Trip report 5/19 – 5/26

We left JFK on AA at 8:15am non stop to SXM and arrived to brilliant sunshine and turquoise water at 1:00 PM with no problems other than a bumpy air flight and a small delay. Ahhhhhhhhhh… the sunshine, the warm air…paradise. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" />

Again we rented our car from Kenny’s and we cannot say enough of how good the service is. Leslie was there waiting for us and came over to greet us as soon as we walked out of the airport door. Highly recommend his service. The airport is amazing…what a difference…. can’t believe how fast it was to go thru immigration and then pick up our luggage. Off we were in about 5 minutes to get some groceries. We went to the Lido Express in Maho. They had everything we needed. After picking up our cell phone from Sharon, we made our way to the Grand Case Beach Club. Traffic was not a problem at all and we were at our hotel by 2:30.

This is our third time at Grand Case Beach Club. A great place, quiet, beautiful scenery, a fantastic view from our bedroom. We got upgraded so we had a two level with two bedrooms, 2 ½ baths, and two lanais. The view is fabulous…. We like it there for the walks to restaurant row in Grand Case and it is also but an 8-minute drive to Orient Beach.

Weather was. ………perfect…. Our first night was extraordinary…. my fiancé proposed to me that night as we were watching the sunset…. it was very romantic…. we then had a great dinner at Sunset Café. Love the view! We asked to sit by the water and they gave us a special table overlooking the water at the far end of the restaurant…. it just made the night that much more romantic…
And. as we were getting ready for our dinner we hear voices near us saying “that’s Rich and Joanne”! Lee and Kate showed up for desert and we had a great time chatting with them. We had met them last year at a TTOL party. We did spend many more days and evening dinners with them and more friends thru the week, which made our entire trip even more special.

Beaches:

Most days were spent on Orient beach at Club O. We had a list of things we wanted to do… but of course the sand gravity set in…you know what happens then…
The beach was in fine shape although it did look a bit smaller at Club O. There were just 2 rows of chairs instead of three as we have seen in the past. We paid our $18 daily and got our chairs and umbrellas. They did not collect at the gate so parking was free for the week…. can’t beat that!

We did manage to make the “happy hour” at the Perch Bar every day we were there…what can I say…”great drinks”. Willy told us on our last day that we could not leave, as we were the ones who started the procession of line-ups each day. We were always the first in line.

It wasn’t a busy week for cruise ships so the “traffic” from the cruisers at Club O. wasn’t too bad. Doctor J and the gang performed his “bead giving” when the cruise ship folks walked the beaches…. alot of laughs there…we also had a few runs of the ball races…

The best thing about hanging out at Club O. is the people you meet and know from previous years. Patty and Howard, Rick and Sue, Lee and Kate Jay and Karen, and new friends Nan & Jack, Todd and MJ and all the TTOL’ers who helped make this years trip the best ever.

Restaurants:

The great food is another reason we go back to St. Maarten every year. Outside of the first and last nights, we ate with our friends every night. We went to Calmos Café twice and ate with our toes in the sand. Burgers one night and tapas the next. Sunday night they had a band so we listened to them as we ate. Our group went to Tabba Khady one night for a delicious dinner. The service was impeccable. Of course our great barbeque at Patty & Howard’s villa at Dawn Estates…Steaks, veggies, salad….Our last night we went to Il Nettuno in Grand Case and had a romantic dinner overlooking the water. Excellent Italian food.
We also want to mention the lunches we had on orient. The Pirate is always good. We loved the hot dogs and hamburgers at the Perch bar. But our favorite place is Baywatch, the lasagna, mussels, and the Italian omelet… Breakfast or lunch, the food is always to die for. Andy and Cheryl are wonderful people.

TTOL Party:

Well, we hosted our first TTOL party and it turned out great! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Groovin.gif" alt="" /> About 17 people in all. Our first time at Shrimpy’s and drinks and appetizers were superb… after the party we all went to Jimbo’s for an excellent dinner….Would highly recommend Shrimpy’s for a great TTOL party. They went out of their way to be sure we always had full glasses. A big thanks to Mike at Shrimpy’s!<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

Shopping:

The only shopping we did was on Orient during the day and our last night in Grand Case. We did stock up on some liquor at the airport the day we left.

Traffic:

We spent all our time on the French side with the exception of the TTOL Party. The traffic that night going thru Marigot was not bad even though it was 5PM.

Security:

The gendarmes were visible at night along restaurant row. We felt totally safe driving back late at night from the Dutch side.

Flight home:

Well I guess you could say this was the worst part of our trip. Our flight on AA was to leave at 1:25 and we arrived at the airport at 11:00am. Lines were not long at all and while checking in we were informed that the AA flight to SXM had to turn back after 2 hours in the air because of a sick passenger and also a maintenance problem. So we had to wait until 5:15 before we finally boarded out plane back to NY. Good thing we did not have any connecting flights. We got into JFK about 9:30 and then we had to wait 1 hour before they unloaded our bags from the plane. Never did hear what the problem was. Immigration at JFK was slow so by the time we got out of the airport and getting back to CT it was after 1am. AA at the time of check-in did not have any word on compensation for this delay but as of yesterday we got emails indicating they had given 6,000 miles to each customer for compensation. Well, I guess we got something out of the whole situation.


Summary:

All in all, an excellent time, even better than last year. Perfect weather, plenty of R&R and excellent meals, all contributed to a great vacation. What made this trip so special were the friends we spent time with and new ones that we made. To Rick and Sue, are third trip together. We enjoyed splicing the mainbrace with you. To Patty and Howard, your villa was awesome, as were the meals at Baywatch. To Kate and Lee, the first ones we saw and the first ones we told about our engagement, To Nan and Jack, new friends we look forward to seeing again next year. Looking forward to seeing everyone again soon.

We can’t wait until we return to paradise and those yellow umbrellas. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Umbrella.gif" alt="" />

Maybe we’ll be getting married there! Who knows…………<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/circle.gif" alt="" />

Rich & Joanne : <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/thanks.gif" alt="" />