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Caribbean Travel RoundupNewsletter - Paul Graveline, Editor |
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Trip 8/98 It will help you to better interpret my comments if you understanding a little about who we are before you read my review. We are in our early forties and have been married for 20 years. We have been traveling for the last 10 years. We are not even social drinker and do not gravitate to the bar scene. We are not gourmet diners and so good simple food really pleases us just fine. We enjoy luxury but are also value conscious. Our previous visits to St. John have all been off of cruise ships. When we visited we knew we wanted to spend more time here and this week long visit has confirmed that we will be back again. We were looking for a relaxing and very private time together. We were not disappointed. I have arranged my comments with the synopsis first for those that want to quickly see if I cover anything of particular interest to them. I then follow with a travelogue for those that want to vicariously visit St. John with us. Synopsis: Airlines: We flew American Airlines out of Chicago with a connecting flight in Miami. All flights had open seats and arrived early. We flew using a combination of frequent flyer miles and vouchers from a previous bump. Cost of each ticket would have been $770. Accommodations: The Inn at Tamarind Court P.O. Box 350 St. John, U.S.V.I. 00831 (800)-221-1637 or (340) 776-6378 Email: info@tamarindcourt.com stayed one night the day of arrival at this simple somewhat tarnished B&B. The room smelled of cigar smoke but aired out quickly. Air conditioning worked well. Continental breakfast was adequate. The staff was very friendly and helpful. Cloud Nine Villa (340) 693-8495 Email: Info@Cloud9villas.com We spent a week in this three bedroom villa. Amenities included pool, Jacuzzi, a/c in bedrooms, fully equipped kitchen, gas grill, laundry facilities, Cable TV VCR, clothing optional privacy, beautiful views of St. Thomas. We were very happy with the villa. It was everything we expected. An extreme clean freak might have trouble with some of the dead bugs and dust bunnies. If I were to pick nits about the villa I would ask for at least a TV/VCR in the bedroom. If it had cable that would be even better. Also we loved the open style of the villa but the lack of screens on the huge doorways and a select few windows meant that the villa was bug filled by evening unless you closed it up in late afternoon. This meant that we never used the living room of the villa at all. I lugged the 20" TV/VCR into the bedroom so we could enjoy movies in the evening in the comfort of a/c. We rented this villa through a management company but would rent directly from the villa owners next time. Use the phone number, e-mail address and website above to contact the villa owners. The management company was simply a conduit for my money and provided no particular service and in fact confused our arrival time a little. Car Rental: Varlack Ventures (340)776-6412 Walk straight off the ferry dock (towards land) take your second right, you can't miss it. Car was clean and pretty new, gave us a new car when a headlight went burned out. Side Trips: Bill Dove was the most helpful person I spoke to on the island. He owns this company and Along with his wife Cathy they own and the restaurant Chilly Billy's Book-It V.I. Box 1552 St. John V. I. 00831 (888)819-7283 E-mail bd@bookitvi.com www.bookitvi.com Restaurants: Best economy meal: Joe's B.B.Q next to St. John Car Rental in Cruz Bay. Two chicken and rib combo plates, two cokes - $21 including tip Best meal: Fish Trap next to Rain Tree Inn in Cruz Bay Medium rare tuna steak with Wasabee sauce $18.95 Favorite place to eat: The deck of our villa Other restaurants we tried. Pusser's on the beach in Cruz Bay (once) Skinny Legs in Coral Bay (four times) Chilly Billy's (twice) Video Rentals Night life being what it is catching up on movies you never got to see is a great evening activity. Luv City Videos - just up the street from Chilly Billy's $4 for one night. Kaleidoscope Video - between Cruz Bay and the Westin, next to Pine Peace Liquors $4 for one night on new releases $3 for three nights all others Best Radio Station: 104.3 and 104.9 FM Classic rock from the '60's '70's & '80's Beaches snorkeled Waterlemon (twice) Salt Pond Bay Jumbi Bay Europa Bay Travelogue: Saturday 8/29/98 Our American Airlines flight left Chicago on time and arrived in Miami early. The flight from Miami to St. Thomas left on time and arrived 15 minutes early at 1:45 p.m. We gathered our luggage and joined a