TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Hilma's Windsor Castle

Does anyone have a update on our favorite gourmet dining experience in Simpson Bay ? Hilma is always a pleasure to visit with while on island and only hope things are well with her.

Thank you for any updates.

Unless someone on the island can report, it might be tough to get any information. Hilma does not do the internet and I do not have her phone number. Hopefully she is ok and her business will return.

I just watched a video that showed the area where Hilma was located. I did not see her trailer in the video at all. I am hoping she perhaps moved it elsewhere. The area where Hilma was located is at about the 5:02 minute mark.

Below is a link to the facebook video.

Link

I hesitate to say it is "gone" but I do not see the trailer in the usual spot.

Impressive damage. Thanks for the link...although i did get a bit car sick watching it. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Spook.gif" alt="" />

Wow! That was some ride. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

Do we know the date that video was taken? I was actually surprised at the number of buildings where the roof was intact. Before any commercial flights can resume, definitely looks like, regardless of any other damage to the airport itself, they have to replace virtually the entire airport fence, for security reasons.

I do not know an exact date it was made but it was posted on 9/17 from what I can tell.

Unbelievable!! Were there any buildings on the whole island that did not have any kind of damage??? From all the pics and videos I have seen, I did not see one that did not sustain any damage! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />

One villa owner from the Pelican Key area reported minimal damage and friends who rent in that area implied the unit they use was not heavily damaged.

"Im very lucky, we didn't have much damage...Spoken to lots of my future renters, all have said they are coming and want to support the Island xx " Posted by ukdude.

From what I have notice from visiting there is that modified trailer was not movable.

Wish her the best.

Wendell

Hilma is great. Always a story, a laugh and smile. Wish I had one of her johnnycakes right now!

I thought a lot of buildings looked good. CAT 5 is no fun but lots of debris and blown windows and downed chain link fences are easy fixes.
The problem is GeBe and infrastructure.
And Government.
Makes me hopeful. Lots of improvements made since Luis. And technology.
Peace
irina

You must not have seen all the pictures and reports of total destruction to homes and some resorts. A lot more than "lots of debris and blown windows and downed chain link fences".

JD, as you know, our villa where we stay is also in Pelican Key area, Pelican Cove to be exact. We were told that all of the villas along the cove sustained very minimal damage and will be good to go in February and March. It's the rest of the island that is still up in the air!

Just received information from a reliable person that Hilma is safe and still smiling despite it all. Always a positive attitude.

Did anyone figure out if Hilma’s is still open?

Hilma's has been closed for many years now.

Nothing to figure out. Long gone.

Anthony Bourdain went there in a episode

That's what I thought, but I hoped for the best. Thanks!

Hilma was a joy to talk to but she did things her way and at her pace. In conversation with her, she was under the impression that the United Sates consisted of "Texas, New York and Cleveland." Prior to Irma I took her an old road atlas I had laying around so she could take a look and see what the US consisted of and where her many loyal customers came from.

I miss her, the johnny cake sandwich she made and a cold Heineken or Coors Light for breakfast.

What great memories!
Are there other places you might recommend for Johnny Cakes?

"she was under the impression that the United Sates consisted of "Texas, New York and Cleveland." Prior to Irma I took her an old road atlas I had laying around so she could take a look and see"
That's funny.

Any local place should have a decent johnny cake.

Thanks to this thread, I watched the old Bourdain episode.
His comment about it being his happy place made Michael and I sad. Perhaps had he visited more often, he wouldn't have felt the need to kill himself.

The episode was a nice reminder to visit our happy places more often.

My vote for the best Johnny Cakes is Yvettes.

Never had the Johnny cakes at Wilma’s but I, too, can attest to how good they are at Yvette’s. And every meal served to our group was equally yummy. If you haven’t been there you need to do so. 🙂🙂

I saw this threat pop up and I was hoping it was someone with an update on how she is doing. Last I heard, she was working somewhere on the dutch side. I hope she is OK.