TRIP REPORT 7/29-8/9
Photo slideshow at Yahoo:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mecsesq/al...csesq/my_photosSATURDAY, JULY 29TH
We flew Cleveland to Chicago to SXM on United Airlines with our 4 kids (ages 8, 6,6, and 17 months) and our 21 year old babysitter. We arrived on time and we were met by Tropical at airport with our van. We drove to Royal Palm which is where Sharon Harris has her phones, and I got our phones while hubby drove to Tropical to do paperwork for the car. Drove back to Sapphire and checked into our Villa. Sapphire gave us a bottle of wine and beautiful flowers on check in. Craig from Packlight stopped by our room to drop off chairs/umbrella and to chat for a while. We took a dip in the splash pool on our villa’s deck, and then went up to Sapphire pool for a while. We checked out the Sapphire beach, but there was room for about 2 chairs and the surf was too rocky and rough there for the kids. We went to Ricks for dinner that night because could not find Shrimpys (although we found it later in week). Dinner at Ricks was good but not really “memorable’. The menu was too much like what we have at home. Still a good meal, though! Ricks closed a couple of days later for August. We then went grocery shopping at Food Express in Maho before heading home to sleep.
SUNDAY, JULY 30TH
Attended orientation at Sapphire and had croissants, juice and coffee there. The kids swam in the pool and my 3 girls got their hair braided by Carol, who is at Sapphire every Sunday on their veranda with jewelry, paraeos, and other items for sale. (I also treated the babysitter to braids as well…Carol is great to deal with!). We had lunch in the room and then we went to Mullet for the afternoon. Rosies was closed when we got there, but we had our cooler from Packlight so we had drinks! The kids and sitter had dinner in the room. Paul and I decided to take advantage of the fact that we had a sitter, and we went to Cupecoy in the late afternoon. The constructions is definitely changing the beach, but there was plenty of sand and it was still relaxing and beautiful. On the way back to Sapphire we stopped by the Oasis Grill at Ocean Club to see Bert and Jill and toss back a few rum punches. We went to Lees for Lobster but they were out of Lobster, so we had one drink then went to Pineapple Petes for Lobster Thermidor. Excellent waiter! We then went to Atlantis Casino and made a small donation, then home to bed.
MONDAY, JULY 31
We had breakfast in the room and then drove to Galion Beach for the day. The beach restaurant was closed, so Paul drove over to Tap 5 and picked up a few pizzas to go, which we ate on the beach. Delicious!! The kids LOVED Galion beach, or“baby beach”, as it is known, and it made for a peaceful, beautiful and relaxing day. We came home late in the day and headed over to Ocean Club for dinner and drinks at Oasis Grill. Had all 4 kids and the babysitter with us. The kids swam in the Ocean Club pool while we drank and waited for the food. Bert made wonderful Philly steak sandwiches for hubby and Lindsey, our sitter, (Bert is from Philadelphia originally), and a marvelous grouper in a blue cheese hot sauce with pasta and vegetables for me. Wonderful! He also makes the best garlic bread I have ever eaten! He made chicken nuggets and cheese sticks for the kids. We also had a salad with balsamic dressing. Enjoyed a few of his famous rum punches and spent time catching up with Bert and Jill. Paul keeps a “rum jumbie” hat there that he donated about 5 years ago, and he wears it every time we drink at the bar! I gave Jill a Steeler pennant, as she is originally from Pittsburgh (as we are). We love spending time with them! They are lovely people.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 1
Breakfast in room. Went to Baie Rouge for a little bit. A bit rocky and rough for the kids (big drop off) so did not stay more than an hour. Packed up and went over to Maho beach, where we first had lunch at Tortuga. Excellent food. After lunch we spent a little time at Maho beach, then back to Sapphire pool to swim. The kids and Lindsey had leftovers from Bert’s wonderful dinner from the night before, and hubby and I went to Lees for dinner. I had Lobster which was wonderful. Hubby had red snapper. Everything was great! Afterwards, we went to Dolphin casino where, once again, I lost money…but I played for a long while before it all disappeared! The tropical storm warning for Chris was being discussed around the island and many restaurants were closing in preparation. Sapphire offered us a room in the main building instead of our Villa if we were concerned about the storm. We took the key for the room, but never used it because the storm never amounted to anything for us other than a rainstorm
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2