group heading to the ferry dock in Charlotte Amalie. Cost of the taxi was $5 per person and an additional $1 per bag. Total for us came to $14 including tip. We arrived at the dock by 2:30 loaded our bags onto the boat and had a few minutes to check out a couple of shops across the street before the ferry departed at 3:00 p.m. The ferry trip was a rocky 40 minute ride. Once we arrived in Cruz Bay I asked a a young man who was passing by for directions to the Inn at Tamarind Court. We walked pulling our wheeled luggage the three hot, steep, uphill blocks to the hotel. Checking in took less then 60 seconds. The room was a bit shabby and smelled of cigar smoke. It was however clean. It was a little less then I expected but I had sufficiently lowered my wife's expectations so she was fine with it. Next visit if we elect to arrive a day early again I would probably use the Rain Tree Inn. The proprietors of the Inn at Tamarind Court were friendly and helpful. After getting our core temperature down by standing in front of the a/c in our room we went out in search of our first meal on the island. I was looking for the Fish Trap but got directed by a local to Pusser's instead. I had Mai Mai which I would describe as good. Deb had a veggie pizza that she liked as well. The setting at Pussers overlooking the beach is real nice but there was little else to draw us back to this place and as it turned out we never did return. We retired early to recover from the days travels. Sunday 8/30/98 I woke early (around 7:00 a.m.) and quickly realized that Deb was still down for the count. I decided to hike the Caneel Hill trail that was within walking distance of the hotel. It took me about 15 minutes to get to the trail head. The .9 mile trail (one way) gains 719 feet of altitude and took me about an hour to cover round trip. When I arrived back at the Inn about 1 1/2 hours later I was soaking wet. I showered and cleaned up and then went down to pick-up our rental car for the week. We used Varlack Ventures 340/ 776-6695 The car was a newer Suzuki hardtop with an automatic transmission and a/c. I then called the number I was given to contact the villa representative and left a message stating where we were and that we were ready anytime to be taken to our villa. Deb finally got up and we enjoyed coffee and juice at the bar while we waited. Around 11:30 the villa rep (Cathline) called back and arrange to meet us at 1:00 p.m. Because we had some time to kill we walked down to Chilly Billy's to grab a light lunch. I had a Chefs salad and Deb had a turkey sandwich. Both were good. While at Chilly Billy's we met Bill Dove who owns the restaurant with his wife. Bill also has booking company (Book-It V.I.) that can rent you homes & villas, charter boats or handle car rentals for you. He is basically a one stop shopping spot for your visit. Even though we had not used his service and likely would not Bill took quite a bit of time with us. He marked up a map showing us the best places to snorkel and eat. Bill basically confirmed what I had already found out through researched but it was nice to hear it first hand. Bill also loaned us a book (St. John Feet, Fins and Four Wheel Drive) that we used all week and found both fun and informative. We met Cathrine and drove the unbelievably steep winding 2 1/2 miles to Cloud Nine villa on route 104. The villa was just as it seemed in the brochures and web sites I had researched. We were floating in our own private pool by 1:30 p.m. Any words I would use to describe Cloud Nine would not do it justice so I recommend visiting the web site www.cloud9villas.com. We had heard that tonight was the last night that The Fish Trap Restaurant would be open before they closed for a month so we went there for dinner. We ordered a 1/2 pound of peel and eat Cajun shrimp for starters. Deb ordered a shrimp and scallops entree and I ordered the tune steak (med. rare) in wasabee sauce. This was a spectacular meal. Monday 8/31/98 (Deb's birthday) Breakfast was coffee and bagels on the villa deck which became our pattern for the week. By 8:30 we had fluids packed and were ready to take on the Reef Bay hiking trail. This trail meanders downhill (937 vertical feet) from Centerline Road to the beach at Reef Bay (approx. 