Our very late trip report, St. Martin May 6th to the 16th, 2004
Sorry about being so late, but I guess better late than never--
We, as always, had a great trip. We reconnected with many old friends and met some new ones.I will try to make this report brief, touching on some highlights and some general observations. We did try some new restaurants this trip but limited our beach days to Orient, and a day on Tintamarre, via the Tiko Tiko. We usually explore a little more, but this trip we got into true relaxation mode and the spirit was not there. Over the years of going to St. Martin about the same time, we have made some real friends, the friend we have made really made the trip--
Flights: We took USAir through Philadelphia from Washington, DC on frequent flier miles. Our flight going down was 1 ½ hours late, but the flight was uneventful (the way we like them). We did find out that USAir does not consider the Caribbean an international flight in regards to privileges at their private club. Our status with United (through the partnership with USAir) would allowed us access for international flights, but we were told point blank that flying to the Caribbean was not an international trip. Go figure?? This was my first time in the Philadelphia airport, and my one observation is that there is a lot of walking involved with the airport, so if you have any walking concerns, you should call ahead for help. Frank and I are both very healthy, but I did see some elderly passengers with a little distress.
Weather: The weather during our stay was not the best , It was very unusual for that time of year. We did get some beach time everyday except one, but many day were cut short or started late. There was some rain everyday. We have been going this time of year for many years and this is by far the worst weather we have seen and certainly is not usual. We were told that they are forecasting a heavier than usual storm season this year. Mind you we still had a great time and spent plenty of time on the beach.
Rental Car: We rented through Michael at Unity- Seamless service and no problems.
Accommodations: We have always stayed at a resort, but last December we hooked up with a property manager that Ray Mann recommended, Lynn Picard, with Cap Caribes Realty, and toured some of her listings. We were quite impressed with the quality and the prices. We chose, the Townhomes Menorca in Orient Village. We actually stayed in the same unit that Ray Mann stayed last December. It is a two bedroom, two ½ bath town home in Orient Village. It is one of the cute brightly painted town homes you see as you come in to the Orient Village area. I think that having a more spacious, home like environment really added to the enjoyment of our trip. We had people over for dinner twice and had people over for drinks probably 4 or 5 times.We did not feel like we were staying in a hotel. It also had a wonderful fresh water pool that we took advantage of, especially at night;it even had a dishwasher and a washing machine. We toured some more of her properties this trip, and they were all very nice.
Club O -- We spent most of our days at the beach of Club Orient and rented chairs for the week. We paid for five days and you got seven, and when we told them we were going on the Tiko Tiko for a day, they extended the chairs an additional day (to make up for the day we would not be using them);There were plenty of chairs on the beach. I did not really believe it until I saw it with my own eyes, there is sand in front of Papagayos <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />;The passage around the rocks at Pedros was still a little treacherous, but everyone down the beach had spaces for at least several rows of chairs. What a difference a few months can make!!! We took advantage of the Club O's Perch Bar, and their 12:30 to 1:30 happy hour specials- We heard over and over again from people that have been staying at Club O for years that the recent dramatic hike in prices, combined with the exchange rate, was going to force them to look for alternative accommodations next year. We have stayed at Club O in the past and even though we liked the convenience to the beach, we felt that the quality of the accommodations were lacking, for the money spent. There were rumors flying around about a court decision that was suppose to be handed down on May 17th, that would affect the way Club O is managed. All we heard were 2nd, 3rd and 4th hand rumors, so until I know something for sure there is no reason the repeat them, but if anyone knows anything I am very curious.We heard that there is no improvement in the food/service at Papagayos so only went there for cocktails. Happy hours at Papagayos seem to be getting progressively lower key.When we first went, many years ago, the place was packed for happy hour, with a lot of fun and socializing, but now the tenor seems much more subdued. This is something we have been seeing over the last few two years-- We did open an account at the beginning of the trip. We hung out for the first part of our trip with friends from years past, Chuck and Sherrie and Jim and Cindy,;We had a great time. Towards the middle of our stay a new wave off friends came, John and Toddy, Jim and Carmen, Ron and Beth, Bill and Linda and Joann and Pierre. This is a fun group and as always we had a blast-
Meals:
Breakfast: We are fairly low key for breakfast, and generally we make a pot of coffee and grabbed a couple of croissants. Tap 5, the deli/small grocery was right down the street, so access was easy.We had breakfast one day at Baywatch and were fed one morning a very impressive breakfast by Bill and Linda, in their unit at Club O-
Lunch--We ate at Baywatch twice and our last day with ate at Lees Roadside Grill, on our way to the airport.I had the mussels at Baywatch one day and their grouper burger the next. These are my favorites and were very good. The newly married Cheryl and Andy were as welcoming as always- Frank had a Italian sausage sandwich one day and the next a meatball sub. While he really liked the Italian sandwich, he was not as crazy about the meatball sub.The ribs and chicken we had at Lees were very good . It is close to the airport and we could eat and watch our packed, parked car at the same time -- The rest of the days we ate in ;With our fair skin, it is a good time of day to get out of the sun. We are also not large lunch eaters and are happy with some French bread, cheese and fruit, of course with the requisite glass of wine as well- Frank took off one afternoon with Chuck, and ate at the Heineken Plane on the way into Phillipsburg and thought it was very good and quite the value-
Dinners:
Durreche Traiture, (twice) Marigot-;Chuck and Sherry introduced us to this restaurant. They spend a lot of time in Marigot and really enjoy the restaurant. It is reasonable and very tasty.It is standard French fare, with a fairly good wine list. Everything we had was good. Chuck and Sherry have befriended the owner, Regis, and we were well taken care of. We recommended this restaurant to John and Toddy and Pierre and JoAnn, and we end up going a second time with them- I especially enjoyed his scalloped potatoes--
LEscapade, Gran Case-This was our anniversary dinner. It was highly recommended, and it did not disappoint. I had the mahi mahi and Frank had the rack of lamb- what was especially memorable was the soft chocolate cake with crème anglaise for dessert—a must try in my opinion. We ended up getting a table by the water which was nicely lit- It was a very romantic dinner. They got an A+ for service as well.
