Left Chicago on a direct flight to SXM on Saturday, March 24th. The flight was delayed for 1:15 hours in Chicago since they were waiting for some extra luggage that hadn’t made it to the plane yet. Considering it was spring break in Chicago it was understandable. Finally left 1 hour and 15 minutes late and had a smooth flight

Arrived in St. Martin and breezed through immigration to get stuck waiting and waiting for our luggage. After 1 ½ hours they announced all the bags had been unloaded and it appears our oldest daughters bag missed the flight even though we arrive 2 hours before departure. Filled out the report and said call on Sunday.

We were met at the airport by Prince from Prince rental car. He was wonderful and we were on our way with a rental cell phone within 15 minutes of filling out our lost luggage form. Checked into Grand Case beach club and was thrilled. Had a 2 bedroom condo on the water. Stairs leading upstairs were really narrow but it as clean and worked out great for my wife and I and 3 daughters. We had a king in our room and 2 doubles in the second bedroom.

Saturday went shopping for our oldest daughter (BJ) in Grand case and got her short for the beach and a shirt. Ate at Il Nettuno and had a wonderful meal. Same bartender and waiter as was there 2 years ago. Great selection with the kids. Rigatoni with Vodka sauce and Gnochi with 4 cheese was wonderful

Sunday headed straight to Bikini beach on Orient Beach. Said hello to Valerie the beach waiter he remembered us from our cruise last year and our visit 2 years ago. He took care of us the whole week and Elisha, the owner, was very nice in helping us for the week since we had 3 kids which I think barely sat at there beach chair. Sunday night went to L’Escapade in Grand case and it was very good. They were very accommodating for the kids and we had a nice meal. The rack of lamb was very good. BJ's bag showed up at the hotel about 7 PM on Sunday.

Monday back to Bikini beach and then to LaGondola at the Atlantis casino for dinner. Gave the car to the valet so there was no worry about security or parking. Dinner was fabulous. Ceasar salad, Bruschetta, Gnocci and Carbonera were great. My favorite was the Carbonera and the salad.

Tuesday it rained which was OK since the kids were burnt a little bit. Went into Phillipsburg and visit DK Gems and Shiva Jewelers. DK gave us a better price when we mentioned TTOL but we found what we really liked at Shiva’s. Ricky was great to work with on a busy cruise day and based on our price shopping gave us a good deal. We look at Platinum mine and Diamonds international and they were much higher. At dinner at LaCalifornia in Grand Case and the highlight was the dog on the beach begging for food. I was really disappointed by the rib eye that looked like they got it at a grocery store. We also ate in Phillipsburg and it was disappointing right on the beach.

Wednesday was gorgeous. Spent the whole day at the beach and it was packed since 4 ships were in town. Found our normal spot in the second row so we can watch the kids in the water and had a wonderful time. Wednesday night we ate at Rare at the Atlantis casino. It was very good but VERY expensive. We took the leftover meat back to the condo and fed it to the homeless dogs on the beach Thursday. Our twins had the ribs which were excellent, BJ and I had the filet and veal chop both excellent and my wife had the ribeye which was huge. We made a lot of dogs on Orient beach very happy. We have 5 dogs at home so seeing all the homeless ones was tough

Thursday back to Bikini beach since we go to Anguila on Friday. Stayed at the beach until 7:00 drinking shots with Valerie, the bartender and the guy who does the tatoo’s. The kids just kept swimming and we had a wonderful time. Got back to the condo and went back to Il-Netuno for dinner. Matteo sings there nightly and the kids had a great time singing with him.

Friday headed to Anguila to swim with the dolphins. Went to a beach on a tour and then to swim with the dolphin. The kids loved it but I lost our camera on the way home but I still have the video camera footage. At that night at Bistro Caribes in Grand case and it was also wonderful. EXTREMELY kids friendly and went out of there way to make sure the kids had something they liked. We actually bought there Martini glasses which are really cool since they sit in a glass of ice water to keep them cool. We are not really wine drinkers and it was interesting that the Martini craze hasn’t hit the island. The kids at Chicken and shrimp and BJ, my wife and I split rack of lamb, Veal (EXCELLENT) and a steak.

Saturday checking in our luggage early and headed to SSBB. It was good and we killed time. Took the car back to prince rent a car and said see you in two years since we have a Bat mitzvah to pay for next year.

In regard to crime, we walked every night from Grand case beach club into Grand case for dinner. They had security on the street into Grand case and really didn’t feel threatened at all. We were very aware of our surroundings and never felt worried. At the Atlantis casino we just used the valet to avoid any problems. We never let anything in the car except beach towels. When we checked in at the airport the family in front of us had 2 laptops stolen out of there car but they admitted it was stupid to leave anything in their car.

Traffic was not an issue except on Tuesday leaving Phillipsburg headed to Grand Case. It took about 50 minutes to get into Grand case. Once you make it over that hill you are home free.

Mbrott

Can't wait to go back. Offered BJ two weeks in St Martin in exchange for her party but didn't work.