Trip report Nov/Dec 2011
I post this report bowing down to the many of you that post great reports, and I read them all picking up bits and pieces that make our trips better so this is done thanking all of you.

Just a note – we did probably the worst job of taking notes and communicating while on vacation then we ever have in the past. I actually have no real notes from the trip, zero. This is all from memory after the trip, and I did not change the names to protect the innocent and/or guilty.

Travel – It always starts with a long trip for us, but all went fairly smooth. Leaving we went Portland to Seattle, then the red eye from Seattle to Miami where we had time for breakfast and then onto SXM. No issues other than I rank the food at MIA about the worst of any airport. Tried the Hotel roof top place and I am honestly not sure how they stay in business, I do not think a Denny’s could stay in business with that food or service. Trip back was back through MIA and then to Dallas before going back to Portland. This is only the second time we have made it back in the same day(planned or unplanned), and it was all smooth but we still prefer leaving SXM later and stopping at the first Airport we get to so we can spend a night and travel the next day the rest of the way. We will do this in March.

Breaking in for a “shout out” (cracks me up saying that) to the sponsors and people of the businesses we see each year that make our trip more enjoyable.

Car rental - Unity is our first choice and between Michael and Joseph they make it so easy for us and we have no worries with using them for our car rental. Went with the Yaris again, and it worked well at times having four adults. We already have our reservations with them again for March.

Phone - We have never rented a phone before but we did this time with Sharon, without a doubt the Queen of St Maarten. We have known Sharon for years but with our other friends on island having phones we picked up one so we could communicate with them. It was worth having and we will do this again, did not use much but when we wanted to it was easy to use and I would say a comfort to have.

Story time, Elizabeth (aka Islandgem, which she is), is hilarious and quick witted. Told her our rented cell number one time, only stated once out loud, and she had it memorized for the rest of our trip. This came in handy when we did not know our own number to give to others. Elizabeth and David are the type of people that you look forward to seeing on your trip. We have a list of them now, again a good part of the reason we feel at home on St Maarten.

Lodging – We started our stay with two nights at Azure. We found this place on Ray’s site (www.sintmaartenrentalweeks.com). We also saw that Ann and Steve were staying there so the decision became easy. We arrived there a bit late, but before we could even get settled we were requested to report to the beach for an ice cold Presidente with both Ann and Steve as well as Elizabeth and David. Nice way to arrive. Our first two nights were in a smaller room, but worked fine for us before moving over to the Pelican. We also did our final two nights at Azure in a larger room right on the beach. Fantastic listening to the waves crash the beach while going to sleep. We would stay at Azure again, very much a beach hotel and we really love the beach there.
Again, Azure like many other places can be found by going to Ray’s site. Ray like many of the sponsors of this board are a great source of info that will help make your vacation life a lot easier. Support the sponsors!

Onto the Pelican – We were supposed to have a 1 bedroom and a studio in Bldg C, they said something to us to the effect Bldg C was closed when we went to check in (mumbled in the worst English the person could muster) and instead gave us a two bedroom in Bldg D. This was fine, but we admit that we would have preferred two units so when our daughter Katie and her Beau Brad joined us we had a bit more privacy. Oh well, positive was we only had one room charge for TS tax etc. We also got II to give us another week to trade which has turned into a 1 Bedroom unit at OBBR for the week after Thanksgiving 2011. I can live with that. More on the Pelican, it worked for us but it is not our favorite place. Since they moved us to this room and note that the maids were finishing just as we were moving in, they forgot about us the rest of the trip. We got no service, not once. Again, the positive is we saved on tips! Not our first choice of places to stay, but if that is the choice we get we are fine with it. Also, within a day we noticed that people were in Bldg C near where our rooms were to be.

Oyster Bay Beach Resort – We upgraded in advance to a 1 bedroom with a Studio lock off. We were in a middle building with basically no view, but it was fine with us. I would give OBBR credit that they have done a great job of keeping up the resort. The detail to the paint and such on the outside of the units was excellent and the inside of the units were done nicely and clean. The only complaint I would have is they need to get better shower nozzles, do not get why places skimp on this but they could get better pressure with the same water if just a different nozzle. The extra expenses here added up a bit, besides the ts tax there was a fee for energy of $12 per day with a two bedroom and it cost about $58 for wifi for the week. Just noting, we paid without a complaint on either. We will be back here for the same week next year just by chance. I see why people like this resort.

