May 24-June 8 - I will apologize in advance for the length of this trip report! Had a wonderful, fantastic trip, as usual! It is difficult for us to get to SXM in one day from Austin, so we do an overnight in each direction - we fly to Tampa on Southwest & overnight each direction with our son & daughter-in-law - except, this year on the way to St. Martin we were going to get into Tampa so very late that we decided to stay in the Marriott that is inside the Tampa airport - great hotel, comfy beds, very convenient.
May 24 - Flew Jet Blue Tampa-San Juan-SXM - paid for the extra space seats so we did not have to stand in a security line in Tampa & got to get on the plane first - well worth the extra $30 each. Flights were uneventful & on time. If you need to eat in the San Juan airport, we found that Mango's Village in the food court in the Jet Blue terminal was very good - we were quite surprised at the quality. Arrived in SXM & there walked down the steps breathing in that wonderful warm, humid air. No lines at immigration & luggage came out quickly. Unity was waiting to take us to pick up our car & then it was off to Royal Palm to pick up our phone from Sharon. The new causeway & lack of traffic made the trip to the French side very quick. We stayed at O Paradis as usual. Loved having the refrigerator filled by Shop n Drop - it was so nice to enjoy a cold drink while we unpacked. After a long day of travel, we did not want to go far for dinner, so we ate at Yellow Submarine, Bruno's new sports bar in Orient Village - food was very good.
May 25 - got pastries from Macaron's, another new venture of Bruno's, & took them back to our bungalow - after breakfast it was off to Club O for a day of sunning, swimming, eating, drinking & catching up with friends from previous years. Lunch was at Ethnic. Since it was Sunday, it was toes in the sand dinner at Calmos for sunset & live music.
May 26 - Pastries today were from the new bakery on the main road in Orleans. It was then time to get the rest of our groceries so we headed to the Grand Marche on Bush Road. Lunch in our room & then something different for us, we spend the rest of the day in the pool. Dinner was in Orient Village at La Table d'Antoine - very good & close to "home".
May 27 - Pastries in our room & then spent the day at Club O. We were very ambitious today & walked to Mount Vernon & back 3 different times. Lunch was sandwiches we brought with us. Dinner was at Sky's the Limit - our first time there, but it won't be our last. Finally got a chance to try the crepes from the little trailer in the free parking lot, yummy!
May 28 - Not wanting to get too much sun our first few days, today was declared shopping day - Breakfast at Sarafina's in Marigot & then a walk around the market - found the Secret Spot for t-shirts for the 4 grandsons & also bought a lovely garnet necklace from the gentleman who, we were told, mines them on some property overlooking Happy Bay. Dropped off our purchases at our room & then went to Philipsburg for lunch & some more shopping. A visit to DK Gems is not complete without a purchase or two. Also picked up some Alex & Ani bracelets for our daughter & daughter-in-law. Also made some purchases at the Belgium Chocolate store, Mr. Tablecloth, Longchamps & Shipwreck shops. Walked down to The Greenhouse for lunch. Hit up Coliseum Casino for a bit. Back to room to drop off those purchases & change clothes & then it was time for a visit with Ursula at I Love My Island Dog to bring the doggies some food & play with them. After such a busy day, we ate in our room - we do this once every trip & it has become one of our favorite meals - different meats, cheeses, crackers, olives, tomatoes, fruit & of course, a bottle of wine.
May 29 - I was ambitious again today - cooked bacon & eggs for breakfast - spent the day at Cupecoy with ribs & rum punches from Dany for lunch. On the way back, we decided to try the Driftwood - drove past it for a bunch of years, but never stopped - don't know what took us so long to try this place - more rum punches & a great mushroom & sausage pizza for dinner.
May 30 - Pastries in room & beach day at Club O. Walked down the beach to Chez Leandra for lunch. Rest of afternoon was spent doing the usual. Decided to try Sushitto for dinner - wonderful food & service - got to spend a few minutes chatting with Elisa & then spent some time in the Princess Casino.
May 31 - Pastries in room & then beach day at Club O. Today's lunch was just snacks we brought to the beach since we wanted empty stomachs when we got to dinner at The Palms - fantastic as usual. Then we headed over to Buccaneer Beach Bar for live music & visit with Bill & Elaine.
June 1 - Woke up to no electricity so breakfast was at the SXM Yacht Club. Spent the rest of the day at Dreams in Nettle Bay - absolutely love that place - spent the day swimming, sunning, drinking, meeting friends & picking up lots of great beach glass. Lunch was out of this world, as usual. Bruno really knows how to make my day. After such a large, late lunch, there was no dinner for us tonight. We did get dessert at Piece of Cake on our way to La Bamba for live music.
June 2 - Pastries in room & then beach day at Club O. Lunch was at Orange Fever. Rest of afternoon was more of the same swimming, sunning, reading, drinking. Grand Case was on the agenda for tonight - started with a little shopping at Voila & then an out of this world dinner at Bistrot Caraibes.
June 3 - Breakfast was at The Taste Factory before we boarded The Random Wind for our sail - I won a gift certificate through Erik Krantz's newsletter - we have a really nice day - stopped offshore from La Samanna for snorkeling & this was the first time we actually saw an octopus while snorkeling. Really enjoyed our lunch & our sail. Tired from our activities, we wanted to stay close for dinner, so we ate at Le Piment - it was wonderful, as usual.
June 4 - Guess what - I forgot to buy some "stuff" on our shopping day, so it was back to Philipsburg for breakfast at Kangaroo Court & picking up those forgotten items. I am so thankful that my hubby is so patient! Rest of the day was spent at Club O with lunch at The Perch. Dinner was at Bajatzu, another first time visit for us. It was very good. Spent some time at Casino Royale.
June 5 - Our vacation is quickly coming to an end. Today is our last full day. Since we wanted to get in as much beach time as we could, we took our pastries to the beach to enjoy in our chairs. Spend the day at Club O & lunch was a pizza from Orange Fever that we brought back to our chairs to eat. For our last dinner we ate at Ocean 82 - we love this place. One last walk along the main street in Grand Case.
June 6 - The Day of Sadness has arrived. Up early & pastries in our chairs at Club O, along with a bottle of wine (well, people eat grapes for breakfast). One last walk & swim & then back to our bungalow to shower & pack. Return phone to Sharon, car to Unity & then to airport - no lines to check in, no lines for security - I could have stayed on the beach another 30 minutes had I known this! Flights back to Tampa were on time and uneventful.
June 7 & 8 were spent visiting with son & daughter-in-law in Tampa.
Now to start planning next year's trip!!!!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Groovin.gif" alt="" />
