TRIP REPORT: May 11-May 18
Trip # 22…
We left Newark on time – flight uneventful. Arrived early to the new airport. It’s kinda sterile to me and I must say, I miss the charm of the old airport, but it is definitely more convenient. Breezed through customs and got our bags and were met outside by Unity. Got a somewhat banged up older car . Michael upgraded us to a car with power windows - livin’ the good life. On our way we picked up a phone from Sharon Harris at Royal Palm. Had to keep in touch with our pet sitter and be sure our “baby” was okay.

Checked into Port de Plaisance – our timeshare. They had upgraded us to a 2-bedroom unit. Checked in. Resort looks good. Just unpacked a little bit and decided to head over to Loterie Farm for lunch. It’s a little tricky going down that narrow one way road, but we arrived. There were a lot of cars in the parking lot. We went up to the Tapas Bar and settled in under the umbrellas with a couple of pretty drinks. Looking out at the mountain, it felt like absolute heaven. We’re finally “HERE”! We ordered some spring rolls, I had a crab salad and George had a 3 cheese pizza. All were good, although I’m not a big fan of goat cheese, which was on the pizza. Sometimes it’s very mild, other times, it tastes like the goat could’ve used a bath before they milked her. We stayed for a couple hours and headed back to pick up some water and other items at the new Grand Marche by PDP. Very nice store with good selection. We decided to stay close to home for dinner and ate at La Guinguette. I had sole Muniere off their pre fixe menu and George had shrimp kebobs. Mine came with a small salad and dessert for $20. With a several glasses of wine and a salad and dessert for George, the bill was a little under $90 with tip.
Next day – we got some croissants at Zee Best, which now has a set up at PDP, right on the marina. I don’t know how long they’ll last here, as only people saying at PDP are “allowed” over the bridge, but they were great!
We then headed off to Friar’s Bay. Jaba set us up with a couple of chairs under a palapa – lots of shade, which is what we both need. $13 for 2 chairs, shade and 2 fruit punches. Spent most of the day there. We really like the beach there. Beach was pretty crowded. They are doing some construction behind Kali’s and come to find out they’re putting in condo’s. What a surprise – building on SXM??? Stopped at Jimbo’s for some lunch on way back. Not great food but good marguerita!. We were going to the TTOL party at Shrimpy’s this night, but George had visited the chiropractor a day before our trip and sometimes it just doesn’t “click” with him. He had pain shooting down his leg and on the way over in the car he was really uncomfortable, so we turned around and headed back to PDP. Got some “take-out” at La Guinguette for dinner. We had reservations for Valentino’s but cancelled and rescheduled for Sunday.
Next day – Mother’s Day, some more croissants – Weight Watcher’s be damned ! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />
Headed over to Friar’s again. It was Mother’s Day, so the beach was pretty crowded. Great day! We went to Valentino’s for dinner this night. I just was not impressed with the food. I had a salad, which was good, George ordered a salad and specifically asked for no nuts, as he has allergies. It arrived with pignoli nuts on it. Now, I’m not sure if he is actually allergic to those, but nuts is nuts, right? They got him another salad. He had a veal dish, but the menu said scallopine and I thought it was very thick and the sauce was just ok. I had some gnocchi with a grape tomato sauce. It was good, but in no way compared to the gnocchi at La Gondola. Somewhat disappointed. No dessert and 3 glasses of wine and the bill was $120 (including tip).

