Visited SXM for the first time 10/4-10/12. Thanks so much for all the info I got from everyone here before we left. I'll try not to get too wordy. Feel free to ask for more details if you'd like.

Arrival- Took over an hour to clear immigration. Annoying but what can you do? They are just doing their jobs like they should. We caught a cab to the Pelican and checked in fairly quickly.

Pelican- You can tell this is an older resort. Excellent location though, you can walk to many restaurants from there but we still rented a car. Beware of the timeshare hawkers who lurk at the bottom of the hill out of the resort and at the bottom of the hill that leads to the beach. I realize its a living but since I have been to islands where this doesn't exist, I find vendors to be annoying and would rather they don't bother me since I have a hard time saying no. After settling in our room, which smelled very dank and musty and had the most threadbare sheets I'd ever seen, we walked down to the beach and it was not a bad beach. Hit the little bar there, the Calypso. Very cheap. We spent almost 4 hours there talking to some people from Canada and some from other islands. We had at least 18 Caribs on our tab ( bought a few rounds for others because of honeymoons, anniversaries, etc) and were only charged $27.
Had dinner that night at Cheri's. It was average and I would not rush back there. I ordered the famous Straw Hat but had to return it ( something I never do) because it had absolutely no flavor whatsoever. I must have just gotten a bad one because the pina colada I got instead was fine. The entertainment was kitchy but entertaining.

Sunday- Went to the beach below the Pelican by the Atrium/Indiana's/Buccaneer Beach Bar. Dinner at Lee's that night. We both had fish which was average. There was a band but most of the people there were watching football. We were entertained by a bunch of Steelers fans who were watching their team take a beating.
Monday- Got a rental car. $25/day for a Toyota Yaris. Went to Dawn Beach which turned out to be our favorite on the island. Had lunch at Scavengers Beach Bar. Simple chicken sandwiches but they were good. Had dinner at the Wajang Doll in P'burg. I like Indonesian food and we had the 19 item rice table. Yum. We especially liked the mahi mahi and we told the chef, Edward, who is from Indonesia. He said he’d make it again for us anytime we wanted, even if it were not on the menu that night.
FYI while at Dawn Beach, I swam over to Mr. Busby's ( I think it was) and saw a sign for 75 cent Caribs from 11-4. Didn't test it though since it was after 4 and I had no $ on me but I'm sure I'd take advantage of that deal if I could.

Tuesday- Had breakfast at the Veranda at the Pelican. The French toast really is excellent! Very thick. Later we took the Lambada to Prickly Pear on Anguilla. I really liked this. I found the snorkeling to be OK, I've seen better, but there were fish and coral to see. I was alittle dismayed that the crew did not tell us to not touch the coral as I saw some people doing that. I believe it cost $70 per person plus tip and dep. Tax for each of us. Drinks on the sail over and back are included and we had some cheese, apples and french bread as snacks. While at the island, you have to pay for your drinks at Johnno's. Lunch was simple ( chicken, ribs or fish with rice and beans, salad and slaw). I finished mine. I loved Prickly Pear because if you walk around the corner, you feel like you are the only one on the island. Its beautiful. Dinner that night was at Bistro Caraibes in Grand Case. We decided to eat here because as we walked down the street looking at the various menus ( which all made me drool), this was the only place where the owner made conversation with us and also offered us a free glass of wine. Food was excellent, especially the goat cheese and duck appetizer. We also got complimentary ginger rum apertifs.
Side note- one advantage to going in the off season is we did not once make reservations for dinner and each night we scored a prime table everywhere we went. Sure, some restaurants were closed but that just helped to narrow down our choices so it was not a bad thing.
Wednesday- Had pizza at Goodfellas by the marina. I'm sure there is better pizza on the island but we were hungry so it hit the spot. After that we drove over to Marigot for the market which I'm very glad that we did. Its colorful and you can get great souvenirs. Everyone will bargain with you. Note, however, that not all the items sold there are from St. Martin. Many booths were selling Haitian art and Mexican wood carvings.
After this we went to Orient Beach, both ends. We started out at Boo Boo Jams for a swim and a drink and then drove over to the South end by Club Orient. Since it was later in the day, about 4:30, the beach was not very busy and half the bars were closed. I have to say, I didn't think Orient was that great as beaches on the island go. There is some seaweed, which is nothing compared to the seaweed here in New England, but when there are other beaches with none, I prefer the ones with no seaweed.
Had dinner that night at Rancho Argentino ( I think it was called). It was ok. I've never been to a real Argentinean steak house so I have nothing to compare it to. The waitress actually put in a wrong order for me so I had to wait for them to cook the correct one but I didn't mind. She was obviously new and I eat fast anyway but someone else would probably be upset by that. I really liked the various sauces that you could order to go with your food. Went to Ric's after that to watch the Sox/Yanks game.
Thursday- We had breakfast at Indiana's. They had the best coffee I'd had in awhile and also, good home fries. We were scheduled to take the ferry to St. Barth's but it rained so the trip was cancelled. So, we went shopping in Pburg instead. I got a diamond reset, bought a stone to put in the old ring and also some earrings at DK Gems. I mentioned TTOL and Deepti came out to help me personally. She's very nice. When I went back later to pick up my jewelery, we also had a nice conversation with her brother Jeff. Nice people who I believe did give me a great rate on what I ended up buying. Also, if you love chocolate, go to the Belgian Chocolate Store in Phillipsburg. Yum. We had dinner that night in Marigot at La Vie en Rose. Very good. We sat on the veranda and had a nice view. They really do give you a red rose at the end of the meal.

