I won’t do the day-by-day thing-rather I’ll do it by sections. However, when I think about it, except for some minor variations, every day was the same-up around 9:00AM, to the beach by around 11:00AM, lunch around 1:15PM, nap on beach, back to the unit at around 5:00PM, pre-game at around 7:30, dinner at 9:00PM and casino until 2-4:00PM. Pretty boring!! It was the best trip yet and we’ve never had a bad one. Anyone remember the Woody Allen line about orgasms?<br>Rounded up the herd, wife, 20-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter and left the day after Christmas. This was our ninth trip to SXM, so we kind of know where we want to go. We really didn’t get everywhere we planned, but who cares-we’re on the island!<br><br>TRANSPORTATION: We flew TWA out of Kennedy through SanJuan. It’s too bad that they’re going bankrupt (of course American, all of our favorites, is buying them) since we flew down to SanJuan in a 767 with two rows of middle seats open right in our section-time to rest up for the trip. Of course the leg from SanJuan to SXM was in a 16-seat puddle-jumper. The look on my wife and daughter’s face were priceless. It looked like Sky King’s Songbird-but I’m dating myself. Arrived on time at 10:40PM and breezed through customs-the customs lady was the last one left at the airport! Naturally, my daughter’s suitcase didn’t arrive-please, anybody else’s!! It got to the room the next evening, thank the good Lord!!<br><br>RENTAL CAR: Rented a RAV 4 from Mikey at Tropical Rent a Car (Phone:590879418, Cell:590273758) for the first time via email. What a great experience!! Responded promptly to my email and called me at my house the next day. I told him that I want a good car with good tires up front and wished to be picked up at the airport and he assured me that there would be “No problem Mon”. Faxed him all of my drivers and credit card info prior to arrival. Well, I’m happy to report that there was “No problem, Mon!” I got a relatively new; clean RAV with 4,000KM with great tires. You guess the color. I was out of the airport in less than 2 minutes and he helped transport the bags to the Atrium. His office was across from the Atrium, staffed and he gave me his cell number in the event of a problem. Cost: $250 per week. With the thousands I spend on the trip and all of the traveling we do on the island, I’ll spend a couple of extra bucks(even though Tropical was cheaper that everybody else) for service and a good car, not a Corolla, but a car with some meat. On top of that he’s a really good guy and my new guy on the island!! Kudos!! The best car rental experience I’ve had in SXM!!<br><br>ACCOMODATIONS: Stay for the first week at the Atrium and the second at the Royal Palm. Both are class places. I also took the presentation at Oyster Pond. I’ll be staying where I am. If anyone wants specific info on any of these, email me.<br><br>WEATHER: This was probably the best weather we have had in all the trips to the island. 85-90 during the day and 75 at night. We had 10 minutes of rain on the first day and about an hour on day twelve. The breezes were even light, a couple of days even too light as it became very hot and there were even mosquitoes out at night. Pretty big complaint, huh!!<br><br>PHONE: Got hooked up with East Caribbean Cellular. $3.00 per day only when you use it and $2.00 per minute to the states and .60 per local. The convenience is great and except for AT&T, it’s just about as cheap as any other service. The call of the week: sitting on Orient with a Carib calling my neighbor offering his son $75 to shovel my driveway since we got 2 feet of snow in Jersey.<br><br>BEACHES: We go to a different one every day. Don’t do the nude deal-not that there’s anything wrong with it.<br>Orient: Spectacular! From KonTiki to Pedro’s the beach got very narrow. Maybe only three rows of chairs, which made it more crowded than ever, even on non-cruise days. Andy from Baywatch said that the prior week they only had one row of chairs. For the people who like it a little less crowded, Coco Beach is great. I like it better at Coco, but my wife likes it better at KonTiki. Remember there are no cruise ships in Fridays and Sundays, so that’s when we go.<br>Dawn: Beautiful! The new Oyster Pond Road is done, however, it’s still a bit of an adventure for about the last mile. Some waves and seaweed, however, hands down the best snorkeling on SXM. It’s a very short swim to the reef where there are a great variety of fish.<br>Baie Rouge: Still my favorite, except for those damn rocks on the way into the water and the drop off seemed bigger and closer to shore. It also seemed that the “cliff boys”-some were old men - moved from Cupecoy to here. Tough with a 14-year-old daughter. Raymond is still in good spirits and blowing that damned conch shell, yelling “Happy Hour” every 20 minutes. Hey, some of us are trying to nap here!