Just got back from our 4th trip to SXM. This time we were able to stay 10 days and this was our 1st time staying at C O.<br>I will summarize on a day by day basis (I hope it’s not to long) and will put some final thoughts at the end.<br><br>Monday 5/14<br>Weather – few clouds, hot, nice breeze.<br>Got up at 4:30 and the limo picked us up at 5:15. There was an accident on the lower deck that reduced the lanes down to 1. Got to Logan at 06:30 checked in and went to our gate at AA. Just carry on, no luggage to check. I didn’t even have time to get coffee and a paper. We boarded at 07:05 and took off at 7:15. We flew to SJU in a large (something BUS) plane that seats 8 people across. The plane was only about 75% full and that extra leg room that AA has was very much appreciated. We had a 45 minute layover for our 2nd flight to SXM. The plane did not have immigration forms so we had to fill them out in the customs and immigration line. As this was the only plane that had just arrived with about 80 people, immigration was real quick.<br>Went out side and the Thrifty shuttle was waiting to take us to get our rental. We got a white beat up something or other that had 37,000 km on it and it was scratch and dented all over it. I would rather get a car like this as it is a lot more difficult to say I caused a particular scratch. The a/c worked fine.<br>As it was hot and our luggage was in the trunk Carmen did not want to stop for food for the room so we drove to C O and checked in. We reserved a studio for the 10 days. for a couple of reasons. 1- since it was only the 2 of us we didn’t need anything larger and 2- the studios are very close to the beach. We were given unit number 7.<br>Grabbed a few supplies at L’Orintique and were on the beach by 3:30.<br>Went over to book the next available Tico Tico which was for Thursday.<br>There were 2 other couples right next to us on the beach I went over and introduced ourselves. They were Dan and Kelly ,and Larry and Sherry. Both couples each had a beach chalet The 6 of us stayed on the beach and shared wine and cheese until sunset. As I hadn’t had that much to eat all day that few glasses of wine got me a little sh—faced. We were back in the room by 9:00 and passed out by 9:30.<br><br>Tuesday 5/15<br>Weather – few clouds, hot, nice breeze.<br>Got up around 9:00 and I was having breakfast on the patio. Carmen was in the bathroom and in walks the maid, no knocking she just walked in. Carmen was very pissed about this. Got to the beach around 10:00 and met up with the 2 couples from last night. I hung up a TTOL tee shirt on our umbrella. John and Toddy from this BB saw it and came over to introduce themselves. We had lunch together at Papagayos. We hung around together until 5:00 when we had to get ready for our gathering at SSBB for 6:00. We met up with Lorrie, John and Toddy, Louisa and Sam, and Brian and Stephanie all from this BB.<br>I had my very 1st Carib, I’ll take Coors Thank you.<br>About 20 minutes after arriving Air France, which was sitting on the runway started to taxi down the runway. About 2 dozen people (including me) started to run over to the fence at the end of the runway for a better view. Everybody stood right behind the plane and held on for dear life. The plane sat there for 5 minutes before full throttle and taking off. What an incredible experience. Hope the pictures come out.<br>Neil wasn’t working that night but had a few pina coladas picked up a SSBB tea shirt and back to C O by 10:00.<br><br>Wednesday 5/16<br>Weather – few clouds, hot, nice breeze.<br>Had breakfast on patio again, this time maid did not show up and we were on the beach by 9:30. Met up with other 3 couples. Carmen and I and John and Toddy walked down to Surf Club South right after Pedros and met the owners Andy and Cheryl. Had a fantastic lunch. I had the ribs as did John. These things melt in your mouth, and he uses a delicious tangy BBQ sauce on them. An absolute must if eating on the beach.<br>There is hardly any beach in front of the beach shacks, maybe 12 feet worth enough for 1 deep, lounge chair. There is no beach in front of Pedros. You can walk by but there are all kinds of rocks that were thrown into the water to ease the erosion. It didn’t help.<br>We stayed on the beach until 5:30 and I invited John and Toddy to the wine and cheese party at Papagayos. The wine and cheese is ok but I wish Mr. Brinks would add a little variety and different food items to this weekly occurrence.<br>We made arrangements to go to Grand Case with John and Toddy for dinner and I would meet them at their Hotel. They were staying at Palm Court at Bikini Beach. We have stayed there a couple of times before. Congratulations to Alisa (Owner) she has made some changes to her rooms that will make them much more appealing. She has removed some closet space (there was too much to begin with) and added a small kitchenette with stove and microwave. She has also removed the tub (if you can call it that) and made it a shower. Great improvements.<br>We had dinner at Portifinos in Grand Case. Nice Italian restaurant and it was reasonable priced. Dinners were in the $10 to $15 range.<br>Back to our room by 10:00.<br><br>Thursday 5/17<br>Weather – Partly overcast, hot, breezy.<br>This is our scheduled day for the Tico Tico. Emmanuel and Philipe were great hostesses. As we got closer to Tintamarre Island there were a lot of textiles there from the cruise ships using the whole beach. As we came in to anchor and of course everybody is standing on the front of the Tico Tico naked , You should have seen the look on all the textiles faces. It was a sight to behold. They were all gone within the hour.<br>I had philipe set up for a mud bath after lunch. Everybody had a great time.<br>When we got back to C O at around 4:30 we met up with John and Toddy and scheduled a dinner at the Pirate in Grand Case.<br>Dinner was good but we had to wait over ½ hour after we requested our bill. And it was HOT in the place. It’s an open air restaurant covered with ship sails with no air circulation. I’ll think twice about going there again. <br>After dinner we met up with Frenchie who had just closed her studio for the evening and gave her my doggie bag for Brownie, her dog.