Friday- Took the ferry to St.Barth's. Apparently it was the roughest ride it had been lately. Luckily, we all made if over with no clean up required. The ride back really is much smoother than the way over. This is the only place that I exchanged dollars for Euros. I don't think it was necessary but I thought I should try it. For the record, got 82 Euros for $100 in travelers checks. We took a taxi tour of the island and spent time at St. Jean beach. I loved that we could watch the planes come in and take off from there.
Friday night we had dinner at Mary Boons. I'm not sure I would call it romantic since we didn't eat on the beach but it was tasty. That night they served lobster creole, which was really lobster cacciatore if you ask me. And yes, you can get seconds and we did. The honor bar is a trip. I was excited by the prospect of making my own drink until I realized that I had no idea how to make a drink. I did ok though. Its an interesting place. I'd go back.
Saturday we flew on Winair to Saba. This was great. We got tickets earlier in the week by going to the counter at the airport. We paid $60 each round trip. Another couple who were on both our flights paid $90 each. We had to land in Statia first and then on to Saba. It wasn't as thrilling as I'd read for the landing but it was spectacular. Saba is like Brigadoon or a fairy tale. We took a taxi tour of the island and we paid $40 plus a tip. Our driver Sylvester, is a native and had helped to build The Road so he had lots of inside information and knew where the best photo ops were. He let us off at the bottom of Mt. Scenery in Windwardside and picked us up a few hours later. The climb was much more strenuous than we thought but we were so glad that we did it, even so it was clouded in at the top. You definately need water and good shoes for the hike as it gets slippery in the rainforest. I would also recommend a small towel since you get very sweaty. It took an hour and 15 min. to go up and almost the same to go down. It was clouded in at the top so we didn’t get the view but it was still worth it.
Had lunch at YIIK. Good. We bought some souvenirs at a shop in town called El Momo. We also stopped at Willard's of Saba, which is a hotel and it has the most beautiful view. It was built by a relative of the famous Willard Hotel in Washington, DC. I wished we could stay to watch the sunset. Before heading back to the airport, we stopped at Peggy's and bought some authentic handmade Saba lace and some Saba Spice liquor.

Saturday night we hit Grand Case again at Restaurant du Soliel. I think this was the most romantic place we ate since we had a view of Anguilla and the beach is right there. I just liked the atmosphere and there were only two other parties there.

Sunday- Over to the Divi for breakfast so we could see the World's Strongest Man competition. Get the buffet if you go there since we didn't and it took longer to get our food.
Finally, checking out at the Pelican was time consuming. There was no line in front of me and it took 20 minutes to check out. On a day when lots of people check out, they only had 2 people working at the desk and neither seemed like they wanted to be working. By the time I was checked out, there were about 6 people in line behind me.
Hope this wasn't too long and is helpful. Thanks again to all who gave me good advice before my trip.
Oh yes, we also hit Bliss one night by the Caravanserai. Cool place and very hip. After the tiring day of hiking on Saba, I dragged my husband to the Sunset Beach Bar before going home to take a shower because it was our last night and we hadn't been there yet. Glad we did, it was fun but I have come to the conclusion that there are no bad beach bars on St. Martin, its just a matter of personal choice.

I never want to go back to one island until I’ve been to all the others that I haven’t been to yet but St. Martin may change all that. I can’t wait to go back.