to the really important things, drinks!! It was definitely time for our welcome to “St. Maartin cocktails”. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" /> We happily sit on the balcony, relaxing and enjoying the spectacular view of Simpson Bay and make our evening plans while sipping a cold, refreshing tropical drink! Ahhh…………..
We just love a great balcony!! We basically start our day there (coffee) and end it there (night caps). Our 7 days in SXM went like this: choose a beach, go to the beach, eat lunch at the beach, come back to the Pelican to clean up for dinner, choose a restaurant, eat dinner, lose money at casino, laugh all the way to the balcony to have a nightcap or 2! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> Not exactly sure what we thought was so funny because we never seemed to win anything at the casino!

Beaches we went to were :
Bai Rouge - this is a great beach! Not a lot of people which is nice sometimes. Water is so blue and clear! Love it!! At Chez Raymond the service was slow, when our lunches did arrive they were just ok. Next time we’ll bring a cooler with lunch/drinks.
Mullet – beautiful beach, fantastic water which was calm. Was very crowded the day we went. This is my husbands favorite so I know we will be back.
Orient – we went here twice. Once to Palm Beach. Excellent! Great area, lots of chairs, water was wonderful. Lovely setting, lunch was delicious. You must try this place. The other time we went to Orange Fever. Loved the bright orange chairs and umbrella’s. The thing I love about Orient besides the great water is the people. Everyone is just enjoying themselves, life is good!! We had a great lunch at Andy & Cheryl’s. Philly cheese steak hero’s and caribs. Great!!
Pelican Beach – we also went to this beach twice. I think one side is Pelican and the other side Flamingo beach? The water here is excellent. The sand is a little more pebbly than other beaches but it’s so convenient when staying at the property that we had 2 very enjoyable days there. We also ate lunch at the beach bar there but I don’t remember the name of it. Too many caribs???? No, that wasn’t the name of it………. Lunch was good, I do remember that! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" />
In an effort to expand our horizons we wanted to (on a recommendation) try Layla Beach. After a long ride in the car we were hot and cranky so we sent the boys to check it out. They said the Beach bar looked good but not the beach, seaweed and big rocks. We also had an idea to find Bay Longue. This wasn’t so easy, the directions proved to be difficult, so after awhile we decided to stick with going to the beaches we know and love!

Dinners:
Buchaneer Beach Bar – burgers and caribs GOOD!
Lee’s – coconut shrimp, red snapper all GOOD!
Soprano’s – chicken parmesan GOOD!
Chesterfields – chicken chesterfield Excellent!
Talk of the Town- LOLO-ribs and sides Excellent!
Peg Leg Pub - Caesar salad and steak kabobs Excellent!
Carlo’s at the Atlantis Casino - this was our worst dinning experience. We had pizza which was just ok (and a little burnt) but we had to wait 1 hour and the only explanation was that the oven had to get to 500 degrees. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />

Went to the Sunset Beach Bar for drinks and to see the planes. Who would think you’d have fun watching planes land and take off! Not sure why we love this, we just do!

A couple of places on our list that we wanted to try were Kakacters and Toppers but we never made it. Next time for sure!

Our U.S. Air flight home was going great until Philly and then Murphy stepped in and anything that could go wrong did go wrong. UGH!!!

Final thoughts – the weather was very hot and humid. We only experienced one rain shower that lasted about 15 minutes. Beaches seemed more crowded but we had no trouble at all getting into any of the restaurants we went to. Prices seemed higher for food and drink. Traffic was fine, only hit a couple of slow traffic spots. Always felt safe. One week still isn’t enough time, some day, I hope soon, I’ll get to go for 2 weeks!! I’m working on it! Thank you to all the TTOL’ers for all your valuable information. I finally joined after being a lurker for years. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Cheers.gif" alt="" />




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