St. Martin 2003 Trip Report<br><br>Dates: April 21, 2003 – May 1, 2003<br><br>Air Transportation: American Airlines (frequent flier miles)<br><br>Hotel: Alizea – Cul de Sac on the French side of the island<br><br>Car Rental: Kenny’s Car Rental – Lesley Bruce<br><br>Weather: Best we’ve seen in 3 years!!!<br><br>Tourism: Busiest we’ve ever seen the island<br><br>Monday April 21:<br>Our flights from Boston to San Juan to St. Martin were uneventful. We ended up on the late flight due to the blackout periods for the frequent flier miles, so our flight did not get to SXM until after 10pm. Lesley Bruce was not on the island at the time, so he ended up sending someone else to meet us at the airport. His associate was on time, holding a sign with our names, and had our Toyota Corolla with a full tank of gas ready to go. The entire transaction took 5 minutes. <br><br>We headed straight over to Alizea to check in. Although we had seen the hotel from the main road connecting Orient to Grand Case, we had never been up to Alizea. It was very interesting finding the road up to the hotel… but we made it. We unloaded our bags and were starving, so we took a ride into Grand Case to find something to eat. It was now getting to be close to 11:30pm, and we knew that if we didn’t move quickly, we might not find anything that would accommodate us. There was a pizza joint about ½ way down the boulevard in Grand Case that was getting ready to close down. Zach popped in and asked one of the guys there if he would make us a pizza, explaining that our flight had just arrived and we were hungry. It was no problem at all, and we left with a delicious pizza and a bottle of Bordeaux for around $20. It was back to Alizea to eat and crash for the night.<br><br>Tuesday April 22, 2003:<br>Every morning Alizea provided us with breakfast consisting of coffee, juice, baguettes, croissants, and chocolate filled pastry at no additional charge. We enjoyed our first morning in their restaurant, however had breakfast brought up to our room for the remainder of the trip. A couple of times, Zach ventured down to the bakery on the road to Mt. Vernon to pick up chocolate twists and water… Yummy!!!<br><br>After breakfast on Tuesday, we were ready to hit the beach and decided to drive down to Orient and see what was happening. Well… about 5 cruise ships were in!!! It was too crowded for us, so we ended up heading over to Dawn beach. Dawn beach is a great spot for sunning and swimming. The waves also tend to be very active there. We stopped in at Mrs. B’s for the cheeseburgers we had enjoyed so much the year before. The cheeseburgers were definitely a disappointment. The seasoning was still there but all we had to say was “Where’s the Beef”? What a difference a year makes on the island. We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging down at the end of the beach by the rocks before Scavengers. <br><br>Next, it was back to Alizea to wash up and change before heading out to happy hour. We weren’t exactly sure what was happening for happy hour (on the French side because we didn’t care to drive to the Greenhouse in Philipsburg). We ended up at Michael’s Café in Grand Case, primarily because the sign outside advertised that they were from Boston. Michael and his wife were great hosts and offered plenty of good conversation while the drinks flowed. We were still trying to decide on a restaurant for dinner, so Michael suggested that if we were looking to have a romantic dinner… that Sol e Luna has the best garlic shrimp & scallops on a bed of lobster risotto. We decided that we’d give it a try. We both ordered the same dish and were both very pleased with the food and service. We also enjoyed a bottle of white wine with dinner. This restaurant was rated most romantic restaurant this year, and we’d have to agree. After dinner we retired to the room for the rest of the evening. <br><br>Wednesday April 23:<br>After breakfast, we decided it would be fun to go find Happy Bay. We drove to Friar’s bay and hiked the 15 minutes over the hill to happy bay. This ended up being one of our favorite beaches on the island. There were only 2 other couples on the beach the entire day! We always bring a collapsible cooler filled with ice, wine, cheese, some beer, and water with us when we beach it. This made for a romantic afternoon… until we were invaded by the Rhino Riders and the sail boat… Random Wind. The rhino riders came into the bay to do a bit of snorkeling, and they left after a short period of time. It was Random Wind that was a bit of an annoyance… It was early afternoon when the ship came around the corner of the bay and headed straight toward us before dropping their anchor about 50 feet off shore. We were wondering if they planned on coming ashore, but they didn’t. They just kind of sat there taking pictures and drinking. So, to make things a little more interesting, Zach took out the digital video camera and zoomed in for a closer look. It was too funny watching the video later, seeing them photograph us, while we were photographing them!!! We later learned a bit more about Random Wind and learned that it could be a very informative, fun trip… and heard nothing but good things… We will definitely be looking into to Random Wind, our next time to the island. <br><br>Late afternoon, a large cloud formed overhead and didn’t want to move, so we decided that meant it was time to go. We packed up and hiked back to the car. There was still some sun left in the day, so we ventured over to Orient beach to enjoy extra spicy ribs at Pedro’s. Afterward we found Contessa & Dr. Jane, Bev & Dick, and Danielle & Mike by the perch. <br><br>By the end of the day… were exhausted, and Contessa hadn’t been feeling too well… so we had decided not to venture into the dutch side and have dinner locally. <br> <br>Thursday April 24:<br>After breakfast, we decided to spend a full day down on Orient beach. The gang by the perch had reserved a couple of chairs for us. We didn’t arrive at the beach until around 10am. Around noon, it was time to give Baywatch a try. We didn’t get to eat there during our first two trips so we were anxious to sample some of their great food. Meeting Cheryl was truly a pleasure. We’re convinced that you’ll never meet a nicer person anywhere! We shared the mussels which were out of this world, and Renee had the shrimp salad, while Zach tried the steak sandwich. Service here is second to none!