Cote Plage, Orient- Jim and Cindy who we had met on previous trips and were renting the town home next to ours, raved about this restaurant, so on our first night, with Jim and Cindy, we made reservations to try it out. Contrary to the experience that one board member recently shared with the forum we had wonderful service and a wonderfully relaxed meal- The salads were great as well as the entrée.Both Cindy and I had a memorable veal stew- it is very popular with a lot of the local French and I would even in low season make a reservation. It is not a large restaurant.
Le St. Severin, Belleview,This has been on our list to try for quite a while. It was recommended to us several years ago by a woman who works for the Cote du Vin in Marigot-We asked her about any new secret restaurants that were not main stream with tourist, and she recommended this one.. We went with Jim and Cindy and Chuck and Sherry.We spoke to the manager, and she repeated what has been said on the board that business has been down- They served traditional French food, and they serve seafood flown in from France, on Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays- We started out with oysters which were very good and continued with an assortment of entrees.Everyone enjoyed the meal and the service, and we will definitely go back--
Little France (twice)We love this restaurant. We went twice- last December Frank had an osso bucco that he talked about for months- he mentioned it to the owner who said he would try to get some for Wednesday night, or anniversary, but could not promise. We called Wednesday and he said he was unable to get the veal shanks, but if he did later in the week he would call us- We got a call Friday night saying that they were in but we had other plans and could not go;he called us again on Saturday and said that he was serving it again on Saturday, so we made a reservation- Talk about feeling appreciated-
Le Grain du Sel-Cul de Sac, We got carry out carry out the night after the Tiko Tiko and people over for dinner. We were not up for a huge meal, so pizza and salad hit the spot. Frank augmented the meal with duck, which we brought from home. Their pizza is very good, and they will deliver.
Repaire du Pirate:After my non-party (see below TTOL party) about 18 of us went to The Pirate for dinner. At our table sat John and Toddy, Chuck and Sherry, Pierre and JoAnn and Bill and Linda and others.There was another table of people as well. We had a blast. John wrote a song about Frank and sang it to the tune of the Beverly Hillbilly's theme song., the Ballad of Frank Young. It was a hoot!! Franks evil twin showed up again and served the Mort (the lethal after dinner drink) to all he could. (of course Frank denied all recollections of all his carrying on)-- We enjoyed dinner and my entrecote was wonderful.
Ate in two nights.We brought with us rack of lamb and duck and invited people over two nights to much success and good company- Our place this time really was large enough to really entertain in--
Shopping: This was not a big shopping trip. My new discovery was Rimas. This shop is on your way into Phillipsburg. It is actually a wholesale shop that sells to a lot of the women who have the beach stands.Great for gifts, pareos, hats, shirts, etc...
Tiko Tiko: Our Tiko Tiko trip was great. We had Florence as our first mate.Who was both charming and efficient. The mud baths were a hoot. If you have never gone on one of the cruises and are comfortable with the clothing optional aspect, you should go. It is a day sail to Tintamarre
With a gourmet lunch and mud baths in the afternoon- This was a day when we could look over at the rain pouring on Orient, and it was quite pleasant on Tintamarre.This trip is getting fairly pricey, $95 pp. and we originally were not going to go, but enough of us got together and we did not want to miss the fun.
TTOL party AHHHH!!! I had been talking about and organizing this party on St. Martin since January.I never had a thought that the weather may interfere. The weather was not good and when we went over to Baywatch the afternoon of the party(and it was pouring rain), we were told that the weather was not forecasted to go away and the party would need to be cancelled. For those who do not know Baywatch ,it is on the beach and only has small roofed areas.We called whom we could and notified people who were staying at Club O, but there were people driving to this party from all over the island. We decided to hang out in the parking lot behind Baywatch and greet the non-party goers and give them their party favors. We brought glasses and bottles of wine. Our friends from Club O showed up in droves with bottles of Ma Dou Dou and much support.We actually had a party of sorts in the parking lot. There were at anyone time 36 of us there.I think the party would have been quite the success-The sad thing was the weather was not bad that evening, it had stopped raining and the wind had died down.A bunch of us went to dinner that evening, and made the night a success, but I felt horrible for the people that had driven over from the Dutch side that evening and had planned their night around the party. Note to self: party planning rule #1, Always have a rain plan!!!!Sorry!!
People we met: We met some new people this trip. Of the TTOL crowd, Ed and Sandra. We had corresponded with them about using their panorama photo. I suggested we meet for a drink and they came over to our place for drinks prior to dinner. A very charming couple who had some interesting insights to the island that they generously share in their trip reports. We also met quite a few others at our above-described non-party --
Miscellaneous:
Manicure: I had a manicure at the little shop close to where Tap 5 is in Orient Village. They did a fairly good job. We accessed the Internet from the DVD rental store in Orient Village. High speed, $9 an hour, and they carry over your time. We used up time we had left over from last December. Frank had to do some business while we were on vacation and used the services of Mailboxes (across the street from Unity car rental) for a cell phone, faxes etc- Fair rates and good service.
We have already scheduled our trip in December, and cannot wait!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />
Anna
