TRIP REPORT OF DECEMBER 7-14, 2002<br><br><br>Transportation<br><br>US Airways provided transport this trip with a late start at Newark and an early arrival at Juliana, via Charlotte. The return was pretty much the same with a late departure and an on time arrival at Newark. <br><br>The counter at Juliana opened at 11 A.M. however we were on line at 10 A.M. thinking that was the start time and a good thing too as the line extended out the door by 10:45 A.M. A computer down caused a processing delay of about 30 minutes.<br><br>Rental<br><br>We picked up out rental at Hertz and proceeded to check in at the Ocean Club in Cupecoy. Since we arrived about 1/2 hour early we expected to meet all of the folks at the Greehouse party, unfortunately after check in and a brief time to freshen up we ran into a problem with the rental. The key somehow go stuck in the door lock and I was unable to remove it. Ralph, the manager at the Ocean Club offered to help, I suggested he help by calling Hertz for me so that they could come over and fix the problem, however Ralph said “not to worry”, he will fix it for us. Well, he fixed it allright, about half way fixed that is, he turned the key and snapped it off in half, with half remaining in the lock.<br>Now, he had no choice except to phone Hertz who said they would be “right over”. <br>As we all know “right over” means” later much” and after one hour they arrived, transported us back to the rental office and gave us an almost new replacement vehicle.<br><br>Accommodations<br><br>The Ocean Club stay was our first, we reserved a studio which turned out to be a large studio with everything we needed for our stay, a partial ocean view / parking lot view.<br>The unit faced southwest so we could see the sunset, although the unit was quite hot in the late afternoons due to the bright sunshine directly upon us.<br><br>The Ocean Club consists of villas on the beach and in back of the beach and a “tower” building on the roadside, a central swimming pool, the Oasis bar/ restaurant, and a nice computer room, which we stayed away from except for one quick look. Accommodations provided by Cheapcaribbean.com<br><br>Groceries<br><br>We did our grocery shopping from our usual places, US Supermarket, Friendly Grocery Store (Royal Foods) in Sandy Ground and Nettle Bay and Le Grand Marche in Philipsburg. These stores have everything needed, more or less. Le Grand Marche (formerly Food Center) is new, clean, well stocked and the place to go for large orders if you are staying in that area. The rate of exchange at this store is Naf 1.80 to the US dollar. <br>Beaches<br><br>We visited the usual places, Orient Bay, Friar’s Bay, Mullet Bay.<br><br>On Orient Bay Beach we rented two chairs and one umbrella from Pedro’s located at the end of the Club Orient property line. Pedro’s offered a deal hard to pass up, $15.00 rental included the chairs, umbrella, free use of the toilet / showers and two free drinks.<br><br>Friar’s Bay Beach as usual offered free chairs and umbrella with a purchase at Friar’s Bay Beach Café. We enjoyed a delightful meal there during a heavy downpour just at the lunch hour, as if they had planned it themselves.<br><br>Mullet Bay Beach is getting better and better each year, long and wide, with Rosie’s Ribs on the beach and a rental place for chairs and umbrella at $10.00 for two chairs and one umbrella, they even accept Euros, ten of them.<br><br>Restaurants<br><br>Even though we arrived very late we did meet with Carl Stone, Ray Mann & Co., Two-Hearts and later Patti and others at the Greenhouse Restaurant, a nice active establishment located at the beginning of Frontstreet where it meets Bobbies Marina. Food and service A+. We recommend Carl for another year as our social director and hope to have 300 guests.<br><br>We visited Mary’s Boon for breakfast just to get the location down during daylight hours, met the now famous or infamous Richard, The Lion Hearted (aka – Dicky) and Frank the cat chasing hound of the Baskervilles. This property is unusual in that it brings back to us the old world charm of a by gone era. We ask for and received a tour of the property with Dicky’s complements. The model unit looks as though Queen Victoria would have loved it, from the furnishings to the ocean views, there is even a phone in the bathroom.<br><br>The swimming pool is small, however the beach is long, very long with delightful breezes and there seems not to be any disturbance from the near by airport.