TravelTalkOnline Forums Trip Reports (Read Only) SXM Trip Reports and Photos Long Trip Report, June -7-15: Week 1, Part B

Wednesday, June 12

At last we were blessed with what looked like a good beach day so we headed to Anse Marcel. The weather was spectacular, and Anse Marcel is as beautiful as I remembered it from last year. Soft sand, easy slope in to the water.



We settled in front of Leroy’s Kfe’ beach bar, where umbrellas are free and chairs (with very comfortable orange cushions) are $10 apiece. Lunch was at the Kfe’ beach bar, and again I had steak tartar. I’d be hard pressed to say which was better—Leroy’s or Dreams—both are outstanding.

It really was a perfect beach day.

We didn’t feel like going out for dinner so walked over to Gingerbread Café at Belair. Service was extremely slow as they were full and appeared to have only one person in the kitchen. We both had the special of sautéed shrimp in wine sauce, which was OK. On the way back from Gingerbread, we passed the Seabreeze Pool where the reception for the wedding mentioned earlier was in full swing, along with very loud music which continued until nearly 11 PM.



Thursday, June 13

We’ve been doing a bit of running around so decided today would be a Divi Day. It started out beautifully: hot, sunny, lazy white clouds. We hung around the Infinity pool for a few hours, then went to our rooms to make lunch.



“D” went snorkeling, and I went to the SeaBreeze pool to hang out. At some point I looked up and saw very, very dark clouds rolling in and thought uh-oh. I quickly collected my stuff and headed for the first building; didn’t make it before the downpour started. I made it back to my building by walking through other adjoining ones. This was as heavy a rain as I’ve seen in quite awhile, and my deck became a pool in short order.

I’m not sure Caribbean carpenters use levels as the rain was pooling at my sliding doors. It took me quite a while to sweep it all off. About this time we heard from Capt. Alan that an excursion we were planning to go on tomorrow was being cancelled due to forecasted rough seas.

The sun came back out, and we got ready for the Divi “farewell party,” which was sparsely attended because more black clouds were rolling in. It rained through most of the party but thankfully wasn’t the torrents of earlier afternoon.

After the unpleasant change in weather and disappointing news about tomorrow, we decided comfort food was in order and went to Bavaria. I hadn’t been there before and was able to put another checkmark on my list. I don’t think the food is outstanding, but it is good, solid German food.

Friday, June 14

Since our excursion was cancelled, we decided to make this an art day and proceeded to the studio/gallery of Jean-Pierre Straub, whose medium is marqueterie (inlaid wood). SXMNorm introduced me to Jean-Pierre’s work on an Art Tour a couple of years ago. I didn’t purchase anything at that time and have been kicking myself ever since. After pondering for a while in his gallery, I selected two pieces. Only then did Jean-Pierre say he didn’t accept credit cards, only cash or check. I didn’t have enough cash on me so I regretfully left empty-handed.



We proceeded to the home/gallery of Ruby Bute. She was breakfasting on her patio and invited us to make ourselves comfortable. We chatted, and I mentioned I had sent her a friend request on Facebook (as a result of Dustin’s wonderful report of a few weeks ago); she wrote my name down and said she would look for my request.

I had wanted to purchase her new coaster sets. She said she had none in the gallery but went in to her house to get the four remaining sets she has. “D” purchased one, and I purchased the other three, some of which will be gifts. Ruby also now has scarves imprinted with her work, and “D” purchased one of those.



We really enjoyed our time visiting with this amazing woman and eventually took our leave with the intent of lunching at Friar’s Bay Beach Club. However, as we passed Gutside, Richard was waving to us so we parked and went in. Since both FBBC and Gutside were on my list, this was a welcome stop. Richard told us he has quit working at the school and is devoting all his time to Gutside. He opens at 11 AM daily except Mondays, and may be closed for a period of time mid-afternoon. I ordered the snapper filet and “D” had the conch stew.


We learned Richard does NOT like having his cooking compared to Mark’s Place! As we were eating our lunch, he sat at the table next to us finishing off some crab and regaling us with stories of his life. What a character!



It was a beautiful afternoon so we finally headed off to Friar’s Bay. Kali’s is closed (a local thought it was a work-permit issue) and settled in front of FBBC. Since we weren’t eating there, we paid for chairs but it was only $10 for 2 chairs with mattresses and an umbrella. We stayed until 6 PM as it was just a wonderful afternoon. We were admiring the dedication of a particular husband to his wife. One of her legs was in a cast. He had a wheelchair with huge tires, suitable for sand. Then he put her in an inflatable raft he had brought and hung out with her next to the raft. There were also some interesting visitors on the beach.



We had a later-than-usual dinner at Fusion, which was packed, due largely to a group of 27, also from Divi. I asked our server if they no longer served the miso shooter that I so enjoyed last year. He admitted he had forgotten and they had no clean glasses due to the large party. We did get them at the end of our meal; yummy!

I had a little computer time before going to bed and received a Facebook private message from Ruby Bute. We chatted for a little bit and she recommended Enoch’s in Marigot. “D” and I have decided we will take her there for lunch before we leave the island as she invited me to stay in touch with her. That’s going to be another special day!


This has turned out to be way too long so I’ll sign off for now. We have both the Passaat and Celine scheduled for next week and are hoping for better, or more consistently good, weather and calmer seas.