2.6 miles one way). We did not go all the way to the beach but rather hiked over to the petroglyphs (carvings in stone who's origin is unknown) then up to the ruins of the Reef Bay Estate Great House then back uphill to our car. Total distance covered was about 4 miles. It took us 3 hours and we consumed nearly a gallon of water and Gatorade. You can not bring too much liquid with you on this hike. Back at the car we toweled off and headed to Skinny Legs in Coral Bay for lunch. We really liked Skinny Legs as we ended up here 4 times during our stay. Deb had a huge burger ($6) and I had the famed Mai sandwich ($6) accompanied by all the iced tea you could drink for a buck. After lunch we headed back to the villa to float in the pool. After a while I headed back into Cruz Bay to rent Deb a foam float for the pool and to see about getting a bad headlight fixed on the jeep. I rented the pool float from Cruz Bay Water Sports located directly below Chilly Billy's. Cost $8 per day or $40 for a week. For how we used our time renting a float was money well spent. Varlack Ventures who rented us the car did not replace the headlight rather they replaced the car. A quick stop at Star Fish Market and the video rental store (Luv City Video) and I was back to Cloud Nine. I fixed Deb steaks on the grill for her birthday dinner. We ate on the deck while we watched the lights on St. Thomas twinkle in the distance. Tuesday 9/1/98 After our normal coffee and bagel breakfast on the deck we headed for Waterlemon Cay (that's Waterlemon not Watermelon) to snorkel. Armed with the book Bill loaned us we drove the North Shore Road taking pictures and noting the location of beaches and other points of interest along the way. We parked the car at the end of the pavement and hiked the mile to the far side of Waterlemon beach for easier access to the cay for snorkeling. Entry into the water was pretty easy from the rocks there. We snorkeled slowly around the cay. We spotted a ray and a sea turtle along with the abundant fish life. After snorkeling for about an hour we relaxed on the rocks then hiked back out to our car. Lunch was at Skinny Legs again. This time we both ordered the Cheese Dog ($3) and I bought a Skinny Legs mug to bring home. After lunch we drove all the way to the east end of the island. This is a spectacular drive with beautiful bays and vistas around every corner. The afternoon was again back at the villa enjoying the pool sun and privacy. We drove into Cruz Bay for dinner. On the way back into town we stopped to check out a couple of other villas we had considered renting. Seeing the location and setting of these other villas confirmed that we had made the right choice by renting Cloud Nine. Dinner was at Joe's B.B.Q. This is a great inexpensive place to chow down. On the way back to the villa stopped to rent a video (Kaleidoscope Video). Wednesday 9/2/98 Today we planned to snorkel Salt Pond Bay and hike out to Ram's head. After breakfast we drove to the trail that lead to Salt Pond Bay. There was another couple on the beach already. This is a very nice sandy beach with very easy entry for snorkeling. We snorkeled along the left side of the bay. We saw another ray and, a first for us, a squid. The coral and fish were very good. By the time we finished snorkeling the other couple had left and we had the entire beach to ourselves. It wasn't long before the skies started to threaten so we packed up and headed for the car without hiking to Ram's Head. Oh well I guess we will have to come back now. After a quick stop at the Star Fish Market for supplies we headed for the villa and stayed the rest of the day eating both lunch and dinner there. If the beaches, snorkeling and hiking were not so great we likely would have never left the villa. Thursday 9/3/98 after our usual breakfast we headed down the North Shore Road again. Stopped at Peace Hill trail and hiked up to the old mill and the remains of the Christ of the Caribbean statue. This is a beautiful picture spot that looks down on Trunk Bay to the east and Hawksnest Bay to the west. We then stopped in at Cinnamon Bay. While there we visited an archeological dig going on near the beach then hiked the self guided trail of the plantation ruins there. A hike I wanted to do ( the Cinnamon Bay trail which goes up to Centerline Road) begins adjacent to the ruins. But we had snorkeling plans so that one will have to wait until next time. We doubled back on the North Shore Road to Jumbie Bay, parked the car in the space across the street from the wooden steps that lead to this small but beautiful beach. All of the beaches on St. John are wonderful but Jumbie was one of my favorites. When we arrived no one else was there. The shore is sand and is an easy gradual entry for snorkeling. We swam along the left-hand or west side of the bay. There were cliffs at the point will great drop offs under the water. The highlight below the surface was the coral. There are excellent and varied specimens. Some of the best Elk coral I've ever seen. We also