SUNDAY:

We left a snowstorm in Pittsburgh and flew USAir through Charlotte to SXM on Sunday, January 18th. We arrived pretty much on schedule, breezed through Customs, and had our luggage within about 10 minutes. We went outside expecting to see Mickey, Junior or Roberto from Tropicana but no one was there. We waited about 15 minutes and then Roberto arrived, but only had one car (we were renting 2). We all went over to Tropicana’s office to finalize paperwork and Mickey told us he would have our second car within a half hour. So we told him to bring it over to the Sunset Beach Bar when it was ready. This was at about 4:00. At about 6:00 Mickey showed up with our second car (hey, its Island Time). We had downed a few rum punches by that time and watched the sunset. My brother and his wife (first timers in SXM) decided to stand behind the Air France 767 plane when it took off to get the “rush” (while Paul and I stood by shaking our heads in disbelief that they were doing this!). Well they really felt it…and my brother’s glasses were blown off of his face. He found the frames and one lens…so if anyone finds a second lens at the beach at Sunset Beach Bar, it is his!

We met with our friend from Packlight vacation rentals to get our chairs, cooler and umbrella. http://www.sxm-services.com/packlight/ GREAT DEAL for the week, and he is a great guy!! We were supposed to meet him at Sapphire at 6:30 but he saw us at Sunset Beach Bar as he was driving by and delivered them to us then. What service!

Checked into Sapphire. We had a deluxe studio facing the ocean, jacuzzi on deck, rm 214. My brother and his wife had a lagoon sleep 6, rm 366. We were all very happy with our rooms, no mold, no jacuzzi probs, no bugs.

That night we went to Lees. I had the grilled Lobster, which was excellent. Got to spend some time talking to both Lee and Chi Chi. They are always so nice and we have had a lot of great times with them over the years.

MONDAY:

We went to breakfast at Le Croissantarie in Marigot because Zee Best is closed on Mondays. We bought some local rum, then drove up to Orient Beach. We had lunch at Pedros (my sister in law and I think Pedros have the best french fries we ate all week). We planned on going to Mama Mia’s in Maho for dinner, but it was closed on Monday, so we went to Pizza Pasta in Maho instead. Good food and very reasonable. Before dinner we stopped to see Neil at Golden Creations (Golden Creationn) in Maho. He is AWESOME! He also has the Sunrise Gift Shop. We spent some time looking at jewelry and drinking a few mixed drinks. He offered us some really good deals on everything from liquor to cigars to jewelry….make sure to stop and see him when you are in SXM. Tell him Mary and Paul sent you. He is a joy to deal with and he was $450 lower on a diamond slider item than the same item was in Phillipsburg!

TUESDAY: Breakfast from Zee Best (hubby brought it back to Sapphire). Went to Mullet Beach for the afternoon. Nice and calm, compared to our last visit! Ate lunch at Chez Rosies (very good and inexpensive!). Love the fried plaintains. My brother and his wife did the Rhino Riders, while my husband and I went to Cupecoy. Very rocky, but we found our patch of sand and tiptoed our way across the rocks to get into the water. Still a beautiful spot of paradise. Only about 5 other couples on the beach that day. We went to REPARE DE PIRATE in Grand Case for dinner that night. The food was ok, nothing spectacular (my sister in law said her snapper was delicious, but not for the faint of heart. It is served whole…eyes and everything…and LOTS OF BONES). It kind of threw her off a bit, but she taste was great. The fun of the place is the setting and the owner. He and I hit is off very well once I attempted my rudimentary French…it was enough to get a little chemistry going….he paid a lot of attention to us and served us the infamous Pot of Death (MORT) (which really got our table going!!). After we were finished he brought me an extra glass (“just for you, mon cherie…..”) Luckily my husband is not the jealous type! When the rest of the table moaned and groaned, they all got another glass too! We then joined the fun of the Harmony Nights in Grand Case (Tuesday nights where the main street is turned into a pedestrian street. We strolled up and down the street, checking out a few of the restaurants and stopping for drinks at various places along the way. This is a great idea and I hope they keep it up. It really made for a nice evening.