Rainy and overcast, so we left the kids with the sitter in the room watching movies and hubby and I went shopping and exploring. We went to Match in Marigot, and it was pretty barren of supplies because of people preparing for Chris. We then traveled up to the Cul de Sac to the Ma Dou Dou shack. We got several bottles of rum, some personalized on the spot for my dad, and then stopped at O’Plougouir in Marigot for lunch! Yum! Never had a bad meal there yet! We love this place! We stopped at Food Express in Maho on the way home to stock up on supplies. We stopped at Skipjacks on our way home as well, to see if the Pub Crawl was still on for that night. At first we could not find Skipjacks, because they had taken the sign down for TS Chris. We finally found it and walked in to find the sign on the floor by the bar! Neil was not there, so we headed over to Shrimpy’s, where he was temporarily docking his boat, to see if we could find him. He was not there either, but we met OCBill! We managed to get ahold of Neil by cell phone, and he said the pub crawl was still on….so we went home to get ready. Bert from Ocean club stopped over for an impromptu drink with another guy who is one of our mutual friends, and his daughter who has played with my oldest daughter in the past. Paul and I then left to go on the pub crawl. We boarded at Skipjacks, where we met a couple of TTOL’ers, including the lovely RoryS and her niece who was celebrating her birthday, as well as Dave. Great meeting you guys! Our first stop was at Peg Leg Pub, where King Bob (formerly from Sapphire) was singing with his friend. They perform at Peg Leg on Wednesday nights. We also stopped at Port de Plaisance and back at Skipjacks. The Pub Crawl was a BLAST, as always, and we continued the party at Bamboo Bernies, where things got a bit out of hand! Other friends of ours on the island joined us, as did Captain Neil and several of his friends, and the party continued for quite a while! Women drink certain drinks for free on Wednesdays…but the mudslide machine broke and we got moved from bar to bar for a while. It was kind of crazy but lots of fun! RoryS….that lively guy Karl who was on our pub crawl “borrowed” our camera for a bunch of shots…and they all were of your niece! LOL! PM me with your e-mail address and I can e-mail you pictures that we took and that he took! I only included one picture of the pub crawl in my slideshow at Yahoo. Most of the other pictures will either be destroyed or put in a safe for blackmail purposes! LOL!!!
THURSDAY, AUGUST 3
We boarded the Bluebeard at Lady C for a trip to Anguilla. The day was overcast, but Shoal Bay East was stunning anyway. We had some rain, but still managed to get beach time, and my 9 year old daughter and our babysitter got to snorkel for the first time in their lives! The three of us swam out to a reef and it was like Christmas for both of them! The joy on their faces was amazing! All of our kids loved the clear water and lovely sand of Shoal Bay East, and our 17 month old son had a ball chasing a little doggy down the beach! We had lunch at a restaurant at the beach as part of the tour package (but even my kids felt that they were a little stingy with the food!) and we were bussed back to our boarding place to get back on the boat. Our original bus broke down, so we had to wait about a half hour for a substitute bus. We returned to Sint Maarten and, after a quick stop in Maho to get sunglasses, we went back to the room to relax and swim in the villa’s splash pool. One of my best friends (Colleen) flew in with her fiancé that day, so they came to the villa to see us and the four adults went to Mark’s for dinner. We had never been there before and it was WONDERFUL! After dinner we dropped off our friends and headed over to the RED PIANO where our friend King Bob is in charge of Karaoke on Thursday nights. It was a lot of fun! I even sang a song just before closing. Bob and I used to duet a lot at Sapphire years ago so it was fun to go up on stage with him again.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 4
My friend Colleen, my 9 year old daughter, the babysitter and I drove to Phillipsburg to do a little shopping. We came back and had lunch in the room, and then Paul and I went to Cupecoy for a couple of hours until my sister-in-law’s plane was due. Paul and I picked her and my 4 year old niece up and took them back to the villa. Then my sister-in-law and my babysitter and I escaped to Mullet beach for a couple of hours of peace and quiet while Paul took the 5 kids swimming in Sapphire’s pool. Brave man. We then went out to dinner at Cheri’s, which was a fun place for the kids. Food was good and the lively nature of the place was enjoyed by all, especially our babysitter who is at the age (21) where loud is good! LOL! We also saw the street dancers outside of the casino.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 5