saw a couple of squid. There was good fish action too but the coral was the best. The water was calm and we must have stayed in the water for over an hour. When we came ashore another couple had invaded our private beach so we only stayed a short time before heading back to the villa for burgers on the grill. As it turned out we never left the villa again that day. I grilled chicken for dinner and we dined as we watched the lights on St. Thomas shimmer while listening to Kenny G on the stereo. Friday 9/4/98 Breakfast on the deck once again started our day. I think I could get used to this. Today we are headed for secluded Europa Bay. To get here requires a 4WD vehicle. It also requires that you drive on a road that all the rental car companies tell you not to go on. We drove Centerline Road to Coral bay and then headed down route 107 past Salt Pond to the end of the pavement. Here I got out of our jeep and locked the front hubs. The road (Lamshire Bay Road) is really not that bad but does have a real steep portion that can be real loose. We were able to navigate it quite easily. Once you pass this steep portion it is a flat dirt road that travels past Great Lamshire Bay and Little Lamshire Bay. Between these two bays we stopped long enough to take the short (.3 mile) hike to Yawzi Point. On the trail we observed some hidden ruins, and huge Yucca plants. Once at the point there are wonderful vistas of both Great and Little Lamshire Bays. You can also see Ram's Head point and from this vantage point. From Yawzi Point you can clearly see how Ram's Head got it's name. After this short visit we drove the Lamshir Bay Road to its end at the Bordeaux Mountain and Lamshire Bay trail heads. We loaded up the snorkeling gear and hiked the mile or so back to Europa Bay. The beach is mostly coral rubble, there was a steady wind that produced a pretty good chop in the bay. Entry for snorkeling here in calm conditions would be challenging and in the surf proved to be more so. Deb decided to pass on the snorkeling because of this and walk the beach instead. I had heard that the snorkeling was supposed to be excellent here but because of the chop and the currents I spend most of my time and energy staying clear of the shallow reef. I would like to come back hear on a calmer day sometime in the future. After I pulled myself from the surf Deb and I did some rock scrambling on the far west point of the bay. This was fun but was a bit on the dangerous side since both of us were only wearing swimsuits and hiking shoes (quite a fashion statement). By the time we had hiked back to the car we were hot and thirsty. We then carefully navigated our jeep back to the relative safety of the paved road. We stopped in at the shops at Shipwreck Landing and paused to guzzle a Coke. Then it was on to Skinny Legs for another Cheese Dog lunch. After lunch and some more shopping in Coral Bay it was back to Cloud Nine for the remainder of the afternoon. For dinner I had planned to go into Cruz Bay and get a couple of combo plates from Joe's B.B.Q. to bring back to the villa. Deb changed her mind and decided to come with so we just ate at Joe's. After dinner we wandered around the ferry dock before heading back to the villa to watch the lights come up on St. Thomas again. Saturday 9/5/98 Deb rose early but somehow I managed to sleep a little later then usual. We needed to return the book Bill Dove of Chilly Billy's loaned us so we decided to eat breakfast there. After a leisurely meal we drove back to Waterlemon Beach via the North Shore Road. We wanted to snorkel here again in an attempt to see the star fish we had heard were there. This time we started snorkeling from the near side of the bay and snorkeled back toward where we parked the car. We were told by the bartender at Skinny Legs that this is were the star fish are. We drifted and kicked easily until we had nearly reached the car and still no star fish but loads of jellyfish. The big ones were pretty easy to avoid but the tiny ones were inescapable. The stings from these small jellyfish were very minor so that I hardly knew when I was stung. If this freaks you out snorkel in the bay or over by Waterlemon Cay. The current was quite strong that had quickly taken us back to the car. We were both forced to actually swim in order to make headway against the current. The coral and fish were good but the jellyfish were too distracting to really enjoy what we saw. After our swim back to where we entered the water we gathered our belongings and headed back to the villa to enjoy the majority of our last day in paradise there. We lunched on what ever leftovers remained from the