Hey all!

Just a brief trip report on our visit last week to our favorite island.

We arrived on Sunday, July 15, via Delta direct from ATL. Absolutely no problems with Delta, the flight took off and arrived on time. Flight was pretty full, much fuller than the same flight we took in February. We had a bit of trouble getting the kiosk at ATL to check us in, but an extremely helpful Delta agent actually took us over to the First Class counter and helped us out. The flight attendants were friendly and courteous and all was well.

We arrived to cloudy skies and a light drizzle which turned into a downpour, though it didn't last too long. Unity met us at the airport as arranged, a quick van drive over to pick up our rental car -- Michael was FANTASTIC and had us on the road within 5 minutes! He upgraded us to a fairly new Toyota Corolla with a moon roof and an alarm system. Nice guy and staff, good price, great little car. A whole lot better than the fiasco we went through with another rental agent last February. We will definitely use Unity again. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

We stopped at the Royal Palm to pick up our cell phone from Sharon, another quick transaction that took all of 10 minutes! Then we found our way to Les Balcons in Oyster Pond and decided to have a quick dinner and drinks at the Dinghy Dock. What a fun place and the food was actually very good. We ended up eating there several times during the week. Friendly, attentive staff, good prices, tasty food. VERY good ribs.

Monday, Day 2, we went out on the Tiko Tiko. It was definitely the highlight of our week. What fun that was, mud baths and all. We had a great group of people and spent a relaxing day in the sun, swimming, snorkeling, and making new friends. We highly recommend this trip to anyone who hasn't done it before. Philippe and his first mate, Fredericka (?sp), were wonderful and the food was delish! We had the chicken dish with baked potatoes and salad, followed by yummy cheesecake and wine. We also had rum shots, rum punch, and sea breezes, and beer for those that wanted it. Philippe's new boat is awesome, very spacious, and a hoot to sail on. We also had several children on board and it was so refreshing to see how accepting they were of the nudity -- they didn't think twice about it and frolicked about having a blast themselves. Made us realize how silly most of this uptightness about such things can be. Anyway, it was a fun day for all involved and we can't wait to do it again next time!

I'm not really good at remembering everything we did each and every day, but we took it easy most of the week and just did simple, fun things and let sand gravity play its part.

We did Orient Beach (Club O end) most days. The beach was fine except for a bit thin down by Papagayos, water up to the rocks. Did happy hour at the Perch, of course.<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" /> Found a new drink we both liked immensely...a melon colada. YUM, light and refreshing! We ate lunch one of those days at The Pirate (next to Baywatch). First time there and what a pleasant surprise. The food was GREAT, the prices very reasonable. Ed got a cheeseburger, but I had a curried chicken wrap which had rice in it and it was marvelous. We had three pina coladas, as well. I wish I could tell you what we paid, but I honestly don't remember the exact amount (around $22). I do remember being pleasantly surprised. We also had lunch one day at Baywatch. I had the Eggplant parmigiana sandwich (my favorite). Ed had the roast beef dip sandwich and said it was very good. Andy and Cheryl are fun people, their food is wonderful. But then most of you already know that.

We visited Baie Rouge for a short time one day (beautiful beach), but didn't stay long, only b/c the weather was kind of iffy and we wanted to do some exploring this time around. We did just that and got to know the island a bit better. Still couldn't find Ma Doudou's shack, despite driving around the area in circles for a bit. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> We settled on buying some from the Food Express in Maho. Brought home some Coco this time...yum!

We ate at the Big Fish in Oyster Pond twice for breakfast. Good food, reasonable prices, servers could be a little friendlier. But all in all, we'd recommend it. I did like their crepes and their eggs benedict with crab cakes was good, if a bit rich. Ed did the bacon & eggs thing both days. He likes his American breakfasts. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/chef.gif" alt="" />

We did eat dinner at Calmos Cafe one evening and LOVED it! Wonderful service, delicious food, feet in the sand, drink in the hand, beautiful sunset - who could possibly ask for more?! The staff were friendly and attentive, came by our little table on the sand several times to make sure we were doing okay. The complimentary little shots of cinnamon rum at the end of the meal were just the right touch. We tried to go back there on Saturday night for our last dinner on the island, but the little road through Grand Case was jammed. Someone said there was an accident and the road was blocked, so we had to turn around and go back. We ended up going back to the Dingy Dock for dinner, which was fine with us. We were really quite comfortable at that place.