This is the day our nearly perfect vacation started to go a little off track. We had to change rooms at Sapphire from our Villa into 2 sleep six rooms in the main hotel. Unfortunately, the people occupying our new rooms were ignoring the check out time, so we were all unpacked out of the villa with nowhere to go, and my babysitter had to be at the airport. So my husband drove her to the airport while the rest of us waited to move into the new rooms. My brother, who was due to arrive at 3:30, called to say they had messed up his flight and he and my other 2 nieces, (ages 8 and 10) would be arriving EARLIER than planned, at about 1:30. This meant that my husband had to wait at the airport after dropping off the babysitter, since there was only about 1 hour between the two events, so he went to Lals for lunch and then got my brother. However, Tropical did not have my brother’s rental car yet (as he came in 2 hours early) so we had to make a later trip to get the car. We finally got moved into our new rooms, got the car, and spent a little time at the pool. We had a very tasty lunch, reasonably priced, at the Sapphire café at the pool. We were supposed to go to 6:00 p.m. mass in Phillipsburg, so we headed up from the pool at about 4:15 to get ready to leave by 5, so we would not get stuck when the bridge went up. Unfortunately, we ran a little late and did not leave until 5:15. Big mistake. We drove in 2 separate cars (me with my brother, and my hubby with my sister in law) so that no one would get lost. The kids were split between the 2 cars. We got to the bridge just as it started to go up (we were 3 cars from the bridge). Unfortunately, we ended up having a fender bender at the bridge, involving our 2 rental cars and a third car. Not the way my brother wanted to start his vacation! So we pulled over to the police station and realized that we were NOT going to make it to Church (we had to explain to our children that we had the INTENTION to go and that was what really mattered!). Tropical was wonderful about the whole thing. Thank goodness we have dealt with them for so many years…they were really understanding and more concerned about the safety of our children than about their cars. They are a class act. After we finished the paperwork, and got our nerves somewhat settled, we decided to keep it simple and just go over to Lees for dinner. I barely remember what we had, since we were a little shook up, but Lees usually does not disappoint so I am sure it was good! Of course, it started to pour down rain while we were there. My poor brother…a nightmare flight, a changed arrival time, an extra trip to get the rental car, a delay at the bridge, a car accident, and now it was pouring rain. I am sure he was wondering what the heck he had even come for. Luckily we had a really special day planned for him for the next day! After we got home the kids had sleepovers (some in our room, some in the other room) and we all got to bed early for our trip on the Celine the next day.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 6
We had chartered the Celine with Neil Roebert last year, and had such a great time we chartered it again so my brother and his wife and kids could have a wonderful day of relaxation! We met Neil at Skipjacks at 7:30 a.m. Neil had breakfast of cereal, bread, juice, milk, Danish,, croissants and brioche and coffee. We then set sail to Tintamarre! 6 of the children sat on the netting and allowed the water to splash over them as we hit some waves on the trip. The gales of laughter were, as Neil said, “music to our ears”. Once at Tintamarre, we took noodles and swam to shore. I took the 17 month old in his little inner tube, and he was in absolute heaven! He walked up and down the beach and paddled in the mild surf….it was a joy to watch! The children (except for our 17 month old son, all of the children are girls…ages 4, 6, 6, 8, 8 and 10!) and the adults had a wonderful time. We even took mud baths! After about 3 hours we swam back to the Celine and had a wonderful lunch of shrimp paella, snapper, ribs, chicken, salad and other wonderful things! The rum punch, beer and non-alcoholic drinks were flowing the entire day. We left Tintamarre and sailed to Creole Rock, where we did a quick snorkel! Some of the littlest kids were a little spooked when they saw a jelly fish, which cut our snorkeling short, but I could barely drag my 9 year old out snorkeling fanatic daughter of the water! We then headed back to Skipjacks and got back around 6:15 p.m. or so. What a wonderful day! About 11 hours of beautiful weather, beautiful sand, beautiful water and friends and family. Life does not get much better than this!