past week and floated in the pool and made plans for our next visit to St. John. For dinner somehow we ended up back at Skinny Legs. It is hard to describe what it is that kept drawing us back to this place. I guess you would call it personality or local charm. The food was fine for bar food but not "to die for" so it was something else. I decided to attempt to clog my arteries one last time with a cheese dog while Deb opted for a more healthful garden salad. By the time we returned to Cloud Nine, St. Thomas was winking back at us from across Pillsbury Sound. The rest of the evening was spent somberly packing for our departure in the morning. Sunday 9/6/98 We both woke early to enjoy the view from the deck for as long as possible. By 9:00 a.m. we were headed into Cruz Bay. First we returned the pool float we had rented From Cruz Bay Water Sports. Then I dropped Deb at the ferry dock and returned the rental car. One of the reasons for our early departure was to return the car by 9:30 as stipulated in our agreement or risk being charged for an additional day. Much to my displeasure when I arrived at Varlack Ventures no one was around and the office was closed up tight. I pushed the car keys down the slot for express check-out (translation we aren't open yet) and walked the block to the dock to meet up with Deb. We went up to the ticket window and realized that the next ferry to Charlotte Amalie wasn't until 11:15. Earlier I had apparently misread the ferry schedule. I thought there was one at 10:15. It was already 9:25 and I figured there was no way that the ferry that was firing up it's engine at the end of the dock could possibly be the 9:15 ferry, but it was. We grabbed our luggage and hopped aboard. Fortunately I had exact change to pay the fare. We arrived in downtown Charlotte Amalie 30 minutes later at about 10:00 a.m. Our afternoon flight didn't leave until 2:00 so we had a good two hours to kill but we also had our luggage in tow. There were taxi drivers there that said they would take our bags and return for us later but we declined their offer. I ran into other folks that had done this and it all seemed to work out for them so next time I will probably leave my bags with them. Dragging the luggage got old really quickly so after a couple of minor purchases we ended up in a second story cafe in the shade sipping ice tea. When we were ready to head for the airport a taxi appeared as we stepped to the curb. The fare was $4 p.p. with no mention of a charge for luggage. I gave the cheerful driver $12 when we arrived at the airport. The airport waiting area is well air-conditioned and spotless. There is a large gift shop and a fast food eating place in the waiting area. While we waited I watched an American Airlines flight scheduled to leave at 1:08 push back from the gate at 12:55. This flight was airborne by 1:05. The moral of this story is don't be late for your flight leaving St. Thomas. Our flight pushed back from the terminal on time and arrive in Miami early. Our connecting flight left on time and arrive a good 15 to 20 minutes early. On the ground in Chicago waiting for our ride the heat and the humidity was worse then we had just left. Ahh home sweet home. Conclusion: St. John is a more then worthy destination for anyone who seeks beautiful beaches excellent snorkeling and a relaxed atmosphere. Staying in a villa is, in my view, the way to stay on this island. We will be back.
Trip 8/98 Linda and I left from Cleveland on American Airlines on Thurs. Aug. 6th at 7 AM. When we arrived in Miami a huge storm came in and we were delayed for 2 hours. Later we discovered that our luggage had sat on the tarmac throughout the storm and when we unpacked everything was wet. But, we were happy to be in SXM and everything eventually dried out. Service from Hertz was slow. We waited almost a half hour for the shuttle to take us from the airport to our car. We discovered that they had only one person working and this person drove the shuttle bus, got you your car, did the paperwork regarding the condition of the car, etc. We really loved our villa at Green Cay. It was perfect for us. Because of our late arrival, we decided to have dinner close to the villa, and chose the Bikini Cafe on Orient beach. At first we though we made a bad choice since there were only 2 other tables with people eating, but the service was very good and the food was excellent. Linda and I both had the steak and lobster special and the steak was one of the most flavorful I've ever had. Dinner with drinks and tip was $60 and this turned out to be one of the best meals we had on our trip. We returned to the villa and