Trip Report - Kent and Marilee - May 4th to May 11th 2006
We arrived on a direct Delta flight from Atlanta on Thursday May 4th. The flight was uneventful, and arrived on time at 1:40pm. Whizzed through Customs and our luggage was available promptly. Out in the courtyard, two men were holding signs with our names - our Unity representative and our villa escort. We rode with Unity back to their lot to pick up our Rav4. Our villa escort, Carlos, then followed us over to the Royal Palm to pick up a cellphone from Sharon (lucky for us, she was able to accommodate our need for a phone with only a few days notice, which became important because we are buying a house and hadn't closed out the inspection contingencies).
Weather was cloudy with ocassional sprinkles. Off through Marigot on our way to Orient Beach and our second stay at Villa Sunbird. We got there before 3pm as traffic wasn't bad. As soon as we unpacked and settled a bit, we loaded back into the Rav4 and headed to Grand Marche in Phillipsburg to pick up our supplies for the week. Spent $200 on food (steak, pork, veges, bread and such), liquor (Appletons Rum and Cuervo Tequila), beer (case of Corona and a 12 pack of Stella Artois) and cigarettes. Once we unloaded our provisions back at the Villa, we headed over to Marigot to pick up some non-prescription medication. On the way back, we stopped in Grand Case at Talk of The Town for a quick bite (I had the rib plate, she had the shrimp, we split my sides, a couple of Caribs, and we out of there for $20). Back to the villa, and we were tired, so we swam in our pool, and soon retired for the evening.
Friday May 5th
We bought 30 oranges for our stay, as the villa has a juicer, and we started each day with fresh squeezed orange juice, coffee, and a light breakfast. After greasing up, we walked down to Cocos (Villa Sunbird is located just above Esmerelda, two doors down from Cafe Plantation) and then down the beach to Club O. We walked on down to Papagayos to sign up for the Tiko Tiko. We were hoping for Saturday, but the next trip was Tuesday, so we were the first to sign up for it. Weather was a bit spotty, and we headed back to the Villa and spent the day at our pool. We grilled ribeye steak (very juicy!) that evening at the villa, then went to the village and drank Stellas at Tap Five.
Saturday May 6th
Time for the beach. After the morning routine, we headed down to Pedros and rented chairs on the Club O side. Weather started off sunny but ended up overcast. We went back to the villa for lunch, then back to the beach. That evening, we had Tap Five Margherita Pizza (excellent!) and more Stellas from Tap Five.
Sunday May 7th
We hung out at the villa in the morning, and headed to the Perch for happy hour, as we had plans to
meet other TTOL'ers. We met
don_lorrie standing in line for drinks. We met
Jim_Laraine at the bar. We met
NUDEANDTANNED also at the bar. We apparently just missed
OhDrinkBoy. We ended up sitting at a table for while talking with Eddie and Cheryl, who introduced us to Rob and Jan. While we were talking we met (red head) Jill, who was sitting with a group in the sand just below the Perch. Soon, we joined that group and met (red head) Jill's husband Todd, (blond) Jill and Dean, and Laurey-Ann and Ruargh. Weather remained overcast, and we all sat on the beach enjoying conversation. At the end of the day, we all agreed to meet up in Grand Case at Talk of The Town for dinner after getting cleaned up. Marilee and I (Kent) arrived first, and were soon joined by (blonde) Jill and Dean. A little later, (red head) Jill, Todd, Laurey-Ann, and Ruargh joined as well (Jan and Rob, we missed you!). We had a delightful dinner during a brief downpour. Afterwards, we invited everyone back to our Villa. There, we had a delightful evening until sufficient alcohol got the best of us.
Monday May 8th (my 41st birthday)
Whether it was the alcohol, or sun, or something else from Sunday, my stomach was weak and the weather was overcast, so Marilee and I stayed around the villa all day, except for a quick trip to Bikini to leverage their free wifi to check email. We grilled pork chops that night, and retired early.
Tuesday May 9th
Up early and it was pouring rain. We had second thoughts about the Tiko Tiko, but continued our morning routine to get down to the beach by 9am. When we got there, the rain had stopped, but was still looking iffy.
NUDEANDTANNDED, Andy&Jeanne, Joe and Becky(?), Ball State and Hoosier (Angela?), and Derek and Anne; all agreed to give it a shot. By the time we got underway, the clouds were breaking, and it turned out to be a beautiful day. Marilee and I regretted our lunch choice of chicken, which was prepared with curry in a peanut sauce. I'm sure it was very good, but curry isn't our favorite, and the sauce made it difficult to enjoy the salad as well. The mud bath was spectacular, and all in all, we had a great time and would highly recommend the cruise. Once back in port, we headed back to the villa to clean up, and had a tortellini dinner in the villa. Ended the evening with Stellas at Tap Five.
Wednesday May 10th
Headed to Pedros for some more beach time on our final full day. Ran into (red head) Jill and Todd, and spent the afternoon socializing with them. As the beach was clearing out, the four of us stopped by Tap Five for Stellas and cocktails. Once they had to go, Marilee and I ended the day with another Tap Five pizza (Marilee has a crush on the pizza chef, even though they don't share a common language between them).
Thursday May 11th
We spent the morning getting packed, cleaned up, and ready for our return flight. We left the villa around 11:30 and headed to Grand Marche to pick up cheap cigarettes to bring home. Then we were off to the airport to check our bags (no line at the Delta counter). It was about 12:30 and the agent wanted us through security by 1pm for our 2:45 flight. We headed out and gassed up the Rav4, ran by the Royal Palm to drop off the phone, then on the Unity to return the Rav4. Back to the airport, and after a couple of smokes outside, we went through security a little after 1:30. Again, no line, no problems. Delta started boarding shortly after 2pm, and flight actually left a little early. Arrived in a Atlanta 20 mins early (I've flown Delta for years, and I don't ever remember that happening!). Immigration and Customs were as smooth as possible.
Another wonderful trip to Saint Martin. Now we just need to figure out when we will return. We noticed that if we looked at our two trips, in European date format, we arrived on 5/5/05 for our first trip, 4/5/06 on our second, so maybe should plan for 5/6/07 for our third!
(PS: I told many folks while I was there to contact me through my email address of
azcowboy@comcast.net, problem is, I dropped that address sometime ago and changed it to az_cowboy (at) comcast.net - sorry 'bout that. I had also said it was available on my profile here - it wasn't - it now is).
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