My contribution:<br>St, Martin:<br>Our 4th trip to St. Martin. We've decided it's "our corner of Paradise" and<br>why waste time and money going anywhere else? This was a 10 day trip from May<br>14 to May 24.<br><br>Our first afternoon, Jim, the "ex Mr. Shy" introduced ourselves to two couples<br>chatting near us on the beach the first afternoon. Then we met up with a<br>couple from Ontario who he 'met' through this BB. We spent a lot of<br>time with John and Toddy, who were celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary.<br>Their 2 week vacation was over after our first 5 days, and we were ready for<br>some quiet down time after they left. We continued to see one of the couples<br>(Larry and Sherry - Bronx N.Y.) from the beach. The other couple, (Dan and Kelly -<br> Utah), spent their time diving and had a time share on the other side of the<br>island for their second week but we didn't actively look for company after<br>John and Toddy went home. We met an artist from New York. Her name is<br>Frenchy. Her real name is Marianne. There's a french coin with a "Marianne"<br>on it, so that's how she got her nickname. Her store is in Grand Case next to Talk of the Town.<br>Frenchy's dog, Brownie got a lot of our suppertime doggy bags. He adopted<br>Frenchy 3 weeks before we got there.<br>We ate at a place called something like the "Pirates Cove" one evening. They<br>spoke only French. To get there, you have to walk down a dark alley lighted<br>by torchlights and knock on the wooden door. I asked Toddy, "What's up with<br>that"? and she said a pirate doesn't have to let you in - unless he wants your<br>money! It took us a long time to get our check and get out that night, so we<br>knew Frenchy had already closed the art galary. We were pleased to find her<br>and Brownie waiting outside for their doggy bag!<br>We also met Cheryl and Andy, owners of Surf Club South next to Pedros. Cheryl and Andy are from<br>NY and NJ, repectively. They've opened a beach bar and have "the best food on<br>the island, no foolin". We ate there 5 times!<br>We also went on the Tiko Tiko cruise to Tintamarre. We swam (Jim snorkeled)<br>all day, sat down to a wonderful lunch-dinner cooked by Emmanuelle, who set<br>the table with real linen and wore a bow tie (and g-string) for the occasion.<br>Phillipe mixed up some clay from a hillside and we all gave each other mud<br>baths, (I also managed to goop some on a passerby who expressed interest)<br>On our cruise were a couple from Argentina with their little girl baby,<br>Carolina, a Swiss family (Anita, Robert, and Maryann (I spoke with them<br>in German - they stayed 3 weeks), a Manchester NH couple (he works in Lowell Mass where Jim is from), and a Californian couple (Tom and Jenise) who said they used to bring their<br>kids, but now the kids get embarrased and say "put on your pants, Dad"!<br>Carolina has taken my Ty Beanie baby, Cheezer, back to Argentina. She was an<br>excellent, sweet dispositioned, baby. They were staying 2 huts down from ours at C O<br>so we saw her every day, and always got a smile.<br>Some nights we'd go back to the beach with bottles of wine, cheese, french<br>bread, grapes, and crackers. (A nice tradition started by Dan and Kelly).<br>Then we'd feed the leftovers to the fish in the mornings.<br>The fish swim so close, that when you hold a piece of bread an inch over the<br>water, they'd jump for it! Our hut was a 1 minute walk from the beach and<br>Papagayos, the restaurant where we could get our Pina Coladas and water during<br>the day.<br>Best Find: John and Toddy: They were a lot of fun and guided us to the best<br>'cheap eats' (Portafino's, Surf Club South, Talk of the Town, so we could save<br>our money for the important things like jewelry. Had a great time at<br>Shopper's Haven where I bought Jim a nice heavy, gold chain, Kash had a<br>tanzanite pendant made for me to go with existing earrings, and now we're<br>waiting for the real treasure to be shipped (a diamond invisible heart),<br>they're making in 18 carat gold)<br>Best Pina Coladas: Surf Club South, Shoppers Haven, Sunset Beach Bar. Worst:<br> Papagayos - it separates within the first two minutes!<br>Club O comment: I liked everything about staying there except the maid<br>service. They treat you as though you're in school and not on vacation. The<br>maid walked in on us after a brief knock (like a drug bust!) and stayed<br>underfoot while we were trying to get ready for the beach. We had to go to<br>the office and ask for a 'DO NOT DISTURB - NO MOLESTE' sign to keep her at<br>bay, but even at the office, they failed to understand that when you're on<br>vacation you don't want to commit to a specific time to be out of the room.<br>They said, ok, if 9 am is too early, what about 10?<br>Some general comments;<br>The weather was great all 10 days.<br>No sign of trouble any time or any where.<br>Where is the sand in front of the food shacks on Orient Bay.<br>Never went to any other beach.<br>10 days still goes to fast.<br>To much new construction on Orient Bay.<br>Neil at SSBB thanks for the shooters and nice to have met you.<br><br>This is my little contribution to TTOL. Jim will have a much more detail trip report in a few days. Please stand by.......<br><br>Carmen<br><br><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Administrator on 6/5/01 02:21 PM.</EM></FONT></P>