finished settling in for our 10 day vacation. Fri. 8/7 Green Cay serves you a complimentary continental breakfast in your villa on your first morning there. We awoke and called the office and shortly 2 maids arrived and laid out a very nice breakfast of rolls, fruits, juice, coffee. It was a very nice touch. We went to Phillipsburg to get some food for the villa. I got lost and never did find the Food Center I was looking for. I finally found a decent size grocery store and we returned to the villa and then headed for Orient Beach. This beach was just what we wanted. There were plenty of food and beverage stands, restrooms, beach facilities, etc. and we were glad we chose that beach. Thanks to those of you that steered us in it's direction. Of all the other beaches we saw, I think we liked Dawn beach the best. It was empty, less than 10 people, but it did have Mr. Busbys where we had a drink and talked to some locals. Our villa had a private pool so after the beach each day we returned to the pool and really enjoyed it. Dinner that night was at Le Piccalo in the French Cul de Sac. What a great deal this place is. We dined on the porch and I had the scallop special which was outstanding and only $9.95. Linda had beef tournados which she said was excellent. It was $9.95 also. We split the crab stuffed mushroom caps and caesar salad. With drinks our bill was $42. We had outstanding service also. This is by far the best bargain we found. Thanks to Jim Rous for telling me about this place. Since we usually ate dinner late each evening, we generally returned to the villa to relax. One thing Green Cay could improve on is their tv channel selections. We did get HBO, but we only got CNN Headline News and ESPN 2. They could drop those and replace them with CNN and ESPN. Sat 8/8 We went to Marigot in the morning to see the market. We enjoyed walking around the various booths and seeing all the things that were offered. We ate breakfast at a place near the market that did not have a sign and no one there spoke English. So, it was an adventure ordering our meal. We both had ham and cheese omelets which were very good. I knew enough French to get us by, but one of my goals is to learn French very well by next summer. After spending the morning at the market we returned to the villa and headed for the beach. --- more to come when I find time Just a few things before I go on. We encountered no crime while in SXM and at no time did we feel threatened. However, a friend of ours was with a large group of people staying in the Maho area. Their car was broken into at the place they were staying, even though there was security in the parking lot. Also, 2 members of their group were assaulted and robbed after returning from a casino. Secondly, if you are arriving in SXM at night and this is your first trip to the island, take a cab to where you are staying. I got lost a lot at first during the evenings. If we had arrived at night, I might never have found our villa. First timers should take a cab and then rent a car the next day. We had dinner at Marios Sat evening. The service was outstanding. Martine was not there. She was on a 3 week vacation. Someone mentioned that she may have a health problem, but I have no way of knowing that for sure. Those of you that know her may be able to check into that. Linda had the Brie cheese appetizer and the rib eye. She didn't care for the cheese, but the rib eye was excellent. I had the mussel soup that was a special and it was very good. The mahi- mahi was good. but it came with something that resembled raw ground up fish and it didn't sit well with me. It was my fault for eating something when I didn't know what it was. The service was first rate and the bill with drinks and tip was $100. We did ask each place if the tip was included. Some places it was and some it wasn't. I did leave extra at Marios and DaLivio because the service was so good. We returned to the villa and were lounging around when a group of drunk French people entered our pool area through a back patio door. I found out that the lock on that door didn't work and anyone from the outside could walk right in. This made Linda uncomfortable even though we could lock the bedroom door. It wasn't until Monday that they could get someone to fix the lock. Sunday 8/9 After breakfast in the villa we headed for Orient Beach. We rented beach chairs and an umbrella each day for a total of $15 in front of the Kontiki. This was the most crowded area along the beach. We ate at the various beach restaurants each day for lunch and found them all to be very good and the prices were reasonable. The Kontiki serves some very good sandwiches made with bague <SP?