<br><br>We returned on Monday for dinner, had a drink with his Excellency Lord Dicky at his “honor bar”, ah!! the good old days of trust and honor. The meal with excellent and sitting next to us as we found out towards the end of dinner were Tom and Pam, members of the TTOL board who own units at La Vista and Mary’s Boon and visit two weeks at thee same time each year. Hopefully, next year the will join in the annual celebration, if there is one. Food and service A+ <br><br>Rancho – We visited this Argentine Grill on the Simpson Bay and enjoyed the tenderloin, which lived up to its name. Food A+, service B+, a little slow but we were not in any real rush.<br><br>The Magnificent Eleven met for dinner at La Petit Auberge Des Isles in the Marigot Marina for the second year (for us anyway) our host, the ever-charming Ray Mann making the arrangements for a 3+ hour delightful evening. This fine establishment continues to amaze us with excellent food and service and a complete dinner for only $21.00, drinks are extra. Food & service A+<br><br>Wednesday evening we visited La Vista, met with Piet (Peter) and his lovely wife and enjoyed a delightful conversation ranging from timesharing to Iraq, enjoyed an excellent meal in a lovely setting. The restaurant sits on two levels, both facing the swimming pool.<br>The hotel –timeshare consists of units up on the hill and down by the beachfront and is located in Pelican Key sandwiched in between The Pelican and Flamingo properties.<br>Food and service A+ Marge highly recommends the rack of lamb.<br><br>Our thanks to Rick & Grace for their recommendation.<br><br>Poulet d’ Orleans - Located in an old residence on the road from Orient at the point where the road dips and turns, we were greeted by Christian, one of the Romney kids as he came down to the parking field to greet us. He and his brother entertained us with a never-ending list of jokes. The house is filled with restaurant reviews, memories of things past, including a letter from a French official documenting the visit of the French President and George Bush Sr. to St. Martin and to this establishment back in 1989.<br>The food and service and entertainment all generate an A+.<br><br>Our thanks to AlanB for this recommendation. <br><br>Breakfast<br><br>Our breakfasts were taken at:<br><br>Rics American Sports Café, a first rate full American breakfast with a view of the lagoon, located at the drawbridge in Simpson Bay. By the way, the delays at the draw bridge range from less than one minute to more than 15 minutes during the construction periods.<br><br>Divi Little Bay – Marge likes this place, as do I because she can order bagels and lox. I don’t know of another place that has this on their menu for breakfast. The menu is a-la-carte of buffet and you are right on the beachfront.<br><br>Chesterfileds, an old favorite located in Great Bay Marina, breakfast is American and you order by the numbers with a view of the harbor, partially obstructed by the on going construction at the port of entry.<br><br>La Croissanterie – another old favorite for croissants, a continental breakfast of two croissants, coffee or tea, fresh orange juice, jelly and butter for $6.00 or 6 Euros<br> The full American breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage or ham plus the Continental for $10.00 or 10 Euro. Dining is on the water’s edge. I felt that the orange juice contained and extra ingredient, water and notified management about it. They first said it was caused by melting ice, which I discounted, and then they said they had a bad batch of oranges. I noticed another couple; French speaking also was not pleased with the juice. Hopefully this will be corrected soon. <br><br>Texas BBQ – on the road in Cole Bay near Under the tree we enjoyed BBQ for low cost in this roadside eatery. Worth a visit for sure.<br><br>Casinos<br><br>Our luck ran out the first night of our arrival at Diamond casino located next to The Greenhouse. We did not fare much better at Dolphin, Casino Royale, or Atlantis but managed to return home with $500.00 to be used towards our next trip. <br><br>Shopping<br><br>Limited to a bottle of Irish whiskey and two T-shirts and a visit to the New Mall in Marigot’s waterfront. This place reminded Marge of the shops on Rodeo Drive although Ray’s better half (the ever lovely and charming Vlasta) informed us of the one price shop in the mall, everything for $10.00.<br><br>Toilets<br><br>Sorry for this offbeat subject. It seems that some of the islands toilets have their flush controls located in the center of the tank top. Naturally they are not uniform in their application, some you have to push down and other you have to pull up. We had a dilly of a time with the one at La Petit Auberge since the knob was missing and the metal was exposed only a third of an inch.<br><br>The bottom line here, either you push down or pull up, if it does not work one way it must work the other.<br><br>The End <br>