A little "late" on the report but here it is anyway <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/typing.gif" alt="" />

Travel

Flew American Airlines from New Orleans to Miami for a connection and then on to SXM. Both flights were early and not crowded at all. Breezed through SXM customs with our carry-ons. Carry on is the ONLY way to go as far as we’re concerned – not once during the week did we miss not having what we needed in the way of clothes, etc. Gone are the days of lugging those over-sized, over-weight bags that “may” make the flight connection, and then again, may not. As I said, arrived at Juliana airport “early”, and there was Marius, from St Louis Rental Car to meet us, as usual, with a smile and updates on island information. Marius had a brand new 2004 vehicle for us with only a few kilometers on it (really don’t like getting these “new” cars in SXM, what with the driving “challenges” you’re faced with :>), but it was a great vehicle and it served us well all week. We highly recommend Marius and St Louis Car Rental to anyone – friendly service, good prices and very accommodating as to pick up and drop-off.

Drove through Simpson Bay and the traffic was TERRIBLE! Don’t know why I did that, because I know that driving through Terre Basse and Sandy Ground is a bit longer but the traffic is not NEARLY as bad. That was the choice for our return trip and it was a breeze. When returning to the airport we always drive back through Sandy Ground and are usually able to return the car to Marius at St Louis Car Rental right there at his office adjacent to the Ocean Club and he then drives us back to the airport. Or, if you prefer, you can just drop the car off at the airport and Marius will be there to meet you.

Accommodations

Arrived at Orient, parked and checked in at L’Hoste. A few words about L’Hoste here – I’ve read a few negative comments about L’Hoste (and I’m sure that some have had valid problems) but all that we can say is that everything was just perfect again during our stay. We were warmly greeted by the Agnes at the desk, quickly checked in and escorted to our room. The second floor room was spotlessly clean, large with a king-sized bed, nice bathroom and a balcony looking out over the courtyard toward the beach. Of course, you couldn’t see the beach for the trees and vegetation but the balcony is a nice touch. The daily maid service was perfect with clean sheets and towels and everything else one would expect from a nice hotel. And we just love the location – so convenient to the beach. The daily morning breakfasts at the pool cabana are just perfect for us. The fresh baguettes, croissants, fruit, etc. and good strong coffee are just what we like to have before our morning walk on the beach. The staff at breakfast are ALWAYS friendly and attentive and you get a chance to meet other hotel guests and make new friends. The entire staff at the hotel was friendly, attentive, professional and just a pleasure to deal with. As you can tell by our comments, L’Hoste gets a “thumbs up” all the way.

Beaches

Spent most of the time just “chillin” at OB. Split our time between the chairs at LaPlaya (which come with the price of the room) and down at Club O meeting new friends. The early morning walks on the beach are always one of the highlights of our trips and this time was no exception. Had lunch at Baywatch most days and chatted with Andy, Cheryl and Adrian – great folks. And the scallops were wonderful as always. One day for lunch, Cheryl fixed us this great “Jersey Dog” with onions, (and so much other stuff I can’t recall) but it was great – Joan and I shared the thing and it was plenty (washed down with a couple of Caribs of course :>). “Stuck” our TTOL flag in the sand by our chairs and did get a few TTOL’ers stopping by to introduce themselves. Thanks go to Eric for his flagpole design made out of ½ inch pvc pipe cut into 18 inch sections (with screw on couplings) that fit nicely into a carry-on. Sure worked well Eric. Sorry we missed seeing you and Carol on this trip.

We did get over to Dawn Beach one day for our obligatory lunch at Scavenger’s – still one of the best cheeseburgers on the island in our opinion. A few folks there chillin’ in beach chairs. Actually, parked at the Oyster Bay Beach Resort and walked the beach (over the rocks) to Scavenger’s. We like Dawn Beach but it just doesn’t rate as high on our scale as does Orient. Just a matter of taste I guess, but we like OB best. The Oyster Bay resort really seems to be a nice place. Had a drink there at happy hour and chatted with some of the guests, who were mostly time-share owners.

Weather

The weather was wonderful. A little breezy but no “big blows”. Sunny most of the days. Got chased back to The Perch at Club O one day due to an afternoon shower, but it only lasted for about 15 minutes and we spent the time meeting new folks and chatting with them. A couple of other “drizzles” but not even enough to run us in. Hard to beat this kind of weather.

Restaurants and Food

Baywatch – what more can we say? Great food, great location and Andy and Cheryl make you feel so welcome. A trip to OB without a stop at Baywatch just wouldn’t get it done.

Spiga – Outstanding restaurant in Grand Case (our first time there). Great food, elegantly prepared and presented and all served in a nice atmosphere. Friendly staff. Great pricing and giving 1 to 1 (Euro to $$) even ON a credit card. We each had a wonderful entrée, two glasses of a very nice house merlot and shared a dynamite desert and the tab was $62. A great value. Spiga will be a permanent stop on our future trips.