While we were on the boat, Bert from Oasis Grill called us to see if we were going to come by for dinner as he was going to make us something special. Of course, knowing how wonderful the food always is there we enthusiastically agreed (it does not hurt that it is walking distance from Sapphire because Bert’s rum punches are STRONG) and we went there for a FANTASTIC feast. The kids swam in the pool again while the adults relazed, and then we had his great garlic bread, lovely balsamic salad, FANTASTIC barbecue ribs as an appetizer, and a wonderful fish and vegetable dinner that was in a sauce that was one of the best things that I have ever tasted. I have NO IDEA what it was, but if he could bottle it he would make millions! LOL! Wow! After dinner, we headed back to the room for another “kid sleepover” and had a great night’s rest.
MONDAY, AUGUST 7
While the men went to Tropical Rental car so they could assess the damage to the cars, the women stayed in the rooms to let the kids get a little break from the sun that they had overindulged in the day before! We ate Bert’s leftovers for lunch. Paul and my brother went to Mullet beach for the afternoon (from about 1 until 6) while the girls and the kids went shopping in Maho. It was my nieces’ 10th birthday, as well as Colleen’s birthday, so we stopped to get cupcakes at Food Express for my niece’s celebration. We swam in Sapphire’s pool and enjoyed happy hour until the men came back from the beach. They had made quite a few friends on the beach, and tossed back a few at Rosies, so they were in a good mood. We then went to Cheri’s again, as we planned on the Sugar Cane Café but it looked closed. We knew Cheri’s could accommodate a large crowd like us, and would entertain the kids! They made a birthday fuss over my niece (including having her wear a hat shaped like a birthday cake with candles on it). We went back to the room and had cupcakes for the kids, then my brother and I joined Colleen and her fiancé for drinks at the Sapphire bar for her birthday while our spouses watched the kids. We somehow managed to make last call last about an hour and about 4 drinks! My brother and my friend’s fiancée tried to outdo each other in an informal “obnoxious” competition, so much so that Colleen and I did not know whether to laugh hysterically (which we did) or deny we knew them (which we also did!). The bartender will probably never forget them!
TUESDAY, AUGUST 8.
Our last full day. We headed up to Galion beach for the day. The kids and the adults loved it. We did some snorkeling (we got snorkeling gear from Craig at Packlight) and enjoyed the calm surf and shallow water. Another beautiful day in paradise! We ate at Pat’s (they delivered our food to our chairs, which was GREAT, since we rented a couple of chairs from them in addition to our Packlight chairs). We had to drag the kids off the beach at about 5:30 to head home. About midway through the day, my sister-in-law looked at me and said “I know we are leaving tomorrow, but if we can change our flight to Saturday, do you think you could help us find a place to stay?” Yes, the bug had officially bitten them as well. This island does that! Unfortunately, they could not change their work commitments in order to stay, but I know the feeling well. We returned to Sapphire and then changed and went out to Turtle Pier for a last dinner on the island. The food was great, and they had some dancers who came out dancing to Lady Marmalade. They changed into cheerleader outfits for another song, and brought our girls out on the floor for a couple of songs to dance with them! The kids had a ball! The only downside to the evening was when we got home and began to pack. My niece (who had her birthday the day before) realized she left her retainer/expander on the table at Turtle Pier…on a napkin! We called them and they had not found it but said they would check the garbage! My brother said “well, I guess I gotta go check the garbage with them!” So I drove with him back to Turtle Pier where he spent ½ hour with the workers there going through 2 garbage cans full of garbage (fish and everything else you can imagine). YUCK! Kudos to the workers who helped us, though! And we never found the retainer! My poor brother! He began his vacation at the police station and ended it elbow deep in garbage!
