We were on the island October 26 through November 11. We meet with a group of friends hailing from Connecticut and Indiana. All of us stay at Beachside Villas and our experiences on SXM date back to the 80’s and 90’s. Below is one of our many musings and a few of my observations.

MAHO, et al
When cruise ships are in port, the pedestrian and vehicular traffic at Maho is quite an experience to watch let alone attempt to navigate. As we stay at Beachside Villas, we experienced this particular phenomenon quite a few times. Vehicular traffic includes small sedans, taxis of all sizes, large cruise ship buses, and a rather large “Da Party Bus”.

One particular day when five cruise ships were in port, there was a solid wall of people hanging on the airport fence line (I lost count at 47 people), walking along the sea wall abutment, and on the road. Taxis were slowing down, if not stopping behind the jets as they were taking off, giving their cruise ship fares the experience of jet blast. While some of this is organized chaos, eventually someone is going to get hurt; whether a foot run over by a car, a ‘fence hanger’ falling backwards, or a ‘wall walker’ losing balance and falling into the path of a (albeit slow moving) car.

Our group of BSV devotees discussed the potential liability of those involved: the person walking in the road, the person falling off the seawall, the person hanging on the fence, the vehicle barely moving, or the promoter ( if there is one) of the Maho event? Any TTOL’ers want to jump in on this discussion?

FOOD
On a totally different note, our group had dinner at Rancho in Simpson Bay, and all agreed the steaks and food were excellent. One of our members owns two restaurants, and one is an unabashed foodie. The service for our group of eight was great. Several of us had experienced this place when it was the El Rancho (?), years ago, but had not returned since it changed ownership. A local wait staff person indicated it was their restaurant of choice, which is always a good indicator.

A re-visit to Lagoonies on the waterfront in Cole Bay on Friday night for their fish and chips and music did not disappoint. The fish and chips are light and deep fried perfectly. This is a nice, casual place to eat and enjoy local surroundings, waterfront views, and live music.

One of our favorite places to spend the day is Friar’s Bay Beach Café / Restaurant. It was almost totally destroyed by hurricane Gonzollo. The establishment is under reconstruction, and owner Laurant is hoping to open today (Friday, November 14). We are happy he is dedicated to maintaining this wonderful place to spend a lazy beach day on the French side with wonderful food.

A tip of that hat from various group members also goes to Mario’s Bistro, Bajatzu, Izzi’s, LaRosa, Toppers (Simpson Bay), and last but not least, Buccaneer Beach Bar.

WEATHER
The torrential rains, flooding, and subsequent curfew just added to our long list of experiences in SXM, including surviving Hurricane Lenny in 1999.