This is actually the first full trip report I am writing. This was my 20th trip to SXM. First time without my husband ( went with my almost 18 year old niece for her high school graduation).
We left from Newark on Friday, July 2nd a.m. No problems with flight. I love non-stop Continental. I took the last 2 seats in the back of the plane because they usually have 2 sets of stairs when you arrive in SXM and we can be the first ones off. Of course, when we flew in May they didn’t use the 2nd set of stairs and hubby wasn’t too happy being in the back of the plane – by the bathrooms for no apparent good reason… oh well.
Breezed thru customs and got our bag and went outside to meet Lesley Bruce – right there on time as usual. Got our car and we were on our way.
I had rented a cell phone from Sharon Harris so stopped at Royal Palm to pick it up. Waited about 10 minutes before Michael pulled up. He said he was in a hurry because he is a taxi driver and had his passengers waiting in the cab out front! Rushed thru the paperwork and we were off. Called my husband to let him know we arrived and see if the phone worked. It did! Kristen, my niece had a couple rum punches while waiting in the lobby at the hotel – getting off to a good island start – just don’t tell my sister.
We took a ride past Port De Plaisance where we own timeshare so I could show Kristen where we could come back next year. The resort looks good but deserted.
On to GCBC where we were staying. We arrived and they told us that we would have a 2 bedroom/2 bath for the first night because our studio wouldn’t be available until Saturday. It was nice being on the first floor with access to the chaise lounges and beach. Not a problem, except we had to hang around on Saturday til 11a.m. to be sure our things got moved. It was about 3p.m. by this time, so we changed clothes and headed down to the beach. The beach is nice here, but there is somewhat of a drop off and may not be very good for older people when trying to get out. We used the pedal boats for about an hour and used the floats. Headed up to change for dinner and decided to walk to Grand Case. It was pretty windy at this point and had rained a bit, so there were a few puddles walking along the way. Kristen was wearing a very short skirt and the wind kept blowing it up, so she attracted some attention… We decided to go to Bistrot Caribes for dinner. We were one of 2 couples there. I ordered the Shrimp and scallops with garlic sauce and Kristen ordered the Thai shrimp. I thought my dish was ok, and I liked Kristen’s a lot more. Mine would have been better with some additional seasoning. I tried the pepper on the table but that didn’t do the trick. I also thought some sort of side dish should have been served with it to take up some of the sauce. I noticed later as several other people came in that they were greeted very warmly and the couple next to us ordered the same dish I had and were served a side of rice and they got freshly ground pepper. Maybe because we were 2 women traveling together we didn’t get the attention that the other diners seemed to get - not sure about that. We walked a little further down the street and it started to drizzle again, so decided to head back to GCBC.
On Saturday, we got everything packed up and headed down to the beach for a bit. It was a beautiful day. We had the continental breakfast at Sunset Café. It was ok. We stayed on the beach until about 10:45 and then decided to go back to the front desk to see if we could get our new room. It was ready and they gave me the key, so I moved our bags myself. The room was on the 2nd floor and while I preferred the first floor I was glad that everything was on the same level. It was comfortable and very clean. We spent the morning on the beach and then headed out to P’burg late afternoon to do some shopping. I went to Touch of Gold. I had exchanged 2 pair of diamond earrings that I never wore much for another larger pair back in May. They did not have the records from my first purchase but Heeru said they were around $500 (she seemed pretty sure about this). I thought that we had paid quite a bit more, but couldn’t argue since I didn’t have the paperwork from that long ago. I had emailed them when we returned to see if they had located the paperwork and they had not. When we got there I asked them if they had located the paperwork and they still hadn’t. My niece was trying to find a pair of earrings for her Mom and didn’t see anything she liked. I had an antique ring that I wanted to get a stone for. We found a pretty tanzanite and they said it would be ready by Tuesday. I wanted to purchase a Skagen watch for my nephew, but they don’t carry them anymore, so we went elsewhere to look. When we were getting ready to leave, they found the paperwork and turns out I had paid $865 for the earrings I purchased in 1998. I went to Joe’s and while he didn’t carry Skagen, he told me that Ballerina did (which is also part of Joe’s). I got a beautiful Skagen watch there and also picked up some nice pink sapphire earrings for my niece and a peridot ring for my other niece ( I have a lot of graduations this year)!!
For dinner we went to Temptation, but unfortunately neglected to make a reservation, so not able to eat there. They offered us seats at the bar, but it didn’t look too comfortable. We should have made reservations, but I thought off season, and the fact that we had made reservations almost every time in May (not really needed), so we walked on over to Montmartre (another one of my favs). I had the cauliflower soup and Kristen had escargot, which she deemed excellent. My soup was great as well. The kitchen staff was commenting on my niece (who is adorable) in French and she took 5 years of French so got a kick out of that! The staff there is excellent and the food terrific. We both had filet mignon, which was delicious. For dessert my niece had a warm berry cobbler, which was really good.
We went to Bliss for a couple drinks. It doesn’t liven up until after 11, but unfortunately, I liven down way before then! We then went to Princess Casino, where I won about $50 on the slots. That was it for me. I’m not a big gambler, so if I’m ahead – I quit!
