For our 15th trip to SXM we spent 15 days enjoying all the island has to offer. It was a good trip – we just returned on Friday and I want to write this trip report before I forget too many of the details. I’ll do a separate report on the restaurants/bars we went to as I did take notes and so I don’t have to rely on my aging gray cells.

Travel – we have yet to pay for airline tickets for any of our trips and this year was not different. But for the very 1st time we had to modify our desired travel plans to get the FF ticket and it worked out really well for us. We flew out of PVD on Delta – flights were delayed in both PVD and ATL but they now book so much extra time per each flight that we only landed 15 minutes late on SXM. Both going and coming flights were only 2/3 full in coach so we had plenty of room. We flew back on Friday instead of Saturday cuz of the FF availability and believe me that’s the only way to go – we didn’t miss the “Saturday at PJIA” experience at all.

Flamingo Beach Resort – we have a 2 week timeshare in a 2 bedroom lockout unit. Family comes with us the 1st week and we rent out the 2nd week. Resort looked good after Omar – plantings were a bit sparse, palm trees had clearly been affected, and 3 rooms were still out of commission. But they had done a major sprucing up - they had just finished painting the exterior of our building, tennis courts looked to be in good shape, wall on the point was rebuilt, new chairs at the pool, and they had a big beach reclamation project the 2nd week we were there. The jetties had been damaged in Omar and the beaches had washed away some - they still had the big back hoe in front of Building 6 to move the rocks. Plus Toppers by the Sea built out the deck by about 5 feet which took up beach space also – they were moving major amounts of sand. Our unit was showing some wear and tear but Diamond Resorts did make good on their promise to upgrade the linens, towels and bath products – a big improvement. Major downer was the new beach towels – they were barely 5 ft long and compared to the old ones, quite thin. Resort still doesn’t have a manager and no one was happy with the maintenance fee increase.

Weather – real dicey for the 2 weeks. Windy and cool – not many rainy periods but lots of clouds. Seemed like the morning was real cloudy which began to break up around noon and then the afternoon was nice. I was actually cool and wishing I had a sweater a couple of evenings. Only 1 really good sunset in the 15 days but I did see the green flash for the 1st time!

Beaches – we were either at the Flamingo pool or on Orient Beach. OB was wide, but not as wide as 10 years ago. No problem getting chairs at Club O, no matter how late you arrived – but those cool, windy, cloudy mornings might have kept a few people off the beach. Quite shallow walking into the water (which was the coolest I have ever experienced) and soft, with all the beach sand as a cushion. OB was no way as crowded as I remember from past years. Although the chairs down the beach were really close together and I gathered there were some “territory” issues amongst the beach bars/restaurants.

Shopping – Grocery shopping at the le Grand Marche in Cole Bay or the Peli Deli. Between the 2 we had everything we needed – I do not cook at all so it was mainly snacks and Etna ice cream – which by the way, is introducing new packaging for the ice cream. Not all flavors have transitioned over but enough that I had to look twice. Phillipsburg was pretty empty both times we went. Spent some time catching up with Deepti as we missed her the last 2 times on the island, but no purchases this year. Bought some Pandora charms at Boolchands and was told that the Pandora line was the biggest seller in the entire store. They’ve seen a real decline in folks willing or able to spend a lot of money. Don was thrilled it was a light shopping year.

Regatta – We can see the sailboats from out balcony and it is truly an impressive sight. Had a great time on the Tango - one of the spectator boats. It didn’t seem to be quite as crowded as last year but that may have been cuz it wasn’t as rough and folks could move around a lot easier than last year. Took about 200 pictures and will probably delete 175 of them but had a blast taking them. The winds caused some course changes on Sat. and Sun. and it did seem as if there were fewer boats than in previous years. The party on Kim Sha Beach on Friday was pretty low key. I heard the government refused to support/sponsor the party on the boardwalk in P’burg so they moved it to Simpson Bay. Sunday’s party was active with better entertainment. The parties are a major PIA for anyone who stays in Pelican Key. Traffic is hideous and the Billy Folly Rd gets blocked so there is no way in or out. The bridge went up and the bridge went down – multiple, multiple times. I can handle the scheduled openings and will plan around them but when they occur every 20 minutes it gets to be a bit much.

Gambling – Ok, I confess, Don and I play a fair amount of Blackjack. We have kept a happy marriage by pooling our winnings or losses at the end of the night. Played blackjack at the Princess, Atlantis and Hollywood casinos. Didn’t care for the Atlantis this year – very smoky and not very friendly dealers. We came out way ahead by the end of the trip – one of us seemed to win each night we played.

Random Observations & Thoughts:
Roads were in decent shape and we made it to OB 5 minutes faster than last year cuz the road in to the beach was paved!!!!! They were filling in the sides of the road with dirt as we were leaving. It is paved to just beyond the turn to the beach and is not paved down to Gallion.

They are now doing bungee parasailing - I almost had heart failure the 1st time I saw someone drop.

Zip lines are a blast – extreme course is saved for next year. We didn’t make the cut off to go as they only take people out on that at certain times.

Rented our car from Unity who told us to keep the car unlocked at the beach. We get great service from Michael and the crew every year. I have no worries renting from them. New Corolla. Have no idea how much gas costs, but we put $45 in for the whole trip.

No real safety concerns for us this year – but we didn’t venture out too late.

Lots of police sirens in the Simpson Bay area – I think it was their way of cutting thru the traffic

Immigration line was long and tedious and we were the only airplane going thru. But no problems when leaving – the Herald had said the passport scanning lines were a problem cuz the file servers for the scanner were in Curacao and they were slow. They didn’t scan our passports – just waved us through.

Got the phone from Sharon – no complaints and excellent service.

And finally – the TTOL party on Monday night was a smashing success. Sheila did another outstanding job pulling it all together.

Restaurant report to follow!