<br><br>Friday 05/18<br>Weather – overcast warm breezy<br>This was our scheduled day in Phillipsburg, as there were no cruise ships in and it was nice not to have the sun beating down on you. Carmen made her way to ‘Shoppers Haven’ as she bought from them last year and I made my way over to Carnegie liquors (sp) to meet Barbara the owner from this BB. She wasn’t in but I talked to her on the phone. I bought some Ma Doudou from her. I caught up with Carmen at Shoppers Haven and she had already spent $1500. Way to go Carmen. I got a new Gold chain and Carmen got ear rings, a Larimar pendant and matching ear rings Invisable diamond heart (on order) and a few other things. <br>Ate lunch at an open air restaurant right next to the Burger King. Made it back to the beach by 3:30 <br>Made plans with John and Toddy to eat dinner at Talk of the Town and make our way over to SSBB and the Dolphin Casino. I did ok at the casino. I hit 777 on a dollar machine and got paid $160.00. The others didn’t do very well. Walked over to SSBB met Neil had a few drinks (Thanks for the shooters Neil) and stayed until 10:00. Carmen had a few too many Pina Coladas and was a little tipsy (Way to go Carmen).<br><br>Saturday 05/19<br>Weather - hazy hot breezy<br>Beach by 9:30 met up with John and Toddy. Made our way over to Surf Club South for Lunch (god their food is good) Had o say good bye to John and Toddy as it was their time to go home. <br>Carmen and I are sure glad we met them they really made the 1st half of our vacation a real joy. Hope we made friends for a long time.<br>Made it back to the beach for a few more hours. Not going out tonight, we need the rest.<br><br>Sunday 05/20<br>Weather – Sunny hot windy<br>Beach by 09:30. Put up a TTOL tee shirt as a flag. Nobody saw it. Had lunch in the room and than had our own wine and cheese party on the beach. A lot of locals today walking the beach all dressed as textiles.<br><br>Monday 05/21<br>Weather – Sunny very windy<br>Beach by 09:30. Put up TTOL tee shirt as flag again, nobody saw it. Had lunch as Surf Club South again. The beach in front of the food shacks was very quiet. Only 25% of the chairs were being used. Had dinner and drinks in the room for dinner. A new couple just arrived and were staying in the studio next to ours. He had body piercing rings all over his ‘private parts’ I don’t think I’m going to try that.<br>Talked to Larry and Sherry a couple of times, they are leaving tomorrow and are very bummed about it. We are leaving in 3 days and those things are starting to enter my mind also.<br><br>Tuesday 05/22<br>Weather – sunny, hot, breezy.<br>Very heavy rain overnight, but it was cleared up by the morning. We were on the beach at the regular time. This was a quiet day for the 2 of us. We had lunch in the room as we had to finish up on the food we had. Stayed on the beach until 5:00. Went to Grand Case for dinner and ate at Talk of the Town. We also wanted to buy a water color painting from Frenchie but she wasn’t open that night. Sorry Frenchie we’ll make sure we get it next year or we will order from your web site. On our way back we stopped at Bikini Beach to have a couple but they were getting ready to close. Went back to our room and finished the bottle of Baileys Irish Cream.<br><br>Wednesday 05/23<br>Weather – sunny hot breezy.<br>This is our last full day. We got up at 7:30 and did the nude walk from one end of the beach to the other. Had breakfast in the room and on the beach by the regular time. Went to Surf Club South for lunch again and really pigged out. Back to the beach. Back to Surf Club South again for drinks and to say our good byes. Cheryl and Andy gave us drinks on the house ….Thanks guys.<br>Decided against going to the wine and cheese party again tonight at papagayos. The wine is ok but I wish Mr. Brinks would have a little more selection on the cheese and add a few different food items.<br>Comment; We had a few Pina Coladas the last few days from papagayos but something was wrong with them. The ingredients would separate in the cup after a couple of minutes and just didn’t taste quite right. We had dinner in the room with the rest of the food stuff we had. Carmen is a great cook as she can use any ‘leftovers’ and make a great meal.<br>Did a little packing but will do the rest in the morning.<br><br>Thursday 05/24 Last Day<br>Weather -= Sunny, hot, breezy<br>Up early and did the nude beach walk from one end to the other. The hotel at the far north end of the beach, which is vacant has a sign on the beach which says no male and no female nudity (no wonder they are closed).<br>Checked out by 10:00 and drove to Phillipsburg to pick up the diamond necklace. It’s a holiday and everything is closed, bummer. We have since talked to Kash on the phone and he will be shipping the diamond pendent in the next week.<br>Went to the airport checked in and paid our tax. Drove over to the SSBB for lunch and left when we saw our plane come in.<br>Drove to Thrifty to return the car and had a hassle with them. There was a hub cap missing and they wanted to charge me for it. I told them it was missing when I got the car. There was a little arguing back and forth, in the end they didn’t charge me. Got to the airport and had a nice 45 minute wait in the air conditioned waiting area.<br>Flight to SJU was 35 minutes and we had to go through customs and immigration there. There was security every where. What a nice airport. Left 10 minutes early and got to BOS 30 minutes early. Limo was waiting and straight home.<br>Until next year……………..<br><br>A few comments;<br>I wish somebody would add fill and grade the road leading into C O.<br>Never saw any problems or trouble anywhere.<br>We are not big eaters but you have to try Andy and Cheryls Surf-Club- South on O B.<br>Will definitely book C O again next year.<br><br>Jim and Carmen <br> <br><br><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Administrator on 6/5/01 02:14 PM.</EM></FONT></P>