<br>Friars: Average beach by the others standards, but still very nice by the rest of the worlds standards. The road hasn’t gotten any better and it hadn’t rained for a while. The Friars Beach Café is reason enough to keep coming back here. More on this under “Beach Bars”. The chairs are free when you eat lunch here-the best deal on the island. Planned on going over the hill to Happy Bay, but some of us needed a nap here.<br>LeGallion: Very scenic, great powdery sand and very shallow. Without a doubt the best beach for kids. Also, good bathroom facilities. Usually, the windsurfers are in full force, which adds to the scenery, however, there was no wind. This is past the road to the Butterfly Farm, which we still haven’t done and the stables. Didn’t do the horseback riding this time around, but did it last year and saw them doing it again this year. $55.00 for about a two-hour ride including bareback in the water.<br>Pinel Island: Just a great beach. On the day we were there it was unusually crowded. As a matter of fact, it seemed more crowded than Orient. A couple of amusing turf wars sprung up. When it’s less crowded, one of my favorites.<br>Long Beach: I really don’t here too many people talk about this beach which ranks up there with Dawn. We park and walk down right through LaSamanna, grab their pool towels on the way by and use their chairs on the beach. Done this about 5 times and nobody has ever questioned us. We do pay cash for the drinks, however. Not a good beach, a great beach.<br><br>BEACH BARS: I have long ago gotten my double doctorate in this category and consider myself one of the foremost experts in the world on this subject. I have been in beach bars all over the world and my picture hangs in many of them. For this report, I will confine the comparison the SXM. I am however, thinking of writing a book. I will do this in order of rank.<br>Friars Bay Café (Friars Bay): The best food of any beach bar anywhere. Get a bottle of Rose, a couple of orders of spring rolls, some crab fritters, a salad, another bottle of Rose, some kebobs or maybe some grilled wahoo, another bottle of Rose-you get the idea.<br>Pedros(Orient): A classic with not only the top ribs (get em spicy) and fries but also great drinks. Entertainment almost every day. Not to be missed!!<br>Coco Beach(Orient): Great pizzas, lite menu, great atmosphere.<br>Kontiki(Orient): Big menu selection, great atmosphere, great food, but a little pricey.<br>Baywatch(Orient): Great sausage and peppers sandwich and very good Buffalo Wings. Great atmosphere and great company. Usually don’t like to do the American food thing over here, but have to go see Cheryl and Andy. Also, a kickass Mudslide.<br>LaSamanna(Long Beach): The Pool Bar classy to qualify as a real beach bar, however, having cocktails while watching the sunset is a real treat.<br>The rest of these are pretty much the same quality, but nevertheless a lot of fun.<br>Pinel Beach Bar(Pinel): It has a name, but I forget. Had a grilled lobster, very good.<br>Busbys Beach Bar(Dawn): Good Ribs, good drinks, nice atmosphere. A little pricey.<br>Ms. B’s(Dawn): When we walked down to the beach, they sent over rum punches to welcome us to the beach-kudos! Gave them our business one day. Good ribs, weak drinks, but the right attitude. Ms B’s is in existence due to a squabble with Busby-didn’t get into the details. One interesting thing is that they will cook dinner to order (whatever you order in advance, i.e. lobsters, fish) on the beach under candlelight. Sounds like it could be a plan in the future.<br>Raymonds(Baie Rouge): Fun place, OK ribs and chicken, great atmosphere plus Raymond and his conch shell. I may have to stop going there if he keeps insisting that I blow it!<br>Indys Beach Bar(behind the Atrium, Simpson Bay): If you’re in the area and crave a sausage, it’s great. Always good music playing.<br>Sunset Beach Bar(Airport): Sorry, I just don’t get it. It’s cool watching the planes come and go and sometimes there is a good crowd and yes topless ladies drink free and they have $1 shooters, however, I have been there about 20 times and except maybe for 2 times, it was boring. The hamburgers are picnic bricks served with a small bag of chips, the hot dog rolls are usually stale, they can’t make a decent frozen drink or a bloody mary and usually the entertainment is marginal at best. I’ll keep giving it a try every time I go there since I feel like I’m missing something in the translation.