The next day Sunday we went to Sunset for breakfast and we ordered eggs, which were $4. I gave them my room # and signed a receipt. I also left them a tip on the table. When we came for breakfast on Monday, they came over and asked me to pay my “bill” from Sunday. To be honest, it was a little embarrassing – like I was skipping out on my bill or something. They explained that it’s a separate entity from the resort. They really should explain that up front and then you can pay as you go, which I assume is what they want to do. I paid the bill that day, for Sunday’s eggs and also for the French Toast (which was very good) that we had that day.
On Sunday we headed over to Orient. My niece wanted to do some water sports. We were there for about 2 hours when we found a lady who could braid my niece’s hair. It was looking a little overcast and a few sprinkles were coming down. In the middle of getting her braids done it really started to rain. We were in front of Bikini Beach Bar and went into their vacant section with the thatched roof. It was “POURING” with the wind blowing sideways. I had to hold up towels to keep my niece and Florence (the lady doing her braids) somewhat dry. When she was finally done we were all soaked to the bone. Florence’s daughter had come out to give her mom a hand so I offered them a ride home. They lived in Sucker Garden, which was a drive, but there was nothing we could do anyway. I think they appreciated it. Since it had stopped raining for a couple minutes, we stopped at Perfect Ti Pot and picked up a couple gifts. We hung out in our room for a couple hours before heading out to dinner. It had finally stopped raining. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> We went to Bamboo Bernies for sushi. I had some ribs, which were ok. My niece liked her sushi. We also had some coconut shrimp which were okay.
Monday, we spent at Friar’s – I love this beach and when my niece saw it she was disappointed. She liked the action at Orient, but after an hour or so she said she could understand why I really liked this beach. We had lunch at Kali’s, which was good. We went back to our hotel and got changed. It was early and we both wanted to pick up a few more gifts, so we headed over to Marigot. My niece loves to shop, but is somewhat picky about what she likes (she’s a teenager!). I think we hit every store in Marigot. She bought a bikini at the lingerie store in the mall and we both bought some wine at Vinissimo’s. I also picked up some cosmetics at the store in the mall. They offer $1-1E.
On Monday night we went to Don Camillo’s. This has become my husband and my new favorite, since Le Perroquette closed. My niece was impressed that I was greeted by name. Karen also remembered me at Montmartre, so my niece now thinks that everyone in St Maarten personally knows me! I had a stuffed chicken breast with spinach and my niece had filet mignon (this is her 2nd steak while on the island) I mention this only because she says she is a vegetarian!! Don Camillo’s has the best canoli’s. I got my own because I told my niece I wasn’t going to share one. She agreed that it was definitely in the top 5!
On Tuesday, we went to the beach at Grand Case. We had signed up for the Scoobidoo ½ day sail to Tintemarre, which was leaving at 2:45pm. Around 11, I headed down to P’burg to pick up the ring that I had made up. My niece stayed on the beach. Coming down the hill thru Sucker Garden area, I could see this very dark cloud over the mountain and I was praying, please don’t rain… Well, it started to pour and the wind was blowing like crazy. The palm trees were bent over sideways and the rain was blowing in sheets in the same direction. I was just thinking about the people on the island and how magnified it must be here during a hurricane. This was only a storm and it was scary!
I got to Front Street and the street was flooded. It looked like a river. I was debating whether I should wait it out or not, but remembered on Sunday that it rained for hours without let-up. I decided to park my car and make a run for it. I ran in between the awnings until I got to the new Phillipsburg River. This is the river that was flowing down one of the side streets. I forded the “river” and finally got to TOG where I picked up the ring. Now I have to go back to my car again. I figured maybe I should cross the street and try the other side, but by this time the “river” was also running past my car, so again I was in about 2 inches of water to get to my car. Driving back was definitely an experience as there was quite a bit of flooding. I just took my time and made sure the brakes were still working every time I had to go thru a deep puddle.
That night we decided to try a new restaurant that some people here recommended L’Oiseau Rare. It really is very pretty inside with the waterfalls and foliage. My niece had the escargot again, which she said were good but not as good as Montmartre. I had a tomato and fresh mozzarella salad and rack of lamb. The lamb was very good and generous portions. My niece had a tuna tartar which she did not care for only because she was expecting more of a sushi type dish. This had tomatoes and garlic and other things mixed in with it. She is as picky an eater as she is a shopper.
We were going to go to the beach Wed morning before we left, but it looked overcast again so we decided to go to Marigot and do a little last minute shopping. Then off to the airport where we met up with Lesley Bruce and on our way home.
I had so many concerns about traveling with my niece because of her expired passport and had brought along her birth certificate and a notarized letter from her parents, etc. No one ever noticed that her passport was expired a year ago. Even US Customs stamped it! I don’t know if that’s the norm or not but I thought it was weird. They were giving another guy a hard time because they said he didn’t look like his driver’s license photo!
We had a really great time and I was so glad to be able to show my island to my niece. She definitely wants to go back again. Maybe next year.