> bread that I really liked. Linda liked the sandwiches at the Kontiki beach bar and the raspberry dacquaris <SP?> they served. One funny thing was the lady who owned a shop near the Kontiki worked in the nude. When we went in to look around we were greeted by a completely naked woman. It was pretty funny to watch her interact with her customers. Dinner Sunday was at Laguna. We split mozzarella sticks and zucchini. They were good. Linda had chicken parm. and I tried the stuffed lobster that Althea posted about. Both dinners were outstanding and once again the service was world class. They really know how to take care of customers in the restaurants on SXM. Dinner was about $100 with drinks and tip. Monday 8/10 After breakfast in the villa, we headed to Phillipsburg for what turned out to be the highlight of the trip for both of us. We went to Touch of Gold and found Heeru. After mentioning Hettie's name we were treated like long lost friends. What a charming, engaging, wonderful lady Heeru is. She is a fantastic person. Linda purchased some great item and this was to be the first of out 3 trips to Touch of Gold. Linda was happy, and therefore I was happy. Meeting Heeru was a real pleasure as she is very professional and knows her business very well. We definitely feel that we have made a new friend. After we purchased some items and charged them to our credit card, Linda found some more things to buy from Heeru. When we tried to charge the second purchase, the credit card company's security check kicked in since we were in a foreign country and had just charged items at the same store, I had to speak with the cc company on the phone and give them personal info before they would ok the purchase. It's nice to know that there are systems in place to protect us from unauthorized use of our credit card. After maxing out the credit card at Touch of Gold we returned to Green Cay for what was called the "Manager's Reception". We spent an hour and a half with Paul, Christianna and another lady. There were great snacks and lots of drinks and we enjoyed the time spent with them. Too bad it wasn't what it appeared to be. I'll let you know later in the trip the real reason for this reception. Since we had so much to eat at this reception, we skipped dinner and spent the evening at the villa and in our swimming pool. Tues 8/11 We took the Voyager over to St. Barts on Tues morning. The ride over was very rough and a lot of people got sick, including Linda. After we arrived we rented a jeep and toured the island. We found Saline beach which we thought was fabulous, although there were no facilities there. St. Jean beach was also nice and had some facilities. I'd like to go to St. Barts again, but I'd rent a cab to drive us around the island the next time. I got lost a lot and we never did find some of the places we wanted to see. I think a driver would have been a better investment than the jeep. The ride back to SXM was smooth and we cruised around the southern tip of the island. Seeing SXM from the ocean was really nice and gives you an entire different perspective of the island. We saw lots of deserted beaches on the Dutch side, but it was almost 6 pm so I'm sure most people had left the beach for the day. Dinner that night was at Le Bar dela Mer. This was by far the busiest restaurant we encountered on out trip. Most of the restaurants had no more than 5 tables occupied--including Marios on a Sat night--but this place was hoping and appeared the place to be for the young French crowd. There were many young people around the bar and inside the restaurant. Linda and I had 2 fantastic grilled lobsters. We split a Caesar's salad and I had a terrific lobster bisque. Linda had a creme brulee for desert and the tab with tip was $100 once again. The service was very good and we learned a lesson. When you order desert in a busy restaurant, ask for your check at the same time. That way you don't have that long wait for your check after you've finished desert. This worked well for us the few times we did it. Weds 8/11 We visited Dawn beach and Oyster Bay. We liked dawn beach. There were only about 10 people on the beach so you could find a spot and have lots of privacy. We enjoyed a few adult beverages at Mr. Busbys and had fun talking to the bartender. Unfortunately for Mr. Busby, we were the only ones there. We left Dawn beach and did some exploring of the French side of the island. SXM is a very interesting place and we found lots of places to look into further on our next trip. Dinner that night was in Grand Case at Bistro Caribe. Linda had French onion soup and I had lobster