Who is Bubba?...Is that you, Rez?? (Explanations to follow)

Our St. Martin Observations as we sit on the couch sipping Ma Dou Dou
June 9 to June 18, 2008

American Airlines:
San Jose to Chicago to San Juan to St. Martin (6am PT to 11pm ET)
St. Martin to San Juan to Dallas to San Jose (7am ET to 6 pm PT)
Everything was on time, but had a slight delay in Chicago due to thunderclouds (floods in Iowa we found out later), but still made our connection by the skin of our teeth in San Juan. This trip marks the first time our baggage was searched, and it turns out they didn’t like how our sand-filled Ma Dou Dou bottles looked on the x-ray machines (just a little homemade souvenir!)

Triple A Car Rental:
Alain met us at the airport at 11pm. We have never stayed in Oyster Pond so he offered to have us follow him. When we arrived in Oyster Pond he called our hotel contact on his personal cell phone because ours didn’t work. This was above and beyond what I could ask of a car rental company. He also met us at the airport to pick up the car at the ungodly hour of 5 a.m. We never get service like this in the U.S.! BTW, there is NO traffic in St. Martin at 4 a.m. We left our hotel just a wee bit early and were the first people at the Princess Juliana airport that fine morning (or was it still night?).

Les Balcons:
Small studio suite in Oyster Pond. Very adequate facility, very economical, and clean. Beautiful view from the terrace. Nice and quiet at night. Jo & David were friendly and helpful.

Sharon’s Cell Phone Rental:
Impeccable service and perfect cell coverage all over the island. Love the little shop as opposed to knocking on someone’s hotel room door (as was done 2 years ago). FYI, don’t forget your credit card for the deposit like we did, unless you have a wife like Amy who has the number (and CID #) memorized. Yes, memorized.

Super Grand Marche:
Philipsburg location had very easy parking. It was right off the round-about on our way to/from Oyster Pond. The baggers even carried our shopping bags to our car. But they seem to expect a tip. So we carried them out ourselves after that first trip!

Food / Drink:
Buccaneer Beach Bar – Looks like some new paint. The toilet is no longer on the bar top. Most of the stuff on the walls inside was cleaned up and looks neater. Atmosphere is very friendly. Drinks were still cold and inexpensive. On our first stop we had a couple beers and a shot of the day, then Wanda gave us a free 2nd round of shots.

Sunset Beach Bar – We were there on a slow day (I think). 10 people in the bar. Steel Drum player was pretty cool as well. Burgers and beer hit the spot. We were amused by the goofballs who wait for jet blast so they can be pelted by sand.

Baywatch – Cheryl is the nicest lady. Amy asked for a BBC, and Cheryl suggested a raspberry BBC – it has a hint of raspberry liqueur. Amy thought it was really good and had another on our 2nd visit. Has anyone notice that Andy’s marinara sauce kicks A$$? On our first trip I had the chicken parm sandwich and Amy had the margarita buffalo shrimp. On the second day I had a cheese steak and Amy had the beer battered sea scallops. They were huge and she says they were “like buttah”. Cooked perfectly. It was the busiest lolo on the beach by far! All the tables were full most of the time. I thought it was low season?

Who is Bubba story: The 2 times we went to Baywatch, we bumped into Yellow Rose of Texas and her husband, and he is VASTLY amused that Amy’s nickname is really “Bubba”, not Greg. He even said, “If she’s a Bubba, then I might turn gay.” LOL! When Amy first posted in TTOL over 2 years ago, she knew people would think Bubba was a man, so she chose “Bubba’s Girl”, and made Greg choose “Bubba”. But now when we go to Club O and she wears her TTOL hat, people inevitably ask our chat names, and we always say that Bubba’s Girl is the real Bubba! It was a slip of the tongue Greg made one day, and it has stuck for the last 20 years.

Bikini Beach – food wasn’t memorable and it was expensive.

Lido’s – IMO – The best ribs on the island.

