This was our first trip to SXM and the info you guys have given me helped make it much better. We had great AA tickets ($270 pprt) and feared last minute cancellations but flights and times were unchanged. The Miami airport security was tight. They required me to send my shoes through the X-ray machine while I waited in bare feet (apparently my topsiders’ brass rivets set off their finely tuned metal detector). We went through Jim Ruos for hotel and car reservations and there were no surprises. Picked up car at Hertz ($132/wk plus tax) and drove to Esmeralda. On arrival, Francois, bless her heart, took us to four different villas before we got one that was ready. She’s a peach. We got a complimentary upgrade to 458, beach side of the office. From our veranda, we had a gorgeous beach view of northern Orient Bay, Pinel Island, and the austere Mt. Vernon. Only a minute away, we walked the beach and watched the sun set, then to L’Astrolabe for dinner. I had the snapper in foil and Ms. M. had the scallops and large prawns and potato sticks in curry sauce. We had a bottle of Riesling and shared an apple cinnamon pastry for dessert. Meal was $85 plus tip. [See end of report for my comments on restaurants.]<br><br>Day 2 (Wed.) began with a great breakfast and espresso at Coco Beach. We drove first to various Orient Beach locations, then to Cupecoy Beach. It rained just enough to keep us off the beach so we went to Sunset Beach Bar. Bartender Katrina was cheerful but bored (not many customers) and she took our pictures. We watched planes land and swapped stories with John the manager. We drank our first Caribs, bought the SSBB hat, and John gave us a bumper sticker. Back to Marigot and stopped at Match - what a great store! Got staples, plus various cheeses, wines, breads, Carib, Mt. Gay rum, and mixers. Back to Esmeralda pool for rum cocktails and walked to Papagayo’s for drinks at sunset as Halloween revelers were emerging. We love the freedom of the Orient Bay beaches and are glad we stayed there. Konrad’s miniature kitchen served up grilled rib steaks with curried rice, crusty bread with French butter, and a great little merlot. <br><br>Day 3 (Thurs.) Breakfast each morning on our veranda was coffee, fresh toasted local breads and butter with guava preserves, cheeses, and a nice mixture of nuts and dried fruits. Simple but perfect. Drove to Cul de Sac, to Pinel ferry site and market stalls, then to Grand Case for lunch at the lolos - Cheryl’s Rib Shack. We had ribs, plantains, rice with peas, and drinks. ($15 plus tip) After locating many known G.C. restaurants, we drove up and down the very steep hill to Anse Marcel and Le Meridian and located Sol et Luna, Le Taitu, Alizea, and Mont Vernon (sign said closed til Dec. 5). Drats, the MaDouDou shack was closed. Back to villa for quiet pool time with paperbacks, snacks, and rum punches. After the late lunch, we decided to eat in and had bread, soft and hard cheeses, nuts, fruit and wine, followed by an old favorite Eagles concert on television. <br><br>Day 4 is Fri. After breakfast we drove to Phillipsburg to shop. Only one cruise ship was scheduled that day and it began to unload after we got there, so we saw 1300 people crowd the shopping streets (don’t want to think about three times that crowd). Fortunately, we had completed most of our shopping before the onslaught. At the Guavaberry Shop, we sampled their coladas and their liqueur, but bought only their jerk seasonings and barbecue sauce. Got a Tag Heuer watch at Little Switzerland and found the post office to send post cards home. On a local recommendation, we drove to Chesterfield’s for lunch of chicken curry salad and a club sandwich. Took the coastal road back and stopped at Guana Beach and Oyster Pond/Dawn Beach where we lingered at Mr. Busby’s for guavaberry coladas. Each new road led us to incredible vistas of sea, land and sky. Beautiful scenery.<br><br>Weather: Most days, the skies were blue with white puffy clouds; over the week it rained maybe four times, never for over 10 minutes, usually much less. It was hot (very high 80s) with high humidity and the few grey overcast days were really quite welcome. <br><br>Drove back to Esmeralda through the Orleans and Poisson areas, where a small goat herd crossed the road as we waited. Then, past the Galleon and Club O and to our villa. While sitting on the beach we watched a storm cloud move toward Orient Bay, painting a beautiful rainbow over the south end of Pinel Island. After cocktails at the pool, we drove to L’Auberge Gourmand for dinner and dessert. Parking close was easy - no reservations and only three tables of customers. We began with a lobster bisque and I had the sea bass with a lemon butter sauce. Ms. M. had salmon on a polenta with au gratin vegetables and asparagus. We shared a split of Pouilly Fuisse’. Bought a bottle of their locally-made banana rum liqueur after they gave us samples. Meal and wine, less rum, was $70 plus tip.<br><br>Day 5 is Sat. We are beginning to slow down and feel the effects of ...um sand gravity. (It couldn’t possibly be all the wine, cheese, butter, beer, and rum.) Our sole quest today is to find a sports bar where we can watch the FSU-Clemson football game at 4:30. Drove to Ric’s Sports Bar and had their BBQ rib plate for lunch. Tab was $28 plus tip. We learned they would show our FSU-Clemson game that evening, so we left Ric’s and drove to Phillipsburg - no cruise ships and we actually drove our car down Front and Back streets. SXM road warriors, we drove to Cole Bay, Dutch Cul de Sac, and bought bread at Willie’s and then drove to Kettle Bay and Sandy Ground, then back to Plum Beach where we saw big breakers and several surfers and drove quickly through LaSamanna. Through the sadly deserted condos in the Maho Beach area and back to Ric’s by 4:00, we watched the entire football game there. Rics was entirely open air and comfortable. We had several rounds of cocktails and then Caribs with snacks of onion rings, chicken salad salad, and a wonderfully rich chocolate banana cake. FSU won 41-27 and Ric’s treated us well. We couldn’t believe our good luck in being able to see our football game there. Tab was $26 plus tip.