It’s been about three weeks since we returned from our family vacation to St. Martin. It was my husband’s and mine (and our kids – ages 16 and 12) first time to this island paradise. We made our travel arrangements through TTOL sponsor Sandy Molloy at Molloy Travel in North Carolina. We found her to be very knowledgeable and friendly. Here is our family report:

Delta Air Travel:

We departed from San Diego on the “red eye” on Friday July 29th to Atlanta and arrived into Hartfield International Airport around 5:30 AM. Nothing was open so we sat at the gate for about an hour until the Delta Crown Room opened. We had a four and one-half layover. At around 10:00 AM, we took a train to the International Terminal and checked in at the gate. We took off shortly thereafter and it took a little over four hours to get to St. Martin. We landed at SXM and breezed through their Immigration and Customs. It was never this easy in Jamaica? Unfortunately, a number of flights arrived in about the same time our Delta jet landed and we waited over an hour around one carrousel waiting for our five pieces of luggage to be picked up.

Car Rental:

Kevin at Brinks Auto Rental greeted us outside baggage claim and led us to our new 2005 Ford Explorer. He smiled and loaded our luggage and we took out of the airport parking lot to the Belair Hotel to sign our rental application for the SUV. Along the way he pointed out all the popular hangouts of the island tourists and introduced my husband to the Heineken Tents where cold beer is available for $1.00 a bottle. Once we were through renting the car, Kevin delivered us to Esmeralda Resort in Orient Bay on the French side of the island.

Our Accommodations:

We arrived at Esmeralda Resort and had a very smooth check into our Presidential Suite # 47 that overlooked the ocean. We were lead to our villa which we shared with two other French families. Our Presidential Suite featured a master bedroom with full bath, a second bedroom with full bath and kitchenette, a very large sized living room with a long dining table, couches, television, and stereo and overlooked our villa pool. The suite also had a modest kitchen and half bathroom. My family used the villa pool everyday.

Saturday:

Once we got to our room we were all hot, hungry and tired. We walked down to the Coco Beach http://www.cocobeachsxm.com/ for a snack and cold drinks. Unfortunately, the beach bar had stopped serving food (it was shortly before 5:00 PM) so we ordered two Amstel Brisas and two Cokes. Our cute waitress Mary told us that dinner would be served in the resort restaurant L’Astrolabe at 6:30 PM. We watched the beach goers for a while and the clouds came in and the sky became dark. We paid our check and went back to our villa. It started to rain. It rained very hardly for the next three hours. The power went off at Orient Beach and we called the front desk to ask if a flashlight or candles could be brought to our room. They said they had run out. Oh well. Our children started to complain about being hungry and tired and our daughter started talking about hurricanes ruining our vacation. Two hours later, we decided to make a mad dash under beach towels to the resort restaurant. It resembled a restaurant in Venice because of all the rain. There was only one other French family in the dining room and we went out on the patio. Because the power was out in the resort, our waiter said that they could not cook anything now so we dined on rolls and champagne. At about 8:15 PM, the power came on and we ordered up French Onion soup for the kids and we had a green salad and chicken dish that was filling and pretty good. Once the electricity came back on, the restaurant filled up quickly. We went to bed around 10:30 PM listening to light rain. (Little did we know until the next day that 3 people had died in the storm either by drowning or by car accident and flooding.)

Sunday:

My husband and I woke up a little after sunrise and slipped on our robes and checked on our kids that were still sleeping. We headed for the beach where we left our robes on a lounge chair and took our first brisk stroll on Orient Beach. On the way down to the Dolphin Watersports shack at Club Orient we stopped by Baywatch but they were closed for vacation and remodeling. We were bummed out. After our walk together we slipped our robes on and headed back to our villa pool. We found our new neighbor Anne from France swimming her morning laps nude in the pool. We joined her for a while and then put on our suits and took our daughter to Coco Beach for breakfast. Our teenage son on the other hand spent most mornings sleeping in and being chased by the maid from housekeeping around 11:30 AM most days. We spent the day on Coco Beach and enjoyed reading and bodysurfing. (It is also import to note that before our trip we posted on TTOL that this was the first time that we were going to introduce topless and nudity into our kids lives and I was a bit worried out they would react. I am pleased to report that both of our kids handled it in a very mature manner. It was only after asking my son if either his father or I was embarrassing him if we went nude or topless? He said something like “… Mom you don’t embarrass me. Another one was “..When in Rome …. it’s another country but I am not going to do it”. With that I decided that afternoon to take off my top and my daughter followed suit.) Our beach boy, Bernard (and Nicoli) waited on us for lunch and we had hamburgers on the beach. That evening, we went to Il Nettuno http://www.ilnettuno.com/ in Grand Case for a delicious Italian meal. I had the snapper, my husband had the swordfish steak, Kate had pasta and PJ had a large cut peppercorn filet mignon. We sat at an oceanfront table. Our waiter and Owners were delightful and very hospitable. The bill was very reasonable including cocktails and we paid with AMEX travelers checks.