Monday, decided to do shopping this day. We parked a couple blocks down from Rima’s by the Salt Pond as we wanted to pick up several little gifts for some people at work. Walked into town to Touch of Gold as George has a St. Honore watch that we bought a couple years ago and we’ve been trying to replace the band for 2 years. No one in the U.S. can get a band for it. I even emailed the company in France several times, with no replies. TOG told us they’ll get a band and might have to cut it to fit, but they would be able to do it. Left there and went to the boardwalk. The town was absolutely deserted. It was actually a little eerie. I picked up a Swarovski crystal piece (for my collection) at Divine and got a Swatch watch for our nephew’s graduation. Headed back to PDP and stopped at Zee Best for some late lunch. The Fishing Tournamant is starting on the weekend and a lot of sports fishermen boats are starting to arrive. There was a family from Scotland having lunch there as well. They had their boat there as the father and son were participating in the fishing tournament.
Dinner tonight at Saratoga. Haven’t been there in a few years. I had a pasta with spinach, pignoli nuts and a gorgonzola cream sauce. Also had an endive salad, which was delicious. George had a strip steak, which was just ok. I took half my pasta back with me (still had half the pasta from Valentino’s sitting in the refrigerator). With a couple glasses of wine, one dessert the bill was about $130 (with tip). The only true negative was that there was absolutely no air moving this night and it was uncomfortably hot, hot, hot. They really need to install some fans or something. We couldn’t wait to leave and even took the dessert back with us.

Tuesday, back to Kali’s again. Spent some time in the late afternoon at the pool. They’ve redone the tiles and replaced it with some kind of resin. The waterfall is still not working and there is not too much shade provided by the umbrellas. Even at 4pm, it was pretty warm . We wanted to have dinner at Don Camillo’s as that is one of our favorites. We were kind of staying away from the French side restaurants because of the exchange rate. We sat in traffic for a long time getting into Marigot. Finally drove by DC’s to park and as I drove by, I said it looks closed. I had recalled that they were closed on an “odd” night, well, Tuesday is the “odd” night. Seems a lot of the restaurants on SXM are closed on Tuesdays. Oh well… I told George that I had heard that La Cigale was very good and a romantic atmosphere. This was our 31st anniversary, so wanted something nice. We stopped at La Cigale and walked down towards the lagoon. I didn’t really see anything outstanding on their menu and while were we were standing there reading it, I was getting bitten like crazy by mosquitos. I hadn’t worn any repellant because I thought we were going to be dining indoors… oh well… head off from there. Drove through the lowlands towards La Gondola and passed through the Cupecoy area. Talk about SHOCK! The land there has really been “raped”. So sad to see… We tried La Gondola, but it was closed so ended up at Montmartre. I really like this restaurant. The food was excellent. I had dover sole and George had filet mignon. Everything was very good and the bill was about $120 with salads (caesar with shrimp) and several glasses of wine and dessert. Stopped by Atlantis Casino to donate some money and left. We are not gamblers. I always say, if I’m going to drop some cash; I’d like to walk out with some shopping bags in my hands.

Wednesday – beach at Friar’s again. I’ve been going to this beach for the past 7 or 8 years at least, and just love it. Don’t know what changes the condos are going to make though. Met a nice lady from NJ (actually met her dog first- Prego) and she introduced me to the nice lady <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" />
She moved to SXM about 10 years ago and lives up on the hill overlooking the beach. It was nice chatting with her.
We had dinner at Skip Jack’s. Good food and fairly reasonable prices. I had their corn/crab chowder (which I always order), along with stuffed shrimp (which were good, but could have been a little less bread in the stuffing). George had the mahi mahi, which he enjoyed. While we were sitting there, I saw Neil getting a group together to do the pub crawl on Celine. I don’t think he recognized me from last year, until I told him I was sexy B&tch’s aunt, knew me right away. Last year, when I went with my 20 year old niece, she made up her name tag to say “sexy B&tch” and she made up one for me that said “sexy B&tch’s aunt”, so it was somewhat funny to introduce myself that way, but he remembered me then!

Friday was some more croissants and packing up to go. We dropped off the cell phone and the car at Unity and headed over to the airport. Check in was a breeze as was security. The new airport definitely is an improvement in those areas. The shopping area upstairs is really nice too. Bought a couple snacks and last minute gifts. Plane left on time, even though there were some storms in Newark earlier in the day.

The week always starts out slow and then by the 3rd day, it seems to fly by. This was a very relaxing week for us. I read several books and basically vegged, which is exactly what we both needed.

My niece and her boyfriend are going in June this year, so I picked up a lot of brochures, etc. for her. No more trips for me this year, though. (except going to see the Packers in Green Bay in October). George is a HUGE GBP fan. I still have next year to look forward to. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" />