Celine – After arriving at Azure, we got a night sleep and then out on the Celine with Ann and Steve, David and Elizabeth, Harry and Allan, as well as others including a group we kept bumping into from England. We enjoyed the cruise, mainly because of the people we were with. Went to Tintamare as well as Creole Rock, some snorkeled and some just relaxed in the water a bit. It was a nice way to open up our trip. This was the first time we really got to spend time with Ann and Steve, enjoyed every moment and thank them for the invite on this trip.

Katie and Brad arrived on the Monday after we arrived and stayed with us for 9 nights. It was nice to have our daughter around, do not get to see her enough. We enjoyed our time with them, but note that it changes the dynamics of a trip having others with you. Not quite as relaxing but enjoyable in a different way. New rule, see you there but you MUST have your own car! We like our schedule or lack thereof with our wing it way of traveling.

Others we enjoyed spending time with – We always look forward to time spent with Elaine, Bill seems to leave us around the time we arrive, I guess if you have spent much time with us you probably can guess why. We did not get to spend enough time with either this trip, hopefully next trip. Hugs from Elaine makes the world go round. We had the pleasure of spending a few days and eve’s with David and Georgia as well. We laughed and relaxed, and had a few great meals together. We had some time also with Vicki and Rick as invited guest to their place, which by the way is a very nice two bedroom condo at Rainbow that we have had the pleasure to stay at and would suggest to others. There we got to visit with a few other guest and enjoyed an evening. Only got to see Annie a bit, but a pleasure it was.

We also had the chance to go to Bikini to support the fund raiser for Ursula and the work she does with dogs on island. Bruce does a great job of making this type of event happen and that takes a special person to spend the time, money and energy that he does to help these animals. It was not his event, but it probably would not have been an event without Bruce. We even heard commercials for it while on island which was cool. We went, donated, had a bit to eat and were able to spend some time with Bruce and Kim. It was a fun evening. I will also note that Vicki gave very generously to this cause, kudos to her and all the others that donated and supported this event.

Beaches- The wind was up for most of the time on Orient so we only spent a day at Orange Fever and a day at Palm Beach. Both were great days and neither was crowded. We ate those days at Baywatch which was excellent as usual and at Palm Beach which was very nice. We also spent a couple days at Dawn in the chairs provided by OBBR, it was ok but really did not have the vibe we were looking for. But for a few days when the weather was questionable and we just wanted to not move much it worked for us. We also went to Mullet for a day which was very nice other than the Golden Eagle and others crowding the beach at times. Enjoyed Rosies, the beach and all was very nice.
We spent most of our time on Simpson Bay at e
ither Karakter or down at Azure, this has become our favorite beach. It probably starts with the wind this time of year on Orient keeps us from making the trip and Karakter has become comfortable and the food is excellent. Simpson Bay beach was not as big as we have seen in previous years but I hear it is now back and we look forward to going back.

Food – Note that we did not go gonzo this year eating out, but with four of us for half our trip it is not like we did not drop some cash.

Lal’s – This is MJ and my favorite place to stop and grab a bite. It certainly is not for everybody but it suits us and we enjoy our time with Lal while there. It is Indian Cuisine, but not like we get at home. Hard to explain but like St Maarten some love it and some do not. We love both Lal’s and SXM. Also, while at Lal’s we visited with the people that are putting in a place where Shrimpy’s used to be and they seemed like nice people. They should have Barnacle’s open by now, and I am not able to remember what they were going to be serving but it sounded good at the time. We will try them on our next trip.

Gutside – We had a fantastic evening with Elaine, as well as David and Georgia at Gutside. The food is excellent and the cost was minimal. We have had lunch there back in the day but this was our first dinner, just have not seemed to match our schedule with when they are open in the past. I highly suggest this to anybody that wants a local feel place to have a good dinner.

