This was our 9th trip to St. Maarten and every year we go over the Thanksgiving holiday to be able to extend the trip into 10 days.

Pre trip: Five days prior to leaving for SXM the owner of the Villa we were supposed to stay at (Villa Nessy) informed us that the private pool would be nonoperational and if we wanted to change to another location she would refund our deposit. As a pool was very important to us we opted to change. As luck would have it one of our favorite places was available. We reserved Vista Royale for the first four days of our stay which has a private pool and a wonderful view of the port and cruise ships.

Travel: Arrival on Tuesday for me was on AA out of Raleigh to Miami and onto SXM. In Miami I hooked up with friends Shorty and Loretta. Due to the fact that I had 15,000 miles left over on my AA account, my wife had arranged for me to fly First Class which was a real treat and possibly a big mistake as I may never fly Coach again. Both legs of the flight were on time and very comfortable. My wife (Lora) flew in earlier from Tampa/Miami/SXM and met Mickey from Tropical right on time at the airport with another great Corolla clunker which we always request. Lora caught up with our friend, Tamara and went to the Chinese grocery to stock up on some "staples" for our stay at the Vista Royale. The Chinese grocery is cheaper than Grand Marche and have most of what we needed for starters. She proceeded to Vista Royale and met with Audrey, the caretaker for the Villa and got settled in.

Lora and Tamara met us at the airport when we arrived. We all headed to Buccaneer Beach Bar for a light dinner and cocktails. The ribs were excellent as always. We then headed “home” to Vista Royale for an early night after a long day of travel.

Wednesday we headed to Phillipsburg for some gambling and shopping. Lora had her eyes on a pair of diamond earrings from Zhaveri Jewelers. This has been our primary jeweler on the island since we have been coming for the last 9 years. Deepu, the owner, insisted she take them with her for the week to see if she was interested in keeping them. You can guess what happened. The remainder of the day was spent back at the Villa with the view and dinner picked up from Chesterfields.

Thursday we headed into Simpson Bay the long way through Marigot/Grand Case to beat the traffic from the road repair in the construction area. This turned out to be a mistake as it took us an hour and a half to get to Simpson Bay due to what appeared to be utility construction on the French side that had the road closed down to one lane. We settled into (E)SPN Sports Bar to watch some Thanksgiving football. We enjoyed two pizzas using our Caribbean Card discount and some cold Caribs. The pizza oven was not open yet but they were very accommodating. Pizza was excellent and the remainder followed us home. From there we headed to SBAG for some cold drinks and plane watching. It was fairly quiet so we headed to Marty's Dream Bar at the suggestion of our friend John and some TTOL posts. Happy hour prices were no better than at the SBAG and we don't think the setting is as nice as SBAG so we headed back to the Villa. Dinner again was"takeout" from Chesterfields to enjoy back on the patio at the Villa. A delicious Shrimp Bisque and Caesars salads.

Friday was spent at Orient Beach. A beautiful day with lunch at Andy's and Cheryl. Cheryl looks great and we had our signature beer battered scallops and Andy's chilli dog. Super! Happy hour drinks were BBC's from Willy at The Perch and quite tasty. We then headed back to the Villa for leftovers and our last night under the stars and in the pool.

Saturday we packed up and headed to Chesterfields for breakfast. Their eggs benedicts were very good. We checked out of Vista Royale and headed to Simpson Bay Resort to check in for the next week. We were supposed to have Unit D3 as confirmed by Interval International on our exchange from our resort in Cancun. When we arrived we were told that we had been issued D9. This was not good! We have stayed in D3 three other times and know it has a view of the bay which D9 does not due to it's location further down the hill. After much discussion we were offered a 2 bedroom/2 bath room in the F building which is right on the water. We were asked if we would like to see it prior to accepting it and so we went to take a look. It was a nice unit so we agreed it would be better than the other option. Upon returning to the front desk to make the final arrangements we were told that there was a mistake and that unit was not available. Since this was their mistake they agreed to put us up in a 2B/2B unit in the new Simpson Bay Marina Building. Wow! As we had stayed here previously and knew how nice it was we jumped at the chance. We were put in Unit 306, right above the pool with a great view of the bay and airport. We checked in and headed to the pool while our room was made up. Dinner was at our favorite restaurant on the island, Ma Ti Beach. We sat at “our” table by the door to the beach where we split the shrimp/scallop salad. Lora had the lamb chops with the homemade pasta and I had the Chicken Cordon Bleu which also came with homemade pasta. Dessert was Crème Brule taken home in a ramekin. Ever since our first visit when we took the leftover Crème Brule home, the Owner has insisted we take it home in the ramekin to maintain the presentation. We love this place! We left and headed to the Casino Royale. As the bugs were fierce inside we headed to Hollywood Casino. We left after about an hour as I was disgusted by the surliness and unfriendliness of the dealers.

Sunday we awoke to an overcast morning which soon turned into rain which soon turned into a monsoon which lasted the entire day and ended up washing out our planned JMB sunset cruise on Niel's boat. What a shame as we love both the trip and Niel's company. For lunch we decided to head to Pineapple Pete’s for lunch. The ladies had grouper in a shrimp sauce and the guys both had the double cheeseburger. Both were very good and with a couple of beers and the Caribbean Card the total bill was $50. Ziggy, our waiter was a hoot and the service was great. For dinner we decided to stay close to the resort as it was still raining so we decided on IZI due to the good reviews we had heard on TTOL. "You" did not let us down. It was fantastic! Lora had the Vodka pink sauce garlic shrimp with angel hair and I had the red sauce salmon with a couple T & T's. The cost was $65 which was very reasonable. Deepu came in and sat next to our table and was kind enough to send over a round of drinks for the table. Just another reason to love Zhaveri Jewelers! Little did we know his dining companions were Jeff Berger and his wife to whom we would have said hello had we known at the time. After dinner we headed back to the room and hoped for better weather the next day.

