Well, here’s my trip report, just a few weeks delayed. We were on the island Nov 30-Dec 7. This was our third trip to SXM overall, and our second this year. (Note: this was a splurge for us, to honor that my husband miraculously survived—in fact, more or less walked away--after being hit by a semi while riding his bicycle. The incident has sharpened our determination to live the lives we want to be leading. Life is too short and uncertain to put things off!)

We are definitely French-siders. We are not jewelry buyers, casino gamblers, partiers or zipliners. Our big draws are the clothing optional beach at Orient and the amazing food, so that’s mostly what this report describes.

Flights: Minneapolis-Newark-SXM and back, all on Continental. To avoid tight connections, we planned an overnight in Newark both ways. We found the Country Inn in Newark (yes, how unlikely!) to be much more to our liking than where we stayed last trip, the Marriott at the airport. The Country Inn was less expensive, less hustle and bustle, and right next to a Ruby Tuesday restaurant. The shuttle was easy and prompt. We flew Continental because of its partnership with NWA, which dominates Minneapolis/St. Paul, but for future trips to SXM we’ll connect somewhere that is not as affected by winter storms and the generally snarled air traffic of the Northeast. Arrival in SXM was smooth as silk, no line at immigration, took maybe 5 minutes total.

Car Rental: based on recommendations here on TTOL, we rented from Mohamed at Panoramic/Ace. Actually, once I saw the his photo on his website, I recognized him. On our trip to St. Martin in July, Mohamed was kind enough to phone our car rental company (twice!) when they did not meet us at the airport as arranged. His willingness to help us last time made me doubly eager to rent from him this time. We reserved a Charade, received something bigger (can’t remember what) for the same price, all was fine. We mostly only drove between Grand Case and Club Orient. We dealt with an associate both picking up and dropping off, so never did cross paths with Mohamed to thank him in person. Maybe next time.

Lodging: we rented an apartment in Grand Case above restaurant La California from Zuzu (a TTOL sponsor). There are two ocean-view apartments, as well as several village-view units. We were in the 1 bedroom ocean-view unit, in which the bed is in a loft accessed by a steep stair (almost a ladder.) Having a separate sleeping area is nice, because it eliminates that bed-dominated feel of a studio unit, but less nice when you need to use the toilet in the middle of the night… We would happily stay in this unit again, but would first see if the 2 bedroom ocean-view unit is available (it has a main-level bedroom as well as a bedroom and bath in the loft.) We liked the apartment a lot. Very quiet, lovely view, balcony is a wonderful place to read. A brisk breeze kept mosquitoes down. The bed was comfortable, with reading lamps on both sides. The apartment isn’t super fancy, but is spacious, in good repair, and squeaky clean. The kitchen was fine, albeit a tad less complete than others we’ve rented (dish soap, hot pads, a baking sheet or some oven-proof dish and spatula for reheating leftover pizza were some of the things we would have liked to have had). Off-street parking is included in a gated lot across the street. This was convenient in early December, and I imagine it would be invaluable in high season.

Beach: every day at Club Orient, near the Perch. We purchased the weekly chair/umbrella pass (buy 5 days, get 7 to be used within 9 days) for $100. We actually only used 6 days, but it’s still a deal. There was one day that was really stormy in the morning (dozens of naked bodies huddled shivering in the Perch during the downpour, now that was a hoot!) but otherwise the weather was lovely. One day we ended up next to Carol and Eric, and it took me longer in the conversation than it should have to realize who they were. (It was nice to meet you both!) We really enjoy the casual conversations and friendships that develop on the beach at Club O.

By the way, is anyone else amused by the fact that there are dressing rooms in Orientique for trying on clothes?

FOOD: Let’s just say, we don’t get food like this in small-town Minnesota.

Kokomarina. This is our favorite Orient Beach restaurant, without question. It’s owned and run by Marina (Zuzu’s daughter) and her (Marina’s) husband Koko. They’re open only during the day, and they also rent beach chairs and umbrellas. The place is more refined than the other beach bars we tried, nice décor in blues and browns, and the food is fabulous. They serve everything from salads and sandwiches to complete mid-day meals. And their service can’t be beat—they are friendly and efficient and responsive. (And as if that weren’t enough, they offer a gratis flavored-rum shot to round out your meal…)

We had one lunch at Papagayo, and thought both the menu and food have improved since July, but still nothing to write home about.

Other meals: We choose to stay in Grand Case so that we can enjoy a bottle of wine with dinner and not worry about driving afterwards. I know there are other great restaurants on the island, but so far we haven’t gotten tired of the selection in Grand Case.

Le Cottage was terrific, as usual. Service is friendly and attentive without being too much, pacing is pleasantly relaxed. Every dish is a presentation masterpiece. Lots of frothy emulsion sauces. Most outstanding dishes: the scallop carpaccio starter nicely contrasted with a little salad of herbs, a kind of deconstructed lobster ravioli starter, and the rack of lamb with a coffee jus. We didn’t have room for dessert, but the table next to us was absolutely raving about the soufflés, especially the chocolate and the caramel.

We ate at Spicy after reading multiple recommendations of it here on TTOL. We enjoyed it a lot. My sword of shrimp was fabulous and quite dramatically presented; my husband says his ravioli were tasty but not particularly memorable. Sofie is as delightful as everyone had described. We were surprised that the place was almost empty on Saturday evening, but maybe that’s the Saturday timeshare turnover effect.

We ate twice at L’Escapade, once seated ocean-side. My husband thought his grouper was one of the best meals of the trip. We each had the soupiere of scallop, shrimp and lobster with coconut milk and lemongrass once—quite tasty, a small but sufficient portion, perfect if you’re not absolutely starving, but if you’re a big eater, I think you might still be hungry (but that’s what dessert is for, I guess.) We shared a lobster ravioli as an appetizer one night, which was delicious. I really liked the tomato/ginger sauce on my snapper; the fish itself was overcooked and dry, but we were tired enough that it wasn’t worth asking to have it prepared over. I find it funny that the “specials” offered in December were almost exactly the same as they were back in July.

We tried L”Auberge Gourmand for the first time; verdict: fabulous. A local lobster soup was dark and dusky and delicious. The sole was classically and perfectly presented, and my husband was quite pleased with his scallop and shrimp duo and the hot/cold white/dark chocolate concerto dessert. The only sour note was that the although the menu indicated that the sole would cost 31 Euros, it turns out it was 37—as best I can tell, the menus were updated by hand, and some of them were clearer than others (ie, mine.) Annoying, but not enough to make an issue over.

We had several meals at La California, all fine. Good pizzas, mussels in many guises (provencal was delicious), and other good seafood choices. My seabass crumble (a cute name for “covered in buttered garlic breadcrumbs”) was a bit strongly fishy flavored, but the turbot was quite mild. I think California does a nice job of accenting the plate with pretty and tasty garnishes. A nice touch—they take a photo and present it to you at the end of the meal as a souvenir.

Bounty Delicatessen on the main road passing Grand Case is worth noting. They have some nice take-out offerings, including great pastries and patés/terrines. Day of departure, we got sandwiches there to take on the plane, much better than anything we saw offered at the airport!

All in all, this was another great, relatively uneventful trip. We’re already scheming our return…