Uncle Harry’s – We spent some time with Tamara (Ric’s Fame) at Karakter and she told us that she was at Harry’s, and while we did not think we would make it there this trip we ended up there our final evening. MJ had the fish, I think Snapper and she thought it was excellent. I had a bit, not being a fish person and I enjoyed it as well. Done nicely. I was craving a steak so I went with the Rib Eye and it was very good. I am not going to say great, but I have only had a great steak at one place on island and that is at Hidden Forest. I would put the steak in the same league as Bajatsu and Peg Leg. The service was excellent and we would go back, we had talked about going here for years but like many places we just did not make it. It was a nice setting, once you drive through the boat yard.

We also enjoyed evenings at: Ocean Club, mainly for drinks here but we did have a bit of food and while simple it was good and inexpensive. Ken is a great guy to stop by and talk to, and this is a bargain for food and drink. Peg Leg, apps twice on way to/from the French side, excellent food and value. We intended to go back for dinner but motivation to move got the best of us again. Dingy Dock, enjoyed the food and drink. We always enjoy our trips to Dingy Dock, always seem to meet interesting people. This time we met a fellow that gave us a complete explanation on how the brothels work and function, MJ was full of Q&A on this subject which I found extremely entertaining. We also had lunches at Sunset Bar and Grill, good food and the setting is fun. Lido, and Skys the Limit for ribs and food to go. Turtle Pier, we wanted some place close to the airport for lunch when we dropped off Katie and Brad and we all enjoyed the food there and it was very inexpensive.
ESPN – We enjoyed an evening watching the Oregon vs. Oregon St game along with others as well as the Auburn game. Significance is that Oregon won as did Auburn and they will meet for the National Championship on Jan 10th at the Fiesta. Which at my house we will hold a Fiesta, coincidence, I do not think so. The food and drink was good, service was excellent as one would expect from a place ran by Pierre.

Bonita’s – We were not real thrilled with the food here. MJ had a pulled pork sandwich and I went with the ribs. We both had Margarita’s that we did not finish as they were a bad mix. The food was not on par with Championship BBQ, and in fact would not make a dent in the Portland Oregon BBQ market let alone some great BBQ town like KC, Memphis or anywhere in Texas. It was not bad, it was just ok in our opinion but others we talked to on the trip really liked the place. We were going to give it another try but….not enough time for the other places. So to the opposite of Lal’s but the same statement, some people will like this place and others will not. Mixed reviews is how I would leave it.

Shopping – I know it is a surprise but we did go to Gulmohar’s, and while we only brought back 5 bottles this trip they probably got the most of any store regarding our shopping money (we did purchase for island consumption as well). Love the place, the family, and the selection. The only other two places we spent much at was the “pearl lady” as MJ refers to her as at the Marigot Market, and Secret Spot where I buy t-shirts that are not cheap but I like them. We visited with Deepti, always a pleasure but like many we are just not throwing much at extra’s like this at this point in the economy.

Other notes: The island seemed unusually empty for this time of year, beaches and places to eat. Many noted it seemed like the season was starting later than normal. We noted a lot of places were closed and my guess is that many more will not make it with the reduced crowds.
We felt that the roads are improved and improving, minus a few places. We saw crews working at night and saw progress. I heard the statement from some that they are not fixing the root problem and that the resurface while nice will not last long unless they address the root problem. I am not an expert in this area but I would note that I think it is at least better than it was and getting better.

We were walking the beach from Karakter to Beachside Villas and back when we ran into a younger couple (from Rye NY) just after he proposed to her. We were the first on the scene with a camera so we got a couple shots that we sent to them via email but will not share. The tears of joy and all and the chance to meet these people reminds us of what is good with the world, and how lucky we are to get to go to places like this with our time off.

With that I close, and note that we indeed are lucky. We have whined the last two years not being able to make more than one trip per winter due to the economy. We are back to two trips this winter and even without that second trip we do realize that we are of the lucky people that have found a place that we can go and relax and feel at home. We are lucky that we have people we will get to see that we enjoy when we are there and that make us feel welcome in their presence.

A heartfelt Cheers to all,
Todd & MJ