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9
We took our luggage over to the airport at about 10:30 when US Airways is supposed to open, They opened a little after 11! Oh well, Island time! We checked in and I sent my brother and his wife back to the hotel with their kids to swim (my brother had been through enough) because our flight was not until a little after 4:00, while we returned the cell phones, did some last minute errands, and got gas. Packlight stopped by to get the chairs, cooler and snorkel equipment, and to say goodbye. We then spent about an hour at the Sapphire pool with Colleen and her fiancé until it was time to go to the airport. My husband made a quick stop at Hilda’s Windsor Castle. What a find! What a yummy and quick lunch or snack! And CHEAP! Wow! We got to the airport, returned our cars to Tropical, got in about 20 minutes before boarding and headed back to the USA. We arrived in Cleveland at about midnight, and drove 2 ½ hours home….zzzzzzz. The very next day was the day the terrorist threat came out, so we just missed that fiasco at the airport! Thank goodness! That might have sent my poor brother over the edge! LOL
SUMMARY: The good (great!), the bad, and the UGLY.
The good/great:
The Celine Pub Crawl, chartering the Celine to Tintamarre, all of our meals and appetizers (Oasis Grill, Lees, Pineapple Petes, O’Plongoir, Ricks, Cheris, Tortuga, Pat’s on Galion, Tap 5. Lals, Hildas Windsor Castle, Skipjacks, Port de Plaisance, Peg Leg Pub, Marks, Sapphire café), Bluebeard to Anguilla, The beaches (Mullet, Cupecoy, Baie Rouge, Galion, Tintamarre, Maho) and all of our wonderful friends on the island! We also want to comment on Sapphire. We had a few maintenance problems (running toilet, air conditioner leaking after the storm) but maintenance came down very quickly each time we called. Plus Jen, who works in sales and was our rep this trip, made numerous calls to check on us throughout the week to see if things were being taken care of. It looks like Sapphire is trying to pay better attention to the things that were hurting its reputation. We had a great stay there.
The bad:
Our babysitter had her camera, several items of clothing, 2 bottles of local rum, and her belly button ring (newly purchased) stolen out of her luggage on the trip back. As she only made her flight by 10 minutes out of SXM, we don’t think it happened there but in Chicago during her layover. Either way, however, it is truly a shame to mar her trip that way.
Colleen and her fiancé had towels and cell phones stolen out of their car while parked in the Sapphire parking garage. Yes, they know not to leave anything in the car but they did not think the towels would get stolen and they forgot their cell phones were in the car as they did not work on the island so they had not been using them. Whoever took the items opened the locked car, took the items, and relocked the car! So at least it was a polite thief! 
Tropical Storm Chris: Because it caused several businesses to have to close for the night and business is difficult enough for them during low season.
Our 3 car accident. Luckily no one was hurt, but it was an unfortunate incident that definitely made for a dent in our moods. Luckily, we bounced back nicely in Tintamarre!
The Ugly.
Elbow deep in garbage at Turtle Pier. Need I say more.
All in all, a wonderful trip and I have to say 12 days is NOT enough time. Next time we need AT LEAST 2 weeks!
