Okay, here goes a first attempt. And, I’m late. <br>Anyway, our flight took-off on time from Newark at 7:05 AM Thursday with nothing eventful. Through San Juan and landing in SXM 1:15 PM. A few minutes to get through immigration and pick-up our luggage. Charles was waiting there for us from Summer Set Car rental. He put us in the car and said Claude would catch up with us at the resort.<br><br>We tried something different (different for us) and spent the first two nights at Club Orient. We were in cottage #49, beach front. I absolutely loved the place. Every staff member I spoke with was extremely pleasant. And, with no TV’s or phones in the rooms, it was very quiet and relaxing. The little shop on site had everything we could possibly need. A little pricey but so very convenient. Thursday afternoon and Friday were spent sitting on the beach at the resort.<br><br>Night one, dinner was at Le California. Although we were pooped from getting up at 4:30 AM dinner was still great. Linda had the pizza and I tried the beef filet with garlic butter. Yum.<br><br>Night two, dinner at Le Alabama. Also great as always! Although my lamb wasn’t exactly what I had been expecting, it was excellent. Complimentary pinapple rum was wonderful, had to go to 3 different liquior stores to find it!<br><br>Saturday was moving day and shopping day.<br><br>Dropped-off our luggage and cooler (with steaks and chicken etc.) at The Ocean Club at Cupecoy. The unit wasn’t ready yet so we began our shopping. 1st stop was Cost-u-less. Somewhat saddened that they were out of beach umbrellas. But, picked-up the usual charcoal, bear, etc. Back to Ocean Club, moved-in and off to Marigot for an umbrella from the dive shop next to Carimo Real Estate.<br><br>We were very happy with all of the improvements at Ocean Club! And, you could even walk down to the beach without and rock climbing! Very few people using the beach there. We spent the first day there on the beach by O.C. then the balance of the days were spent at the far end.<br><br>We had dinner in the next couple of nights. Then tried out Citrus at the top of the hill at Cupecoy. It was out-of-this-world. I had the duck and Linda the salmon. While we were there, we took a tour of The Inn at Cupecoy. They’ve done an excellent job. The little market is also a very nice addition. Dinner in again. Then on Gal Sal’s recommendation, tried Ric’s Place. What a keeper....I can still taste the enchiladas and can hardly wait to return.<br><br>Now it’s Saturday and time to leave for the airport. That was the only downer! Check-in really wasn’t that bad for us at American. About 30 minutes. Then another long slow line to pay the departure tax. The kicker was the last line to get into the gate area. It had to have been atleast an hour. Standing in the heat with no AC. YUCK!<br><br>Bye the way, Claude did show up on either Sunday or Monday to do the paperwork on the car. I just cracked-up because I was paying cash and wasn’t certain I had enough on me. His reaction was .... “pay me what you’ve got and drop of the balance at the office before you leave the island”. It still is “The Friendly <br>Island”.<br>I have a very unhappy wife because Mario’s was still closed on vacation ! Kirk