Friday, Dec. 26
Park/Sleep/Fly @ Doubletree Hotel in Alsip, IL Up to 14 days of parking and a shuttle to & from Midway Airport was included for $135.00. Good value! Parking alone would have been $100.

Saturday, Dec. 27
Departed about 2 hours late on Delta to ATL. Extreme warming trends had produced dense fog that closed all area airports from Friday evening thru mid-morning on Saturday. We arrived about 90 minutes late into ATL but since our original layover was to be 3 hours, we had plenty of time. The connecting flight from there to SXM also left late due to the many late flights arriving from the Midwest. We arrived at PJIA at 10:30 p.m. 90 minutes late. Immigration took only a few minutes and we were on our way by taxi to the Pelican and our RCI trade. I had filled out a pre-registration form on the Pelican website, but that proved to be a waste of time as they did not leave it for the night desk clerks. I won’t bother with that again. Check-in took about 20 minutes and they had security take us to our unit in the Bougainvillea building. Unit 259 faces the parking lot and is a sleep 2 studio on the ground floor. Nice little patio with 2 chairs, a table, and a chaise lounge. The resort was gracious enough to have security take us out to get a bite to eat as the in house restaurants had just closed for the evening. They recommended Cappuccino’s just down the street and it worked well for a late snack before bedtime.

Sunday, Dec. 28
We had arranged for a car from Lesley Bruce from Kenny’s Car Rental. They were out of cars for the week so had a rep. from Competition Car & Scooter Rentals take care of us. Same price and close to the same service. Thanks Lesley!!!! The rep met me at the desk at 10 a.m. and we went to their site to do the paperwork. A few minutes later I was off to the Royal Palm to pick up a rental phone from Sharon. I signed for the phone and went back to the resort to pick up my wife Cindy. Shopping at Grand Marche was next. Drinks & breakfast/lunch items along with a bug candle for the patio. Previous trip reports had indicated lots of bugs in this area so one of these was a necessity for any use of the patio. I worked well, but I would get 2 if we go there again. Our daily routine is breakfast on the patio and then off to the pool or a beach. Pool days had us lunching on a sandwich & chips so we could max our time relaxing. Today was a pool day. Late afternoon saw us off to Port de Plaisance for a bit of gambling. Back to Pelican for dinner at Ciao. This is the restaurant that has replaced Los Gauchos. A bit pricey for pasta and just fair in quality. We wanted to try them out and see if it was the place for our New Year dinner and it was not. A little walk around the marina residence’s pool area followed. Very nice! Perhaps we’ll stay there if we get a chance on a future visit. A bit of gambling at Hollywood and off to bed.

Monday, Dec. 29
Originally planned as a beach day, this did not start well as it was raining as we woke up. Breakfast & hang around to see if it would blow off. Not a chance. It rained off & on the whole day. We did get a couple of pool hours in but the rain kept chasing us back to the patio. We also got away for a while to BBB for lunch. Grilled tuna steak sandwiches. A pretty good meal. Service was slow even by island time. Not crowded either. Who can figure? We will go back as the food was good. The rain finally quit in the evening so we decided to take a chance on hitting the Maho area for dinner. Sopranos provided us with a good meal at a fair price with pretty good service. Big portions. Late fun at Casino Royale. Wow is this place changing. The show lounge is filled with gambling machines & tables. A classy dance lounge with private gambling is being developed. Only time will tell if it works. We were not as impressed as we were on previous visits. We will probably not go back to gamble there.

Tuesday, Dec. 30
Morning routine w/breakfast & pool. Off to lunch at Sugar Café in the Atlantis complex. Great sandwiches & service. Purpose of the visit was to wander around the other restaurants and see what ads were up for New Year’s Eve. Lots of choices for the evening at all of the bigger dinner places. We had a meal on our last trip there at both La Bella Napoli & Rare. I saw the menu for La Gondola in the Casino and thought it was where we had been before. We chose it for our NYE place. We then went to Cupecoy beach for a while. Much easier to get to than I had imagined and quite a bit of parking available near Danny’s. After going back to the room, I called and made reservations at La Gondola for the next evening. After speaking to the restaurant on the phone, we took the early seating so we would have a choice of either the fixed price meal or the regular menu. The regular menu was not available at the late seating. An afternoon dip in the pool was followed by another trip to PDP and the Peg Leg Pub for an early dinner. A bit of gambling followed using the match bet coupon from Peg Leg and we walked away a couple of hundred bucks richer. I from the BJ table and Cindy from the penny slots. Cindy was tired and not feeling well so we went home early. She went to bed and I was off and down the hill to Hollywood for a short while. I put a $20 in a quarter slot and selected the 3 coin bet which qualified for the jackpot. I hit it on the first bet. $625 was the payoff. I nearly ran back to the room after getting it. Yee Haa!!