Auberge Gourmande – Ate there one evening with some friends. The food was good but didn’t really find it “outstanding”. Perhaps we just hit it on a “so so” night. Pretty pricey also, especially with a 1.15 exchange rate.

La Fregate (Near Dawn Beach) – Great little restaurant. Nothing fancy but just good food, well prepared. Martine, the proprietress, host and server, is charming. Ate there twice. The veal with pasta was wonderfully tender and well seasoned. There’s a chocolate desert to “die for”. I’m a “chocoholic” and just couldn’t resist it. Extremely reasonable pricing, and a parking lot in which to park you car. Try this one, you’ll like it.

Poulet d’Orleans – Have passed this place so many times without stopping before. But talked to some folks who had tried it and said it was good so, on our way back from Dawn Beach one evening, we stopped by. Tony, the proprietor, is a kick. He does it all (at least he did so the night we were there) – greeter, server, cook, busboy, etc. Joan took a tour of his house and conversed with him in the kitchen as he prepared the food. A great half roasted chicken with Creole sauce with sides of potatoes, corn, and other veggies was excellently prepared, well-seasoned and just plain finger-lickin’ good. Joan had the same but with the peanut sauce, which she also enjoyed. Another couple showed up and sat at the table next to us and we hit it off immediately and spent another hour there just talking after we had finished our meal. Oh, and it’s an experience to watch the traffic from the front porch trying to negotiate the “S” downhill curve right there in front of Tony’s place without hitting something :>). Put this one on your list – it’s a delightful, “island” experience.

Le Fish Bar – When you’re staying at L’Hoste, this place is pretty darn convenient. We were tired from our trip and dined there our first night. I had the salmon pasta that was excellent and Joan had the grouper that she found to be excellent also. Nice little place and looked like quite a few locals at the bar and dining at some of the other tables. Good food at reasonable prices.

As you can tell, on this trip we tried many of the “smaller”, local restaurants instead of our usual “dine-around” at Grand Case. Did miss L’Alabama, the Sunset Café, L’Pressoir, Peg Leg’s, etc but enjoyed trying these new places (at least new to us).

BTW, the Dingy Dock just across from the Oyster Bay resort was a new stop for us for happy hour. You “pour your own” drinks there during happy hour. Lot’s of “locals” – kind of a “funky” little place but fun.

Other

On Saturday, met some TTOL’ers at Bikini Beach for a few beers. Guess there were about 15 or 20 of us there.

Overall, ran into quite a few TTOL’ers this trip. Enjoyed meeting Tom & Lillian from Austin, Dave & Delores (Dave has the SXM Photos website), John & Debbie from Connecticut, Dave & Terry from Wisconsin, “Gitter”, and others that we met . What a GREAT bunch of folks. I know I’m leaving some folks out here, but suffice it to say, we enjoyed meeting and chatting with everyone. Thanks again to Eric and Carol for putting this website together. Sure is nice to meet other folks from all over the place with common interests and a love for SXM.

Drove into Phillipsburg one afternoon so Joan could pick out some earrings to go with her “other stuff” we bought when we were there last December. Parked in the “free lot” and walked over to DK Gems. Deepti was in Las Vegas at a jewelry convention so we missed seeing her, however, her brother, Kamal was great at showing us some of their “new” items. As usual, walked out with more that we had intended, but what a nice experience. We highly recommend DK Gems for anyone looking for some jewelry.

Took a little “side trip” over to Tortola after our week on SXM was up to meet some friends and sail for a week in the BVI’s. I know that this is out of the scope of this thread but wanted to mention that we flew LIAT from SXM over to Tortola and back. Absolutely no problems what so ever. On time, no luggage problems and a smooth flight. I won’t hesitate to fly LIAT again if the opportunity presents itself. BTW, noticed in their flight magazine, that you can fly to three different destinations within a 21-day period with LIAT (where ever they fly) for a price of $225. Sounds like a pretty darn good deal to me if someone wants to “explore” some other islands. Just wanted to stick this in because I’ve read some negative comments about LIAT. While we were leaving Tortola to fly back to SXM, our friends were leaving on American to fly back to Denver (via Puerto Rico and Miami) and American cancelled two of their flights to Puerto Rico. Our friends had to spend the night in Miami. So maybe the “little” Caribbean airlines aren’t the only ones to cancel flights after all :>).

All in all, another GREAT trip to SXM. We’re already talking about maybe going back in November if we can swing it. Or we may decide to wait until January or February when it’s really cold and snowy up here in the mountains, but then, that would cut into our skiing time – tough decision :>). If any of you are up here in Summit County, Colorado during ski season, drop us a e-mail and maybe we can ski some runs together.

Jerry & Joan (jandj) <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/circle.gif" alt="" />
Silverthorne, Colorado