Mama’s Pizza – We had 2 different pizzas, but my favorite was the “Italiano” with the blue cheese. It was also walking distance from Les Balcons. We rented movies on several nights as well.

Captain Olivers – I think they had an off night. Nice restaurants shouldn’t screw up Surf & Turf. Oh well. The French Coffee was good. They have a great view and a really cool area with sharks, turtles, and tarpin swimming right next to the tables.

Pineapple Pete’s – We split a salad, crab stuffed shrimp, and the LARGE Lobster Thermidor. Amazingly, the lobster was even better than we remembered from our trip 2 years ago. Maybe the larger one is just meatier and juicier.

Peg Leg Pub – Great Bourbon Steak (Rib Eye). It is a little more “off the path” from where it used to be, but the location is great. Open air dining next to the casino with a ton of parking. Amy raved about the lobster, mango, and avocado salad.

The Perch – Oh my god! The Rum Punch will kick you in the butt if you don’t watch it. Amy posted on TTOL the day this particular bartender poured with a really heavy hand and, well, it pretty much knocked me out. Also, you shouldn’t have 2 in 10 minutes. I took a little 3 hour nap. Amy had to up the ante with a half-day hangover a couple days later. We did need to get out of the sun though, so it was a good excuse to stay in and be mellow.

Le Cottage – Another one of the best meals I have had anywhere. Duck 3 ways! Scallops with Avocado fritters! It was pretty funny, we were seated right at the front of the restaurant, which is at the edge of the street, and Amy sees someone walking by and yells out, “Rez? Is that you?......You don’t recognize me with my clothes on….”
This was a fellow TTOL’er that she had met that day in the water at Club O - turns out we all grew up in the same town, in the same areas. Amy and Rez were in the Catholic school system, so have that in common. Yet, as Rez says, they met in St. Martin, naked on the beach!

Le Sucriere - The best pastries. We also had the mini quiches for breakfast one day. Two years ago we could not find Zee Best – yes we are now aware it’s around the corner – but we keep going back to Le Sucriere because it is so good.

Celine Friday Fun Sail – This was some great boat cooking. The seafood paella was awesome. The ribs were very tangy (Neil’s secret sauce) and required several napkins. They also grilled Mahi Mahi and served cous cous and pasta salads.

Beach:
We only did 1 beach. Unless you consider the Club O side of the rocks a different beach. The first day after we picked up our cell phone and did some grocery shopping, we spent a few hours with all of the “Boat People” on the other side of the rocks. You would think they have never seen a naked person??? They were generally very colorful, loud, and more drunk than others staying on the island. Are you supposed to wear socks and tennis shoes on the beach? Though, one particularly drunk guy bought us a couple beers. We just nodded and smiled when he freaked out over the naked people. We spent every other day on the Club O side of the rocks. People there are generally friendlier and less judgmental about what you are wearing or not wearing. No one really cares what your body shape is. They are there to relax and enjoy themselves. That is what we did for the remainder of our days at the beach.

Celine (The boat, not the singer) – This was a great day. Neil and Nicky we excellent hosts. 2 hour sail from Skipjacks to Tintamare Island. 3 hours on the island with all the drink you wanted. Nicky says if you go hungry or thirsty on the Celine, it’s your own fault. LOL! The mud is a must do. I don’t know why, but it feels really good once you rinse it off. Snorkeling at Creole Rock was fun and saw lots of interesting fish. Snorkeling at Happy Bay rendered a neat little sand dollar. Just a little side note, we noticed many other boats coming into Tintamare and leaving within 30 minutes or so. We were really happy that Neil lets you hang out and enjoy your time and surroundings instead of rushing you off. Not to mention he set up umbrellas for shade to keep us comfortable.

We never really felt uncomfortable with crime or security. The atmospheres that we were in never put us in harm’s way. I think a lot of it has to do with common sense. Don’t leave stuff in your car and all that.


We met some really cool people this trip and can’t wait for Spring 2009 for our next.

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