On Monday the weather still looked iffy so we headed to La Vista Hideaway for breakfast. We had also heard many good things on TTOL about this place so we were looking forward to it. Unfortunately we were disappointed. The breakfast options were extremely limited and the view was much less inviting than most other places on the island. My over easy eggs were fried and dry. The pancakes were good but misleading due to the menu stating they were served with a fruit topping which turned out to be a side dish of fruit. That being said, the service was excellent. Due to the weather the girls and Shorty headed to Philipsburg to close out her ear ring purchase and do a little gambling. I stayed at home to relax on the patio. Dinner was at the Stone which is one of our favorite restaurants. My flank steak was delicious and ribeyes were good but the filet was less than impressive. Miley was our waitress who was great and we were lucky that we had decided to eat inside as halfway through our meal the sky opened up and all diners outside were quickly drenched. After dinner we spent some time at the Hollywood Casino before heading back for the evening.

Tuesday we set out for Cupecoy but road flooding from the previous couple days prevented it. We decide to head to the SBAG instead but it was packed with cruise shippers so we decided to head back. On the way we thought, what the heck, why not head to Karakter? What a great decision!! Water was beautiful and food was good. We chose appetizers of crab cakes, coconut shrimp and chorizo, a bucket of beer, 2 chairs, an umbrella and 2 piña coladas for $60. What a great deal. We will definitely be back. Back at the resort, the ladies stopped into the Ice Cream Planet to try the gelato. There were many flavors to chose from. Lora had a scoop of Cinnamon and one scoop of Coconut which she said was delicious! Dinner was at the Greenhouse in Simpson Bay where Matthew was our waiter. It was his last night before leaving the island and he treated us very well. Both the lobster special and the lobster thermidor were good. After a long day in the sun we headed back to the room to relax.

Wednesday we went to Cupecoy. The roads were still slightly flooded but we were able to surf through. The weather and the beach were beautiful. We enjoyed four orders of Dany’s delicious ribs for $32, a good deal we believe. We then stopped at the SBAG to watch planes and drink for free. Traffic back to Pelican was horrible and as we were going on the Pub Crawl we really had to rush. Upon our return the maid was still in the room so we rushed her out to shower and change. The Pub Crawl was great but unfortunately the food was not so. We left from SkipJacks where the appetizers were good. The next stop was at 3 Palms where unfortunately the food was not very good. The steaks were tough and barely edible. The next stop was for dessert at Barnacles which was very tasty and Alberto, the owner, has a good thing going. He is a very nice guy and has a good location. We hope he succeeds. We met a number of very nice people and as always, Neil is the perfect host and we enjoy spending time with him every year.

Thursday we headed out for a day at Orient Beach. The weather was beautiful. Lunch was at Papagayo's where we had excellent tuna fish sandwiches and ham and cheese on French baguettes, onion rings and french fries, all washed down with Amstel Brights & Diet Coke for a total of $35. When we arrived we plopped down in 2 chairs and an umbrella waiting for the chair guy but he never approached us. Happy Hour was spent at The Perch with Willy and BBC's.
For dinner the two of us headed to Bamboo Bernie's. This was our first time at the new location and we enjoyed an excellent Angry Dragon Roll & Crab Rangoon, plus bottle of water for a total of $45.00. On our way out we poked our heads into Brother Jimmy’s which was quite empty but looked like it could be a fun place to watch sports and the Sky Bar which was quite an interesting setup. We will most likely return to try it out. A quick trip then to the Casino Royale for a $10 “welcome back” slot play before we headed for home.

Friday morning was breakfast at Bon Appétit. Two orders of excellent Eggs Benedict and juice for $23.00. The wait staff was very personable and prompt. The balance of the day was spent relaxing at the room until we headed over to Port de Plaissance for dinner at Peg Leg Pub. Two Surf and Turf dinners, two T and T’s and a Dragonberry martini for $125 including tip after use of the Caribbean Card. Shawn was entertaining as usual and his brother now also works there. The Island Drifters were the entertainment and they were very good but due to the sparse dinner crowd it wasn’t very lively. After dinner we headed to Princess Casino where we finally won some money. On the way home we stopped at The Carousel. Lora had always wanted to stop there for gelato and while a little pricey ($3 a scoop) it was good and we were glad we went.

Saturday was a day to finish packing, head to the airport to check in and off to SBAG for lunch and watch the planes land. This is where it got disappointing. SBAG would not except our Caribbean Card so we moved to the bar where the service was slow and surly so we decided to head to the Driftwood Boat Bar. We had never been there but had heard good things from TTOL. Wow! What a place. We ran into some old friends we had met a few years back and enjoyed a lunch of hot dogs, pizza, beer and free rum punches from our Caribbean Card which they accepted graciously. The wait staff was fantastic and friendly which led to bigger tips and some interesting conversations. This will definitely be a must on our list for next time.

We headed to the airport where Lora and I said our final goodbyes as she headed to Fl and I headed to NC. Already looking forward to next year after a vacation well spent.