I started with great intentions of making notes every day. But by about the third day, that went out the window so I’m doing this with a severely depleted memory as we managed to kill more brain cells this trip than any other! So instead of a day by day, you’ll just get highlights.
[color:"blue"]Flights:[/color]
FF tickets USAir BDL CLT SXM and return with no issues and only a 15 minute delay coming home.
[color:"blue"]Rental Car:[/color]
Our usual Ignis from [color:"red"]AAA[/color]. Myra was waiting for us as we exited the airport and we had no issues at all
[color:"blue"]Accommodation:[/color]
A studio at [color:"red"]Atrium[/color] in Simpson Bay. This is about our 5th stay at Atrium and we really like it. We downsized from our usual one bedroom as we felt we never used all the room. The studio was quite large and had full kitchen amenities and a great view.
[color:"blue"]Communication with family and work:[/color]
Our usual way to stay in touch is via email. Atrium has a free hi speed computer in the lobby that works fine for us. We don’t usually use a phone, but a day after we arrived got a call from home that prompted the necessity. So we walked over to Royal Palm and rented a phone from [color:"red"]Sharon[/color]. Worked great everywhere and gave everyone peace of mind!
[color:"blue"]Weather:[/color]
Hot and humid with a day and a half of pouring rain. Wonderful!
[color:"blue"]Beach:[/color]
Club O every day but one. This was our first October trip and saw many differences this time. Lots of beach erosion that got worse each day. Early in the trip there was a huge drop off getting in and out of the water. We all looked like clowns falling on our faces or pulling each other out of the water! That got better each day as the beach slowly went away. Most days there was only one row of chairs except in front of the Perch, where there were two rows. Due to the erosion, there were lots of rocks in the water. It was difficult to find a sandy place to stand so we did a lot of doggie paddling! The Perch was open only the first few days of our trip then closed for remodeling. In about 7 days they managed to lay about 10 cement blocks. So we only got to see Willy for a few days and she went off for over a week. They held happy hour at Papagayo, but we only went down there once. We really don’t care for the replacement bartender, so just brought our own to the beach. But every day was a great day with lots of sun and great friends all around!
[color:"blue"]Breakfast:[/color]
Mostly on our balcony with a couple of stops at Le Sucriere for wonderful pastries
[color:"blue"]Lunch:[/color]
Sandwiches from the bakery in Orleans to take to the beach in our cooler most days. With Baywatch closed during our visit, we walked down to [color:"red"]LeString[/color] one day based on recommendations here. We both enjoyed incredible salads and will return.
Another day we drove to G[color:"red"]utside[/color] to have lunch with Richard and Lourdes. I needed my fresh fish fix and Richard did not disappoint. During the inevitable chatting that happens before (and after!) our meal Lourdes says to Richard “Shall you tell them?”, and he says “Oh, I forgot”! At which time Lourdes comes out and flashes her ring finger at us! It seems they ran off to the Dominican Republic and got married on October 9th! They were so excited and it was wonderful to see! You can see a picture of the happy couple in our photos linked below.
We met our new neighbor at Rainbow for lunch one day (the very rainy day!) at G[color:"red"]reenhouse[/color]. Always a good meal here. I especially like the jerk chicken wrap.
Speaking of jerk chicken, I had the best ever at [color:"red"]Pirates in the Caribbean[/color] on the boardwalk one day when we walked down to see Curtis (from BBB – he’s the manager here during the day).
[color:"blue"]Dinner and happy hours:[/color]
We didn’t travel too far from home in the evenings and did a lot of repeats. All were wonderful! Since it was so hot, we did a lot of tapas type foods and even skipped a few meals. You foodies should skip this part. We like simple, inexpensive food and found it at these places.
[color:"red"]Fathoms[/color] – our new favorite. Tried to get thru the whole menu but never made it. There’s a great staff here and a beautiful location. If you haven’t been, put it on your list!
[color:"red"]Toppers[/color] – Lots of fun and great comfort food. I think Bill finally got his fill of calamari!
[color:"red"]Shrimpy’s[/color] – great curry and lots of other wonderful things
[color:"red"]Talk of the Town[/color] – and early dinner on the way home from the beach. I tried the ribs for a change. They were good, but I still like Dingy Dock better!
[color:"red"]Kissing Fish[/color] – their kitchen isn’t open right now due to renovations, but we had several fun happy hours with Chloe and Thierry and lots of new friends. Still the friendliest bar on the friendly island!
[color:"blue"]Special fun stuff:[/color]
Had a wonderful evening on the TTOL Celine Pub Crawl. Thanks to Cathy (Caribgal) we had a great turnout of folks who really knew how to party! Captain Neil did a great job as always. Some of us continued the evening on the Lady C with a few more beverages and a lot of dancing and singing! Thank goodness we only had to walk across the street to get home!
Live music! Decent live music is usually pretty hard to come by, especially low season. We were so happy to discover [color:"red"]Gianfranco and Max[/color]! If you like rock and roll and blues you will love these guys! Gianfranco can play Clapton or Hendrix with ease and Max can sing like no one else I have heard! Absolutely incredible! We became groupies and followed them every time they played. Schedule right now is Monday at Red Piano, Wednesday at Lady C and Friday at Fathoms. If you get a chance, stop and listen. You will be singing and dancing in moments. We actually stayed up till 2:30 am!
The absolute BEST part of this vacation was being able to spend time with our most favorite person on the island, Curtis (from BBB)! Since BBB was closed, we met up with him many evenings and just hung out. He became a first time Daddy a few days before our arrival and we just loved watching him each day as he proudly presented this daily supply of new pictures! Had a great time with a very special guy!
And as always, this trip was made more special by the many friends, old and new, that we get to spend time with. Thanks y'all!
Pictures from this trip can be found at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/elainemiller.sxm/SXMOCT07
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