<br><br>RESTAURANTS: This one category puts SXM above all other islands. <br>Marios Bistro(Marigot)$$$$: 5* Still the best on the island. Very heavy Thai influenced dishes. Call two weeks before you go to get a reservation for a table on the water. Had a duck pad thai dish that was the best single dish I ever had. Drop dead deserts. Excellent wine list.<br>Rainbow(Grand Case)$$$$: 5* Tie with Marios for the best. Beautiful place and atmosphere. Service worthy of any five star restaurant. This is for the romantic or special occasion meal. Had a soft shell crab with lobster risotto and crispy duck that were award winners. As close to perfect as I have had. Fleur, one of the owners ran some big time Manhattan restaurants long ago, and it shows. Great wine list. If you’re only going out to dinner twice in SXM, these should be the two restaurants, if only once, it’s a tossup.<br>LeAlabama(Grand Case)$$$1/2: 4* On the wrong side of the road, but even though it doesn’t have a water view, still a beautiful garden like atmosphere. Great food and a great place with great hosts, but just lacking a few little imaginative touches to be in the league of the above two.<br>Jean Dupont(Marigot Marina)$$$$: 4* Location, location, location. Best Bouillabaisse on the island. Restaurant and setting so great, it makes up for some shortcomings. OK wine list.<br>LeBicFin(Simpson Bay-across from Indianas)$$$: 31/2* Used to be located in Phillipsburg and moved to this very nice location with views of Simpson Bay in December. Went New Years Eve. Very good to excellent. Had lobster. Real old fashioned soufflés and great service. Very nice addition to this area.<br>LePiccolo(CulDeSac)$$$: 31/2* Prices went up. Still good, although limited menu. Great duck spring rolls, rack of lamb. Rated it higher when prices were lower.<br>Le Belle Epoque(Marigot Marina)$$: 31/2* Still can’t understand why anyone goes to BDLG. The pizza at Le Belle Epoque is superior as well as a more imaginative menu. They also have a real bar inside for the guys while the wives shop. Much better drinks and friendlier service. We should figure it out when all of the locals order the pizza to go here.<br>Banannas(Simpson Bay)$1/2: 3* What a find. Great American food with a few great specials. Stuffed Mahi and Calamari in an olive oil garlic sauce were great. The fried bananas with ice cream where also great. Best burger I had on the island and great onion rings. Nice place also. Bob and Dale are also very gracious hosts.<br>Lee’s Deepsea fishing and Grill(Simpson Bay-across from the Royal Palm)$1/2: 3* Still the freshest fish on the island. Mahi or Wahoo are usually only four hours old. Claims his fish never see the freezer. Also excellent lobsters. Ribs also rival Mario’s. I like the sides of beans and rice also. Live band at night. Fun place. Spend New Years Eve here watching the fireworks over Simpson Bay-had a blast. Lee is quite a character.<br>LeTropicana(Marigot Marina)$$$1/2. 0* Possibly the worst meal I have ever had in SXM. I had one as bad at Turtle Pier years ago. I will never return. For bread, we got toasted Wonder Bread. Our three entrées, chicken stuffed with lobster in a Jamaican pepper sauce, linguini with lobster in a bisque sauce and Chilean sea bass over spinach all came with the same terrible brown sauce or as one description put it, s**t sauce. The only redeeming feature of this place is the location and the free rum, which we tried to drink the whole bottle of to wash away the flavor of the meal. Were the people across the way at Jean Dupont having a good time or laughing at us for being at Tropicana? I know when we went to Jean Dupont what we were laughing at. With the quality of SXM restaurants-this is an embarrassment and I for one will never give them another chance.<br>Le Bar de LaMer(Marigot Waterfront)$$$1/2. 3* We go for the grilled shrimp which are great as well as the pizzas, salads, etc. Always crowded, always a good time. They have to do something with the locals who hang around in the parking lot across the street “washing your car windows”. They are pretty aggressive. We go to NY a lot, so it didn’t bother us, however, some may find this disconcerting.<br>Cheries(Maho)$$1/2. 3* Ok, the food is just so-so, however, the show is terrific and I love the setting. This is a not to be missed stop in SXM.<br>Zee Best(Marigot):$$. 31/2* Breakfast-Great croissants, omelets. Fresh squeezed Orange Juice. I still love this place. Go on market day.<br>LeCroissanterie(Marigot Marina):$$ 31/2* Breakfast-Every bit as good as Zee Best in a nicer atmosphere.<br>Boulevard Diner(Cole Bay):$ 3* Finally got into our room around 11:30PM, so this was the only place open. What a surprise-great pizza and friendly service. Can definitely recommend it.<br><br>CASINOS: I pretty much go to the casino every night to play blackjack.