Monday:

Our daughter and my husband woke early and walked the beach to Mt. Vernon while I slept in a bit. I got up and joined Rez while our daughter went back to the room to shower and get ready for breakfast. We enjoyed breakfast and went back to the villa pool to take a swim. I walked down the beach with my daughter to see if Luis was making bathing suits behind Baywatch. Sadly, I learned that he was on vacation. We walked back and read and then went to Bikini Beach http://www.sxm-restaurants.com/orient/bikinibeach/index.html for chicken sandwiches and drinks. After a day of bodysurfing, we decided on the Peg Leg Pub http://www.peglegpub.com/ for a nice steak dinner in Simpson Bay. Our kids loved it and it reminded us of a hangout in Del Mar, CA that we frequent. We met Sean and had a great time watching baseball on the satellite TV and listening to music. We had a great time and bought tee shirts and hats and Sean threw in a Peg Leg Pub thong for Mom. After dinner, we walked across the strip center for ice cream.

Tuesday:

Rez awoke early as I slept in. He did his walk on the beach and returned to find him swimming nude in the pool with our neighbors. Our neighbors, Jean and Anne and their family were from outside Paris. They told us that they went on the Tiko Tiko Cruise http://www.cluborient.com/cluborient-ang/homepage.htm the week before and said that we were going to love it. We arranged with the resort to have a babysitter for the day to take care of the kids (well maybe our daughter Kate while she was in the ocean) while we went on the clothing optional sailing trip to Tintamarre island. Leoni was a young 21 year old native of the island and she was very sweet girl. We had a very quick breakfast with our kids at Coco Beach and got in our SUV and drove to Club Orient. Three other American couples joined Phillipe and Melanie, our hosts, aboard the Tiko Tiko catamaran. We had a beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky and we enjoyed cocktails served with a smile by Melanie. Once we arrived at Tintamarre, we swam ashore and played on the deserted beach with our new friends from Colorado, New York,
and Virginia. We also snorkeled on a near by reef and saw a lot of fish. It got hot so we
parked under our umbrellas and read. At lunchtime, we swam back out to the catamaran where we all dined in the cockpit with champagne, your choice of chicken, steak, mahi mahi, baked potatoes, green salad and frozen key lime pie for dessert. After a delicious lunch we went back to the island where we played in the water or lounged under the umbrellas and napped. At around 3 PM, Melanie and Phillipe came ashore and prepared a bucket of mud to smear all over our bodies. Everyone got nakkid if they were not all ready and rubbed all the mud all over their bodies and let it bake on for about one half hour. We washed it all off and our skin was as soft as a newborn’s. After a very enjoyable day in the sun we headed back to Club O slipping on our cocktails and listening to my husband’s iPod. We arrive back to our hotel to find Kate having her hair braided and our son swimming in the villa pool with the two teenage French girls from next door. That night we all went into Simpson Bay to The Boathouse. http://www.thecommonwealthcompany.com/boathouse.html The staff was very nice and we enjoyed a chicken Cesar salad while the children had chicken fingers and cheeseburgers.


Wednesday:

We woke up for our daily walk along the beach and to have breakfast at Coco Beach. Our son woke up early that day as the boys were going to rent a Hobycat sailboat to sail around Orient Bay. Kate and I were going to go down the beach to the Orient Village to window shop. After the guys came back from sailing, Rez walked down to Club Orient to Fleur, a sweet gal from London, for a massage. He raved that she was the best and that he signed me up the next afternoon for a massage too. That evening we all enjoyed a delicious dinner at The Cottage. http://www.restaurantlecottage.com/ Rez ordered the lamb chops and I ordered the house specialty a 2 lbs. Lobster which was fabulous. The kids had French Onion soup and salad. We also enjoyed a champagne cocktail and a nice bottle of chardonnay. We topped it off with Soufflé Grand-Marnier with orange sorbet. It was truly an excellent meal and we will return. Stephanie, our waitress
/hostess was so kind and loved our kids. We will be back!