We also ate at Mark's Place for lunch the day we were leaving. What a terrific staff! We both just had cheeseburgers, but boy were they good! I had mine with rice and beans instead of the usual french fries. Again, very, very good. Probably the best Pina Colada I had on the island. Next time we'll try them for dinner.

Friday evening we had dinner at Tabba Khady with David and Regina. I cannot recommend this restaurant highly enough. The setting alone is beautiful. A very romantic spot, very special. We sat at a table right next to the pool. The food was wonderfully presented and delicious. We shared a Cucumber Lebanese salad in yogurt and sour cream dressing and the pork and vegetables Vietnamese egg rolls as appetizers, all of which were fantastic. My dinner was the Pork filet Senegalese Mafe style smothered with Tomato peanut butter sauce, fried yams and crispy lentil papadum bread. Ed had sauteed sliced beef with spicy red Thai curry and Coconut milk, jasmine rice, and vegetarian selection. It all looked so pretty, we didn't want to eat it. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

We can't remember what David and Regina had, but I'm sure they'll tell you in their own trip report. For dessert Ed & I shared an apple tart with vanilla ice cream. It was okay, nothing too special, but after that dinner, who cared? <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> William and Philippe were terrific hosts, very outgoing and friendly, made us feel like we were in their home. As most of you already know, they don't to 1:1 anymore, but if you pay in cash they do give a special rate of 1Euro=$1.20. Our dinner (for Ed & I) came to around $130 US dollars. That was with drinks, as well. A very nice evening with special new friends and scrumptious food. Highly recommended.

Most of the rest of the week, we simply let sand gravity do its thing. Life was good.

On our last day on the island, we had lunch at Mark's Place as previously noted, then took a brief ride around the Dutch side, returned our phone to Sharon, and the car to Michael. Everything went smoothly. Michael had us back to the airport in minutes without having to worry about the traffic. We were a little early, so we browsed the airport shops and bought a few last-minute souvenirs. The only downside was that we had to wait for our flight downstairs (Gate B3) and there was not much air-conditioning down there, so it got a bit stuffy. Ed mentioned that it smelled like a locker room with all that sweat...LOL. The airport was very busy at this point with all the gates taken, so we were whisked to the plane on the tarmac by bus. Not a big problem though. Though we never saw the old terminal, the new one is very modern and nice. The only suggestion we would make is that they put a few more seating areas in the arrivals hall downstairs so that folks can sit elsewhere when the eating places get crowded. Delta again left on schedule and we had a smooth flight home. We even arrived in Atlanta 30 minutes early, but alas, being ATL, they didn't have our gate ready for us so we had to sit on the tarmac for 20 minutes until a gate opened up. Then there was the usual wait to get through immigration and customs, the rechecking of the baggage, etc. By the time we got out of the airport it was 9:30p (our flight touched down at 7:15p). But all in all, our Delta experience this time around was a good one and we find their service improving over several years ago. Other than JetBlue, we prefer Delta at this moment in time.

We proceeded to drive the 3 hours from Atlanta to Knoxville, TN, and hit the covers, tired, happy to be home, but looking forward to going back. Time to reset the countdown clock. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" />

A few brief notes:

- We were sorry to miss the TTOL party at Calmos Cafe on Friday, the 20th. We originally had reservations at Tabba Khady for Thursday night, but the drenching rains and winds that day forced us to change them to Friday night, as William and Philippe were not able to open on Thursday evening. We hope you guys had a great time at the TTOL gathering and we'll catch you next time around. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Banana.gif" alt="" />

- We did visit the Westin briefly one evening (after eating at Tabba Khady) as we were staying in the area and curiosity got the better of us. I must say that neither of us was very impressed. The building is UGLY from the approach road (reminded me of a penitentiary) and IMHO unnecessarily spread out. Now, I will give you that it IS beautiful inside, but the casino did not impress us as it was way smaller than we imagined it would be. Not too many people in there that night (we didn't play, just watched for a short while), maybe 20? Of course, in all fairness, it was dark and we couldn't see the pool area, or the beach, so we can't comment on those. The pics of the pool look very nice though. I'm sure it works for some, but overall, we weren't impressed. Drinks at the bar were WAY expensive -- give us the good ol' Dinghy Dock any day! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