WEDNESDAY: Despite swearing to never do this again, we did all go to a timeshare presentation. The only reason we did was because it was for the Cruise Club, and we actually are interested in doing something like this someday. We said hi to Neal at Buccaneer Beach Bar and then headed to Peg Leg Pub for lunch. What a great meal! Very reasonable and the food was excellent. We drove to Cul de Sac to go to Pinel for the afternoon (the water was so shallow and calm!), but the island was not as peaceful as we hoped because lots of people from the cruise ship came over in packs. We came home to change for the Pub Crawl on the Celine. http://www.sailstmaarten.com/
One of the highlights of our week! Neil has become a friend of ours over the years, and he did not know we were coming, so it was great to surprise him at check in! They were filming for a local station (SXM 6) so we all were mugging for the camera. King Bob (our friend who used to be the Activities Director at Sapphire) joined us for the pub crawl and we all had a blast. We went from Turtle Pier to Peg Leg Pub (for steak and fish appetizers…tender and delicious!…as well as garlic bread…yum!). We then went to Lal’s for some Indian food appetizers and then back to Turtle Pier for more food and drink. Appetizers at all of the places, a free drink at each place, and all you could drink on the boat. What a night! We finally left at about 11:00 because my brother was going Scuba diving the next day and wanted a good night’s rest. Neil told us later that the party went on until the wee hours of the morning!

A funny side note….my sister in law turned to me one day on vacation and said “What I have learned about St. Maarten: All of the beaches are beautiful and all of the men are named Neil.”….I laughed hysterically about that one…I had never realized that we knew so many Neils down there (Neil from Golden Creations, Neil from the Celine, Neal Rooney….”.


THURSDAY: My brother went Scuba Diving, my sister in law stayed at the Sapphire to swim and (gasp) study…she is in law school. My friend and I went to Phillipsburg to shop while my hubby went to Cupecoy. We reconvened at 12:30 and went to Baie Rouge for the afternoon. We ate lunch at Gus’s…it was a 1 hr. wait for food which was a bit annoying, but at least we were on the beach. Spent the day on Baie Rouge and then drove back to Sapphire, stopping to watch the beautiful sunset at Cupecoy…saw the green flash,..then changed for dinner. Paul and I decided to let my brother and his wife have dinner on their own (date night) in Marigot, so we went to O Plongeoir (out of this world! Very reasonable prices, and the sauces that the dishes are in are phenomenal. The asian spring roll appetizer was fantastic too) with another couple and my brother and his wife went to the Marigot Marina. They first tried Le Galion and my sister in law ordered a Lobster dish with some sort of sauce. She said she took one bite and it was crunchy and completely awful. She could not even take another bite. My brother’s food was mediocre at best. So they sent back the Lobster and she did not eat anything there. When my brother was done they wandered down to Tropicana so she could get something to eat. It was closing, but the owner sent her to Le France, where she had a snapper dish that was absolutely wonderful. When we finished our meal at O Plongeoir we decided to check on them, and drove to the parking lot by the Marina where they had left their car. The car door was open and the light was on. We decided to look for them and found them eating at the marina. So either my brother left the car door open or someone broke into it. Nothing was in the car, so we were surprised that someone would break into it. In 9 years we have never had our car broken into, but as long as that is the worst that happens to anyone we are with we are ok.

About half-way through dinner I realized that it was Thursday, not Wednesday, and that we had missed the TTOL party at Bamboo Bernies. We are used to coming in on Saturday instead of Sunday and my schedule was all messed up! So, I was bummed! I was really looking forward to meeting other TTOL people!!! Next time!

FRIDAY: We stopped at the market at Citrus for croissants and coffee, then went to the Pelican Marina to take the Lambada to Sandy Island and Anguilla,. What a great day! Lots of rum punch, bread and gouda cheese on the boat. Sandy Island was beautiful and relaxing. The beach where we had lunch on Anguilla was definitely NOT Anguilla’s finest. It did not show off Anguilla’s powdery white sand, and, in fact, it was not nearly as nice as most of the beaches on SXM. I am not sure why they pick this beach to take people too, except they probably have a deal with the restaurant there. It was fine, just not the “Wow” effect that other beaches on Anguilla can have. We wanted to try SPLASH for dinner, since it was my husband’s birthday, but they would not accommodate a party of 7! So we went to LA GONDOLA in the Atlantic Casino Plaza instead. If you have never had David’s Gnocci in cheese sauce, you have not lived. It is absolutely incredible! His prices at this new location are about 20% higher than the prices at his old location in Sandy Ground, but still reasonable.