<br><br>Dinner for the evening was at Sebastiano’s in Grand Case. We enjoyed a meal here on our honeymoon and passed on Sebastiano’s the second time around. It was nice to see that Francois was still there, and that their chef had made a full recovery from his heart attack earlier in the year. Renee’s mushroom risotto was to die for, and Zach’s veal special was delicious. After dinner Christine (the owner) came by our table to chat and ended up staying for quite awhile. We missed her the first year, and it was great to get to know her a little. She has recently teamed up with an artist and is promoting his work inside her restaurant. If you have a chance to pop in and check out his work, please do. He is brilliant! One highlight during dinner was hearing Francois sing happy birthday… which he did so well!!! Upon leaving, we ended up at the Dolphin casino where the slot machines and blackjack dealers proceeded to take our money!<br><br>Friday April 25:<br>Each year when we visit, we really enjoy a day at Pinel Island. We took the 10am ferry over to Pinel and picked out chairs and an umbrella. We asked if we could rent an umbrella to bring over to the deserted side, however the beach boy wasn’t going to let us. We decided to stay on the restaurant side of the island and let sand gravity set in. For lunch it we headed to Karibuni, one of the two restaurants on Pinel. Zach had the chicken Creole and Renee enjoyed her annual serving of Oisseau that was grilled to perfection. After lunch we did some light snorkeling (if you even want to call it that). It was more like floating around in the bay! <br><br>Friday evening was the party at Calmos Café in Grand Case. Although more showed last year, this year we had a good crowd of about 20. Danielle & Mike, Dick & Bev, Paul Z & Deb, Joe F & his wife, Dicky & Frank, Dr. Dick (we meet again) & his wife, Ybrynner, and you’ll have to excuse us for not remembering any other names. [img]/images/icons2/crazy.gif[/img] We meet so many people on the island every year! The food and service at Calmos are both great. It you have the chance you should stop in for a drink or an inexpensive supper some time. Following the party we drove Dicky back to the Dutch side of the island. We only intended to drop him off, and ended up at the Lady C where Presidente’s flowed like there was no tomorrow! From there it was off to Bliss, and the rest of the night was just plain foggy… isn’t that right Dicky? [img]/images/icons2/grin.gif[/img][img]/images/icons2/cheers.gif[/img][img]/images/icons2/grin.gif[/img] After dropping off Dicky and Frank it was back to Alizea for the night. <br><br>Saturday April 26:<br>Yet another perfect day... [img]/images/icons2/cool.gif[/img] But, because of all the sun we took in the past few days, we decided to take a day off from the beach… the day went very uneventful (well… almost [img]/images/icons2/wink.gif[/img] …[img]/images/icons2/kiss.gif[/img][img]/images/icons2/devil.gif[/img][img]/images/icons2/kiss.gif[/img])<br>We made dinner reservations at Bistrot Caraïbes (one of our favorites), and enjoyed an incredible meal… which consisted of a salad appetizer, Shrimp and Scallops in a garlic butter reduction (which are phenomenal)!! And a pork tenderloin in a mustard sauce (on the special list) – that Zach said “was to die for”[img]/images/icons2/oink.gif[/img]… this was paired off with a bottle of Sancerre -a crisp, refreshing white wine that complimented the flavors of the meal, perfectly. The wine was a recommendation from Thibault… Complete with complimentary rhum, following our dinner. Overall dining experience (food, wine, atmosphere) [img]/images/icons2/thumbsup.gif[/img][img]/images/icons2/thumbsup.gif[/img][img]/images/icons2/thumbsup.gif[/img][img]/images/icons2/thumbsup.gif[/img][img]/images/icons2/thumbsup.gif[/img] <br><br>From Bistrot, we ventured back out to Bliss, which was good (but not quite AS good as the night before) – so we opted to do a bit of club hopping and checked out the Q Club next. Q Club was very commercial… lot’s of Merengue the night we went, which is good… but the club was very packed and it just wasn’t keeping our interest… off to Marigot to check out a few clubs there. We parked the car in the lot on the waterfront and heard music coming from club ‘Planet E’. They were playing some good techno, but this club was the complete opposite of Q Club… this club had maybe 7 –10 men in there… and we felt somewhat out of place, while the music would have kept us… the vibe definitely wasn’t going to. So, we hopped back in the car and drove a street over to L’Alibi (which we hit back in Oct 2001 and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves)… We stayed for about 1.5 hours and by that time we were ready to head back to our room and call it a night. In summary of our club hopping on Saturday night, we rated Bliss the best. <br><br>