- Weather was up and down, though other than one day, it didn't really interfere with our plans. That one day was Thursday, the 19th, and it was a doozy! Rained (hard) all day with a fair amount of wind. Some roads got flooded, so driving was difficult in some areas. We spent the earlier part of that day watching planes come and go from SSBB (very cool), but played it safe when the rains got harder and stumbled to and from the Dinghy Dock, which is within walking distance of Les Balcons. Don't let anyone tell you that it NEVER rains ALL day on SXM - it can and does! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" /> There were also some amount of winds at Orient Beach most of the week, but not enough to cause us problems; just enough to keep the bugs away. Though one day they did take the umbrellas down just a bit earlier than usual d/t the winds kicking up.

- Speaking of Les Balcons, David and Carine are wonderful hosts, very friendly, and make sure that everything is going well for you. We will stay there again in the future, though not in February 2008, when we already have our reservations set for Le Jardin at Vista Royale and Club O. Our studio unit at Les Balcons was not very big, but it was perfect for our needs and the balcony was very nice. We placed out the water and sugar for the little yellow birds and it was fun to watch them take a bath in it each morning.

- One funny thing that happened was that we heard this weird (awful) kind of noise one morning around 6am. It woke us both up. At first it sounded like a little yelping puppy, but not exactly. Ed asked me what the he$% that was (but he was laughing). After listening to it for a few more minutes, I said it sounded like a monkey. Ed looked at me like I was crazy, but went outside to investigate. Then he yelled in, "it IS a monkey". I ran outside and sure enough, there was this little monkey in the tree outside our room. He sure looked pissed off and was screeching about something or other. He hung around a little bit, then took off toward the pool area. Later in the day, we asked Carine about it and she said that he had escaped from his cage (I believe he belonged to the neighbors?) and no one seems to be able to catch him. He comes by the pool every morning around 7am, according to Carine, to take a drink from the pool. He was so cute. I took two pictures of him, but they came out too blurry to post. Not sure what kind of monkey he was exactly...he looked a little like a larger spider monkey, had a long tail. I though he was rather cute, but we didn't see him again after that first time. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/dancingmonkey.gif" alt="" />

- This was our 3rd trip to the island, but the first time we've rented a car. Driving was easier than we thought it would be, other than the infamous potholes and VERY frequent speed bumps. We didn't run into any checkpoints, but then again we didn't do a whole lot of driving at late night. We did have to slow down at times for various goats, cows, and horses in the road. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

- Never saw any of the frequently mentioned crime taking place. Now that doesn't mean it doesn't exist - we all know it does - but we do feel it is overstated to some degree. We took the same amount of precautions we would take just about anywhere, but didn't have (or see) any problems. We made sure not to leave anything in the car at any time, but we did lock it and use the car alarm as Michael had instructed us to do.

- As this was a sort of last-minute 'budget' trip for us, we didn't get to eat at all of the places we wanted to try, but that's what return trips are for, no? We made sure we tried Tabba Khady this round and were glad that we did so. Also glad we found Mark's Place...we will return there many times, I'm sure.

- It was an overall good trip, but it was marred a bit by the fact that I wasn't feeling too well toward the latter half of the week. Losing my Mom just prior to leaving on this trip was very hard for me. Between that and several other stressors that we've been dealing with, I found myself tired and tense and unable to completely settle down and relax. So I will admit I didn't enjoy this trip quite as much as the previous two, not mentally, but physically. Hopefully the upcoming February trip will find me in a better frame of mind and body and the island will work its magic on me as I hoped it would do this time.

We’d like to thank all of the TTOL crowd who make this board what it is. Your advice, suggestions, opinions, and trip reports make each trip a bit easier and more fun.

Also a big thanks to Sharon Harris for the wonderful cell phone service she provides, to Michael from Unity for outstanding car rental service and to Bruce for recommending him. And of course to all the friendly local people who work so hard to make SXM what it is!

Sorry for the long report, but as Norm says (and we like to believe), no trip report is too long when talking about St. Martin. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/typing.gif" alt="" />

Let the countdown begin……