<br>Dolphin(Carnevsari): The best Casino I have been in the Caribbean. Atlantic City rules, nice crowd, upscale and very friendly. Also played Let it Ride for the first time. Saw 2 straight flushes paid out over the two weeks for $4,000 each. The owned also brought very good cigars and cognac to the tables. If you play Black Jack, don’t stop, don’t pass go, go directly to the Dolphin.<br>Princess(PortdePlaisance): The most upscale on the island and a lot of action especially for Craps players. A lot of slots too. My second choice.<br>Casino Royale(Maho): Also upscale with a lot of action. I have never won in this place.<br>Lightening(Cole Bay): Real grind joint and pretty seedy, however they have a sports book and $3 tables.<br><br>THE ISLAND: The island looked pretty green and obviously has been cleaned up a lot. The roads were in much better shape(comparatively) as a lot of potholes were filled-probably with cars. Also I noticed the planting of palm trees along the sides of many roads and many peoples houses looked freshly painted. Kudos to St Maarten Pride. As far as crime goes, we didn’t experience any threatening situations. And we were all over at all hours. Police presence was very noticeable. Security with guns and dogs(one pit bull and one Doberman were patrolling the Marigot Marina on Thursday nights and armed gendarmes walking the streets of Grand Case at night. I even saw armed police walking Orient ala Belmar, NJ. If a few rules are followed, I.E. Don’t walk the streets of Phillipsburg at night, if you’re going to the Marina, park near the Marina, give the guy washing your windows at the waterfront $1, be careful driving between Mullett Bay and Cupecoy after dark, no one should experience problems.<br>One thought struck me; SXM has got the perfect formula-diversity in culture with everybody being on their best behavior. In that respect, it has many of the characteristics of New York City. For those people who love going to the city for dinner and a play, walking and seeing the sights, SXM is the perfect place. For those who would rather peace and queit(although you can find that, too) and are scared of the city, Anguilla, St. Barths or Bonaire are probably more suited to you.<br>The Marigot Marina is spectacular. Go on Thursday nights when they have a lot of local entertainment. A Must do.<br>I’m pretty sure Wednesday(I really don’t remember-the days all started running together) is market day in the AM on the waterfront. A lot of souvenir type things as well as some local crafts.<br>Shopping in Marigot is really a treat. A lot of really nice shops, with some deals, but definitely not cheap.<br>Phillipsburg: I only go into Philliipsburg for cigars and MaDouDou(since no one was home at the “factory”). We stopped on a day when 4 cruise ships were in (it actually started raining for a little while, so we thought we would make the trip)and the place was jam packed. It looked like the diamond merchants were doing a big business. Get my cigars and MaDouDo at Gulmohars(across from Rams near McDonalds on the same side of the street. They have been in business since I have been going there. The cigars are real Cubans, the price is right and he has a great selection. I haven’t seen a box of MonteCristo #2s in a long time-$295. The MaDouDo is $9 for the liter size. Also saw police with dogs walking around. Can’t miss a stop at Everything’s Cool for a frozen drink either.<br>Even though the island has come back a lot from the hurricanes with Maho and the Royal Islander reopening, it won’t get all the way back until something is done with Mullett. With the economic loss caused by Mullett being closed, it still boggles the mind as to why the government hasn’t figured out a way to exert more pressure on the developers and owners to bring about a resolution.<br><br>MISCELLEANOUS: We usually do something to break up the week, whether it be the snorkeling trip to Prickley Pear, trip to Anguilla, or horseback riding. This year we went Deep Sea Fishing with Lee. What a treat. Caught four Dolphin about 45-50 lbs.(some of which he promptly had grilled up for lunch when we returned) and chased around for a White Marlin for a while. Great time and the man knows his fish. He is booked up all week, so if you want to go, reserve early.<br><br>Well, I’ve been writing this report a little bit at a time for five days, so I guess enough is enough. Even though I don’t contribute on a day-by-day basis to this board, I have gotten a lot of info from it. If you enjoy this report, I encourage you to write comprehensive reports when you go. I’m back in April for a wedding and the Carnival.<br><br>Any other questions, please feel free to email me.<br><br>tom<br>texttext<br><br><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Administrator on 1/15/01 03:21 PM.</EM></FONT></P>