I wanted to take a moment to inform anyone that might be curious how wonderful our vacation to SXM was! My wife and I spent four days/five nights on the island, and agree that it was just about the best vacation we have ever taken. If anyone wants to hear my report, I will do my best to give you details, but am going to apologize now, as I will undoubtedly miss several things. We arrived at the airport a little after 6pm last Monday; a very nice gentleman from Prestige Rent-a-Car met us and drove us over to his office to pick up the Jeep Wrangler (after reading about Prestige on this website, I sent them an email, to which they immediately responded, and guaranteed a Jeep, which other companies would not do.) No more that ten minutes later, we were on our way. We were tired from our long day of travel getting to the island, so we drove to our hotel, the Grand Case Beach Club, checked in, and had a nice dinner at the Sunset Cafe on the property. The next morning, the view from our room overlooking the Caribbean Sea and Anguilla in the distance took our breath away. We had the complimentary continental breakfast at the Sunset Cafe, and then drove into Marigot on Tuesday morning, did some shopping and poking around the market (which was open due to three cruise ships being in Phillisburg,) and had lunch at a little French place across from the market (the name escapes me, but the food was pretty good.) Most of the afternoon was spent exploring beaches and driving around the island. Dinner that evening was at a new place in Moho Bay called Paris Bistro, which was outstanding! The owner spent a good while talking to us, and our waiter, Gregory, was a very, very nice young man (if someone is able to go by and see him, tell him Cody and Cassandra from Texas said hello!) Tuesday night ended with just a little blackjack at the Dolphin Casino (I tried Casino Royale, but the people were rude; only two tables were open, and although I asked a pit boss if another was going to be opened, he brushed me off.) The next morning, we again had the Sunset breakfast, then donned the swimsuits and settled in on Grand Case's gorgeous beach. We layed around, did a little floating on the calm sea, snorkeled a bit, and even paddled around on a kiyak. After several hours in the sun, we strolled into the village of Grand Case and had ribs and chicken at Talk of the Town, a "Lo-lo" that was incredible! The ribs I had were wonderful, and the meal for both of us with several Heineken's was only $14. More hours on the beach were next, followed that evening by one of the most memorable dinners we have ever had at Le Tastevin in Grand Case. In a word - WOW. We each had a four-course dinner (two appetizers, one entree, and one dessert per person.) The great thing was that each course came with a corresponding glass of wine. It was legendary, and I highly recommend it. Late night drinks were at the Calmos Cafe on the beach, also in Grand Case. The next morning, to add to our expanding wastelines, we had a fantastic breakfast at the Village Bakery in Simpson Bay, which was everything we had heard and more. We told Phillipe, one of the owners, that we had heard of his place from the internet (especially this page,) and had even printed some of the reviews out. He was very excited when I got them out of the Jeep and showed him! After some shopping in Phillipsburg later that morning (only one cruise ship in town; not very crowded,) we had lunch at Everything Cool (be sure and say hello to John, the pony-tailed Connecticut transplant.) They offer about a hundred different types of frozen drinks, and have good ribs and veggie burgers. We again spent that afternoon exploring in the Jeep, this time mostly around Orient Bay. Dinner that evening was back in Grand Case, this time at what I had been looking very forward to, the Fish Pot. The food, service, setting, wine, and decor made our dinner at this restaurant the best dining experience we had on the entire trip. Wow. I won't say anything more about it other than to strongly suggest making it a must on any trip to SXM. We again had a couple of rum drinks at Calmos on the way home. Our last day was breakfast once again at Sunset, packing, then lunch at Cheri's in Moho (very good cuisine; outstanding atomsphere and waitstaff.) After lunch, we hung out at the Sunset Beach Bar and Grill, having some good drinks and enjoying the take-off of a KLM 747 and the landing of a Air France 747. Quite a site! Well, this about wraps it up. Again, I apologize for not getting to everything we did. Yes, we drove around the highlands around La Semanna. Yes, I saw perhaps the most beautiful beach I have ever seen at Mullet Bay. Yes, we experienced the Bikini Beach Bar at Orient Bay. Yes, we had a drink at the Greenhouse in Phillipsburg. All in all, this was a fantastic vacation, and like I said earlier, we can't wait to return (next time, perhaps, with our little one!) Merci!!!<br><br><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Administrator on 11/13/00 12:08 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
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