I’ll make this short, since we didn’t do much…as usual.
Flew USAir BDL CLT SXM. Flight was delayed nearly an hour leaving BDL due to storms the previous evening delaying fights arriving. Crew couldn’t fly until their “rest” period was over. We had to run to make the connection, but we made it just as they were boarding.
Return flight the CLT BDL leg was delayed about 2 hours. We sat on the runway while the lightning crashed all around us. Made for a very short night of sleep before returning to work. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cloud.gif" alt="" />
Rental car was again an Ignis from AAA. Myra was waiting with a big smile and a hug when we walked out of the airport.
Our accommodation this trip was the Atrium Resort as an RCI exchange. We really like the location. The one bedroom is huge, with all we needed. Full kitchen if you chose to cook. I didn’t! The Atrium is clean, comfortable and has a great staff. This was the third or fourth time we have stayed here, and we highly recommend it.
Since we actually had business to conduct this trip relative to our eventual move to the island, our first afternoon and last day were lost to meetings. Bummer <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif" alt="" />
Our first evening we stopped by Kissing Fish for happy hour. It was great to see Chloe and Thierry and some friends made on previous trips. Friendliest bar on the island!
Our days were spent on the beach at Club O with the “August” gang. Sue and John (lovesbeaches) and their wonderful family, Bob and Pam, new friends (jomarc) Jo-Ann & Marc, (Lynette) Lynette and James, and the newbies, who we affectionately christened “the Kids”, Ryan and Jennifer (socalcpl2006). We were joined after a couple of days by our good friend Rick (cabanaboy).
The weather was perfect with quite a bit of wind the first day or two. But the sun was out and the water was warm. We had two short showers all week, none that forced us off the beach.
Thanks to TTOL, we had two very special occasions this trip.
On Friday we did the Tiko Tiko trip to Tintamarre with an all TTOL group. Sue, John, Bob, Pam, Jo-Ann, Marc, Lynette and James. We had a great day with Philipe and his new mate Isabelle. And we didn’t drink them dry this time! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/dine.gif" alt="" />
Saturday night Bill and I hosted a TTOL party at the Buccaneer Beach Bar assisted by Wildbill and his lovely wife Pat. We had a good turnout of about 45 TTOL’ers, all drinking from the toilet (well, maybe not the church lady!). I think everyone had as much fun as we did.
We tried three new things this trip.
In May we had stopped at the bakery in Orleans to pick up dessert and loved the quality. Since we didn’t make our usual grocery run on arrival day we decided to stop again at this bakery on the way to the beach to see if they had croissants or something similar for breakfast. Of course they did and they also had sandwiches which made an easy decision for lunch! Into the cooler they all went. Bill swears they were the best croissants he has ever eaten and the sandwich became a daily staple for us. We never did go grocery shopping (other than a quick stop in 5 Alive for milk and cereal). The sandwich was ½ of a baguette (one of those REALLY long ones) and there was a choice of ham and cheese, turkey and cheese, tuna or crab. All with lettuce and tomato. We got hooked on the ham and cheese. All very fresh and the baguette was wonderful.
Our other new stop was Hilmas Windsor Castle at the little trailer in Simpson Bay. I’ve wanted to stop there since hearing about Hilma here on TTOL but…. Well, you know. I have now acquired another addiction! Salt fish and Johnny Cakes (or as Bill calls them after a Carib or two – Saltcakes and Johnny Fish). The most incredible breakfast I’ve ever had, and Hilma is a doll. That knocked 3 or 4 breakfasts off my list! Let Bill eat the granola! Where else can you get a great breakfast for $1.50! (Bill always doubled whatever the price was…how can she make any money with those prices!)
Those of you who know us have figured out by now we’re the BBB and Lolo kind of folks. We have never dined in Grand Case outside of the Lolo’s. However, on this trip our friend treated us to a lovely meal at Bistro Caraibes. The meal, wine, champagne, ambiance and service were all wonderful. Ahhhh.. fois gras and champagne! If Grand Case is your thing, give it a try. As a grand finish to a wonderful evening, as we were walking back to our car we found a great little band playing in between Talk of the Town and Sky’s the Limit. The street was closed off and a wonderful local party was going on!
Other than that, we did the normal: Peg Legs, BBB, Kissing Fish, BBB, Shrimpy’s, BBB, Skipjacks, BBB. Did I mention BBB?
Bill used the free wireless at Shrimpy’s to keep in touch using his PDA and a small wireless keyboard. Worked great!
Returning to the US we didn’t know what to expect due to the recent TSA changes. Since we do carryons only, we gave away or dumped all our banned stuff prior to leaving for the airport.
There was no check of our bags at ticketing (as usual). Line was short and we breezed thru. At security, our bags went thru the scanners and they picked one to go thru. They found a small jar of some cream Bill had forgotten about in his toiletry bag. OOPS!.
However, when going thru the boarding process, they had two people just inside the door to go outside at the gate area and they hand checked EVERY bag that was going on the plane. Opened every bag and went thru them with a fine toothed comb!
Customs at Charlotte never paid any attention to our bags.
It was very emotional leaving this time (I guess it always is), since we don’t have another trip planned as yet. It’s really hard not to have that countdown clock set!
Thanks to all of our TTOL friends, and the wonderful people of the island, we had an exceptional visit and we’ll get back soon (not soon enough!)
Pictures from the TTOL Party and a couple of G rated pictures from the TTOL Tiko Tiko trip can be found here:
http://www.photoshow.net/watch/XS3jI5EkForgive me if I didn't get all the names right. And I know we don't have pictures of everyone. Sorry!
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