SATURDAY- We had to move to another room since our RCI room was a Sat to Sat, and we were there Sun to Sun. RCI had promised us a sleep 6, but the room they assigned was a sleep 4, room 386. Sapphire said it was RCI’s fault, RCI (since we returned) says it is Sapphire’s fault. Oh well….we only had 4 people, but would have been REALLY UPSET if that had been our room for the week for all of us when we were promised a sleep 6… a bit too cramped for 2 couples. We could have let the ruin the rest of our stay, but, we are kinda easy going and just took it in stride. We went over to Dawn Beach to finally try Ms. B’s ribs and found it does not serve food on Saturday (who would have thought????). So we ate at Mr. Busbys, which was fine but not “the best ribs on SXM” which is what we were hoping for. Went to Phillipsburg for booze (Rum Jumbies), went to Mass at 6 in Phillipsburg, then back to Sapphire. Instead of changing Paul and I went over to Ocean Club to see Bert and Jill (we had been trying all week to see them) and we had what were probably the BEST rum punches in the world. Plus Bert made up a snapper in a bleu cheese sauce with hot sauce….it was one of the best things I have ever tasted. We had a blast there for about an hour, and five rum punches later, then headed to Maho to again see Neil at Golden Creations again. We purchased a few pieces of jewelry and other miscellaneous items, and once again were treated like gold (no pun intended!) by Neil and his fellow employees (Nick and Dominick especially). We had dinner and Mama Mias, but after Bert’s fish (and David’s gnocci from the night before) all other food paled in comparison. The meal was good and filling, and the prices were decent, so no complaints. We stopped at Sopranos to check it out, but decided not to stay when we were charged $5 each for a 10 oz. DRAFT BEER. Uh….not a chance. We used to recommend Sopranos (we had a GREAT evening there, reasonably priced, back in November 2002 when we drank draft beers for about 4 hours and the total bill, for the 3 people in our party, was $72) but the attitude of the owner has really changed (NOT for the better) and the prices were WAY too high.. When Alex asked us if we wanted another drink we told him, nicely, that his prices were higher than we remembered, thinking maybe he might suggest a reason for the increase or possibly a less expensive drink. But, he just shrugged his shoulders and walked away. So, we figured things had changed. We had our one 10 oz. drink of draft beer for $5, listened to a wonderful piano player, and left feeling dissatisfied and ripped off . Alex would have made money off of us had things been different, since we were ready to drink, but the prices are way out of line with the other places we have gone to. The rum punches at Bert and Jill’s Oasis club were $5 each and were completely worth it. Not for a draft beer, sorry.
.
SUNDAY: We sadly got up and checked out. Left our luggage at Sapphire and went to Mullet Beach. Ate lunch at Chez Rosies again, relaxed on beach until we had to go. We returned our chairs/umbrella/cooler to Packlight, drove to airport where Roberto met us for the cars, and we checked in for our flight. The flight was ½ hour delayed, so we shopped a bit and had a drink or two before making our way through security. A relatively uneventful trip home, except for weather delays, and we returned to a snowstorm that prevented us from driving home that night. But I don’t want to even think about that now…….

When planning our future trips we are making sure to note the following:

MUST DO: Rent from Packlight Vacation (chairs, umbrella, coolers, etc)
Website: http://www.sxm-services.com/packlight/
Take the Celine Pub Crawl (such a blast and you will make friends)
Website: http://www.sailstmaarten.com/
Visit Neil at Golden Creations in Maho (wonderful guy! Great deals)
Gnocci at La Gondola
Visit Bert and Jill at the Oasis at Ocean Club and have a famous Rum
Punch (and if you stay for dinner have Bert make up the snapper with
the hot bleu cheese sauce)
Lobster at Lees
Harmony Night in Grand Case (Tuesdays)

MUST AVOID: La Galion in Marigot
Sopranos in Maho