Wednesday, Dec. 31
We arose several hundred dollars ahead from gambling so it was a good morning even before coffee. Today was Mullet Beach day. Packed a few drinks and we were off. Met a couple from Vegas and another from Ontario. Had great conversations. Left early as we wanted to clean up and nap a bit before dinner. Lite lunch in the room. Off at 6 for our 6:30 dinner reservation at La Gondola. We walked thru the casino and out to La Bella. As soon as I walked thru the door, I realized that I had confused them w/ La Gondola. Oh Well! We walked past the French restaurant and into La Gondola. What a great (lucky) choice I had made! Impeccable service from our greeting thru the entire meal. We had at least 4 wait staff taking care of our needs. We chose to order off the menu as the complete meal look like too much for our stomachs to handle. Neither of us felt hungry enough for a 5 course meal. I chose a traditional antipasto platter w/salami, cheese, olives, etc. for an appetizer. I also selected the Veal Piccata as my entrée. Her choice was the homemade gnocchi. Both were outstanding. Dessert for me was a Black Sambucca and hers was the Tiramisu. Nice finish. They will see us next trip for sure. Back inside for some cards. Good luck followed us from the restaurant. I just could not seem lose. I finally cashed out a couple of hundred ahead and found that Cindy had had the same experience. Back to the room for a nitecap on the patio and to bask in our good fortune. We usually have some luck in the casinos, but not like this trip.

New Year’s Day
A quiet day. Pool, laundry, late lunch in the room. Back to the pool. Decided to check out Tijuana Yacht Club and see if we wanted to go there on Friday or Saturday for the Gipsy Kings Show. Menu & prices looked pretty good but did not offer a lot of choices. We ordered and it took quite along time to get served. The food was OK but IMHO Jimbo’s is a better value as well as having tastier food. We were there over an hour and the waitress only came by 2 times to check on us and forgot to bring our additional drinks on both occasions. We also looked at the outdoor venue for the show and decided against it. There was little room and I just don’t do packed houses well anymore. I want room to shift around and enjoy the show. It sure did not look like that was going to happen or be available. I’m sure all who attended saw a show they will never forget but I could just not get past the logistical part of it. Back to PDP. Lost a little had a great time. Stopped at Dolphin of the way home. It was getting late so we did not stay long. I liked this place even though we walked out with our wallets a bit lighter. Drinks on the patio and off to bed.

Friday, Jan. 2
Shopping day in Phillipsburg. Cigarettes & booze for me at Gulmohar’s. I wanted to try the airbags. They worked well and kept my 2 bottles of single malt and Cindy’s Tanqueray Rangpur safe on the trip home. Cindy likes shopping at Kay’s Jewelry and always finds something she likes. We have visited their stores on SXM & SKB and have never been disappointed. All items have appraised for much more than we have paid and they treat us well. She picked up a gold bracelet for herself as well as a pair of earrings for our house/cat sitter. They even included a nice little pendant as a gift for all who shopped with them that day. Lunch at Ric’s. I like this place. Good food & service. A couple of hours around the pool and a nap followed. We had heard good things about the Hideaway at La Vista so decided to go there for dinner. What a pleasant surprise. I had a tenderloin filet that was excellent and Cindy had seafood alfredo. Both were excellent. The piano player was right in front of us and was very good as well. We will return with friends at our earliest chance. I would like to spend an evening there. A short stop at Hollywood and off to bed.

Saturday, Jan. 3
Normally this would be going home day, but we just checked out and then went to the Royal Turtle for our last nite. Nice place. A bit weathered, but just the place for an extra nite. They stored our luggage in the office while we went to Sugar Café for a late breakfast for me and just a cold drink for her. She had breakfast while I packed up the room at Pelican so I missed it. Afterwards, we stopped at Sunset for a couple of drinks, picture taking of the nearly non-existent beach, and plane watching. Back to Turtle as they had said our room would be ready by noon. A little more pool time for her and a nap for me. Late lunch at Ric’s. Off to Mullet for a last look at the beach. Huge waves. The area we sat in on our other visit was gone. The wave action had washed it away. Tried to stay until sunset but just didn’t make it. Back to the room & prepare to go out for dinner. Dinner at La Bella. On our last visit we had ordered from the menu and looked at the pizza. This time we ordered the pizza. It looked great and tasted even better. Poor service. Our waiter was catching “xell” from the manager and talking back. I bet he doesn’t last long. We will return because the food was good but the service needs to improve. A few bucks go back into the casino’s pockets and we go back to the Turtle.

Sunday, Jan. 4
Up early to finish packing & return the phone. I met the rep from Competition at their office and returned the car. The rep took me back to the Turtle to pick up Cindy and the rest of our bags. Off to the airport 2+ hours before takeoff. Quick check in and checked 2 bags. Upstairs to Immigration & security. What a breeze. Breakfast at Raphy’s in the departure lounge. Delta boarded the 9:30 flight on time but we had to wait a bit on the ground as ATL was pretty slow in taking arriving flights. We get to ATL essentially on time. No problems in re-entering the US or at Customs. Quite speedy. Flight to MDW boarded on time and essentially an on time departure. We arrive at MDW a few minutes late, but our luggage doesn’t arrive at all. The baggage people for Delta tell us it is on the next flight. Our winter coats are in the bags. Brrrrr!!! Outside temp is 28 degrees F. I return to the hotel on the shuttle and get the car while she waits for the bags. Our car is frozen to the ground & I have to rock it loose. The frozen flat spots on the tires thump until I get to MDW to pick up Cindy. No bags. They will be delivered after returning to ATL and then MKE. We finally get home at 10:30 p.m. 15 hours of traveling. Bags are delivered to our door by Delta the next day. Wow an airline that actually did what they said. Thanks Delta!!!

I’d have to say that all the Delta people we encountered were professional and compassionate. This was one of the best airline experiences in a long time. They actually did what they said ahead of time and there were no surprises other than their professionalism. A number of people have not been pleased with the Delta customer service, but I cannot complain.

Thanks to all TTOL members who helped me plan this trip. With their suggestions in mind, I was able to make good choices that enhanced our fourth trip to the island.