<br><br>Day 6 was Sun. After breakfast we went to the beach and then to the pool. Went to Kon Tiki where we had a small TTOL party including Jim & Janet, Shoreboy and his wife and daughter, Slowhand and his wife, and Ms. M and me. What a great group of beach people! For lunch, we got the best booth in the house (sits right out over the water) and had our week’s best beach bar meal. I had the curried shrimp and scallops with ratatouille and she had a beautiful asparagus with mixed greens salad. Tab was $41 plus tip. That evening, to LaPlantation for dinner. Ms. M. had grouper over a raspberry sauce with mixed vegetables and I had the rich lobster and shrimp pasta with a cold chardonnay. They provided complimentary banana flavored rum liqueur and I had a B&B. Tab was $50 plus tip.<br><br>Day 7 was Monday, our last full day. Breakfast followed by drive to Marigot, thinking it would be a slow day - wrong. Shopped the market stalls - even with the gusty ocean breezes it was hot. We bought a T-shirt and beautiful small blue wrap for Ms. M. ($7!), plus several small Antoine Chapon prints and sandstone fish pins. Found a little bistro on a shady side street and shared a jambon et frommage on a long hard bun, washed it down with a cold Heineken’s, and ate at the sidewalk tables. Sooo trais Francais. Drove to Sandy Ground to U.S. Import/Export to buy liquor to take home: two Saint-Emilions, a Grand Marnier, and two small decorative MaDouDou flasks. Drove to Papagayos for happy hour drinks at dusk. I’ve gotten (mostly) undressed from a car to go scuba diving, but never to go to a bar/restaurant - what a hoot! Ms. M. and I agreed that the best drink in the world is their BBC. It has Baileys, banana liqueur, and coco lopez but I’m looking for the exact recipe. Anyone got it? We sipped BBCs and savored gentle evening breezes and an absolutely perfect temperature as the sun set on our last day in SXM. Unforgettable.<br><br>In Papagayo’s drink line, I talked with a beach chalet owner about Club O’s current legal situation. The outcome of the (latest) litigation between Ray Brinks and the unit owners is pending and has been very discouraging to many, he said. LaPlaya’s was closed, so we went to Konrad’s Kitchen. Tonight he prepared pasta with Belgian provencal marinara sauce and fresh breast of poulet sauteed in a butter and Riesling reduction and served with crusty bread and a soft merlot. We really gotta stop doing this. Zantac was my friend.<br><br>Day 8 is D (depart=>depressed) Day. We’ve done a lot but still did not do everything we had hoped to do. After breakfast at Coco’s we packed and checked out, then drove to Minguet’s gallery in Marigot and bought a lithograph. Checked our baggage at airport and went to SSBB for a cheeseburger and swordfish sandwich and watched bathers get sandblasted and lose all their beach stuff in the surf when large jet took off. Turned in our rental car and then back to airport to catch plane on time - smooth flight. Miami airport was semi-controlled pandemonium as usual but customs line was quick for us. Dinner at the Bimini Boatyard in Ft. Lauderdale and (sigh!) back home safe. What a great trip! At no time did we feel unsafe. We had great weather and great food. Thanks for all the info you provided to help make our trip better.<br><br>Brief Impressions of Restaurant Experiences:<br><br>1. Coco’s - very nice omelets and french coffee; service a little lax, but really who cares? With a view like that, who wants to be rushed?<br>2. L’Astrolabe-excellent food and wine and very good service; apple cinnamon pastry dessert was superb; most expensive meal we had.<br>3. Cheryl’s Rib Shack-(only lolo visited); excellent ribs done just right; sides were OK; great prices.<br>4. Chesterfield’s-slow service (tip included) and good food; lots of locals.<br>5. L’Auberge Gourmand-superb French ambience and very attentive service, excellent food well presented with some rough spots (lobster bisque was butter rich but lobster poor and the bread did not befit the meal). They gave me a souvenir menu. Overall, a most pleasant experience and would recommend anyone to try.<br>6. Ric’s Sports Bar-Hey, this is a sports bar and the food was OK. I don’t expect gourmet food when I go to a sports bar. For showing the FSU game, they’re great in my book. <br>7. Kon Tiki-great food with excellent presentation; a little pricey but we had the best seat in the house. Service was fine, but one waitress was inexplicably brusque and distant; the other was very pleasant and even agreed to take our picture. Their menu looked great; wish we’d eaten there more.<br>8. LaPlantation-food was excellent and young waiter was new and slow; quiet evening around the pool with restful surroundings and hungry cats at our feet.<br>9. Sunset Beach Bar-Ms. M. said the cheeseburger was excellent and my swordfish sandwich was fine. SSBB has just the right combination of sun, ocean breezes, surf & sand, bikinis, planes, and BBQ smoke. It’s a happening you don’t want to miss.<br>10. Konrad’s Kitchen-this guy really needs help, but he does try hard. [Linked Image][Linked Image]<br><br><br><br>[Linked Image][Linked Image] [Linked Image][Linked Image]<br><br><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Administrator on 12/10/01 02:56 PM.</EM></FONT></P>