Thursday:

We woke up around 7:30 AM and took a dip in the pool then went down to the beach for our morning walk to Club Orient and back. Kate and I enjoyed breakfast at Coco Beach while my husband continued his walk to Mt. Vernon. After breakfast, we walked down to Waikiki water sports shack http://www.waikikibeachsxm.com/ to checkout the water trampoline for our daughter and to inquire about renting the Hobycat again. The cruise ships were in port at Phillipsburg. Orient Beach was packed with tourists. The Hobycat was rented and the trampoline was loaded with kids jumping up and down. I walked down to Club Orient for my massage with Fleur while the kids and my husband hung out there. Later they walked down to the The Perch at Club O to meet me and go back to Waikiki for drinks and Cajon tuna burgers. After lunch we went back to Esmeralda and swam in the pool. That night we drove into Grand Case again and ate at L’ California.
My husband had the tuna steak and Caesar salad and I enjoyed the Grouper with a salad and champagne vinaigrette. The kids ate pepperoni pizza and ice cream for dessert. It was great food and the most affordable dinner at 115 euros before tip. (Thanks for the suggestion Sandy!)

Friday:

After our morning walk, Kate and I went shopping in Orient Village and the guys went off to rent the Hobycat with Tomas as their guide. They sailed over to Isle Pinal and hiked over the hill to the deserted beach where a few couples were skinning dipping and picnicing. From there, they tacked across the bay to Green Cay Island and tacked back to
Tintamarre Island. They arrived shortly before lunch and Rez swam out to Tiko Tiko to see Philippe and Melanie and get a couple of beers and a bottle of water for Tomas and PJ. They walked about 10 minutes to the old abandoned airport on the island and then came back and sailed back to Orient Beach. Kate and I went back to Coco Beach and met Sue, John and their lovely 12 year old daughter Marissa. My husband had exchanged emails with TTOL member Sue before our trip. Once the guys returned from sailing, we all enjoyed a great day together with our new Pittsburgh Steelers fans. The girls had a great time together digging sandcastles, burying Kate and going on the trampoline together. We ordered pizza at Coco Beach along with a couple of libations.
That evening we let our kids decide what they wanted to do. They wanted to celebrate Mom’s birthday at IL Nuttuno. My husband ordered the mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and basil salad and raviolis while I ordered yet another delicious lobster. Our son had the scrimp with angel hair pasta and Kate ordered pasta marinara. We sipped a nice bottle of Italian wine and ordered Lemonchello with our sorbet for dessert. We enjoyed our ocean view table and our last night on St. Martin. The Owner thanked us for coming in and gave us another Lemonchello after dinner drink and we walked through the shops in Grand Case walking back to our car. We went back to the resort and I began packing for our trip to San Diego the next day.

Saturday:

Rez and I awoke early for our last skinny dip in the pool and then for our last walk before we checked out. We all had a quick light breakfast at Coco Beach and I went back to the room to finish packing while my husband went to the beach to say goodbye to Bernard and Nicoli and give them a well deserved tip and to finish his novel in front of the rocks.
We all said our goodbyes (especially Kate) to Sophie and Mary and we checked out of the hotel. We arrived at the airport after filling our SUV up with gas and checked our bags into Delta Airlines and got our boarding passes. We went back to the truck and called Kevin at Brinks Auto to make arrangements to pick up the SUV after we went to the Sunset Beach Bar http://www.sunsetbeachbar.com/livecam at the end of the Juliana International Airport runway. It was very hot and we order a few cold Coors Lights and watched the planes come in. Rez also checked his email on his laptop and at the office at the bar. One very attractive lady “drink for free” while we were there and my son rolled his eyes, shook his head and smiled when she removed her top. We ordered fish sandwiches and hamburgers and watched the planes take off and land. At lunch, we also enjoyed the rock band that played. We found the service and food very nice.

We dropped off our car at the airport after 2:00 PM and got through security within a half hour and went to our gate. There was not air-conditioning in the old terminal and we were packed in like sardines. Our Delta flight left for Atlanta shortly after its scheduled departure and we arrived in Atlanta just past 8:00 PM. We had 55 minutes to get through Customs and INS before our connector flight to San Diego was to leave at 9:00 PM. We ran through the airport but we fortunately made it. We all slept on the 757 jet for the next four hours and arrived home after 10:00 PM. It took us over an hour to collect our luggage and get a shuttle bus back to our car. We pulled into our driveway shortly before midnight.


Thank all you TTOL folks for the great postings and advise over the past few months. Thank you Sandy for helping us arrange a memorable and fun family vacation to SXM. It will not be our last. Attached below is a link to our pictures.

http://groups.msn.com/sxmphotos2/stmartinvacation2005.msnw


Cheers!

Mary Kay and Rez