bisque. Both were great. We split a Caesar salad an Linda had grilled lobster and I had lobster thermidore. We very much enjoyed the meal. After dinner we were given a complimentary drink of spiced rum which they make at Bistro Caribe. It was good, but one shot of it was enough. Service was great as usual and the bill with tip was $120. Thurs 8/13 We did some more island touring, stopping at L'Habitat where I was originally thinking of staying. This is a very nice resort, although it is not very close to anything. If you like the idea of staying at a nice resort, I think you would like L'Habitat. We headed for the beach and had lunch at Kakoa. They have pretty decent pizza. The area of Orient beach in front of Kakoa and Bikini Beach was almost deserted. It seemed like most everyone like the area in front of Kontiki. Dinner Thurs. was at Surf Club South. We were the only people in the place. The lady that owns it said that business has been real slow. She complained about American Airlines and their ticket prices, as did most of the other locals that we talked with. I had a nice turkey and Swiss sandwich and Linda had a beef kabob. The food was good. I ordered onion rings because I heard they were very good there, but they were too greasy. Dinner with drinks and tip was $40, one of the cheaper meals we had. Fri. 8/14 We rented horses from the OK Corral and rode to Orient Beach. The guide did a good job and we had fun although when the horses started to gallop I almost fell off. My horse was named Tango and was suppose to be the slowest horse on the island. The cost was $50 per person and we would do this again. Afterwards we went to the beach. A storm came in, the only one that did while we were there, so we ducked inside Kontiki and decided to have lunch. BIG MISTAKE!!! The service was horrible. We finally walked out without ever getting our order. That night we went to Phillipsburg to have dinner at DaLivios. We didn't feel too safe in that part of town at night. There were lots of young males hanging around right outside the restaurant. Dinner was outstanding. Linda had a 1/2 order of Lasagna and a 1/2 order of manocotti<SP?> and I had the lobster ravioli special. Both dinners were great. We split a Caesar's salad and the bill with tip was $90. I would definitely return to DaLivios. Earlier on Thursday we were contacted by the "activities director" about attending a timeshare presentation. We agreed knowing what we were in for. I won't go into all the details, but it was a moderately high pressure pitch. The part that bothered me was that the "manager's reception" that we attended on Monday was obviously nothing more than a chance to size you up as a prospect to buy a timeshare. Therefore a word of warning to anyone staying at Green Cay. If you don't want to be presented with a timeshare pitch, avoid the manager's reception. Of course you could attend the reception and let them know that you're broke and just about ready to declare bankruptcy<G> I felt it was a little dishonest to get you to the manager's reception under false pretenses. The food was good, but they obviously wanted you to have a few drinks and tell them all about yourself. BTW, the cost of a 3 bedroom villa for one week was $122,000. Two bedrooms was $24,000 and a studio was $10,000. The people we spoke to said this was very high. Sat 8/15 This was our last full day in St. Martin so Linda and I returned to see Heeru again at Touch of Gold. Linda picked out a couple of additional items that were very nice. I don't think Heeru was too surprised to see us again<G> We stopped in a casino for the first time on this trip and it was empty, but it was 10 AM so there probably isn't much action at that time of day. I blew $10 on video poker and we left. The vp machine odds weren't very good. Guess I'll stick to Las Vegas for my gambling. We made our final trip to the beach and said good-by to my favorite beach bartender--the one outside of Kontiki's main entrance. For dinner we decided to return to the place where we started the trip, Bikini Beach Cafe. We didn't feel like going very far and we liked the food there from our previous visit. Linda had the chicken and lobster special, I had the veal chop and we split the coconut shrimp appetizer. Dinner was excellent and the bill with drinks and tip was $70. After dinner they brought us a complimentary banana rum which was great. Sunday 8/16 We checked out of Green Cay about 11 AM and gassed up the rental car and headed for the airport. Hertz had lots of people working so the return of the car was smooth and quick. The flights home were uneventful although we did have a delay in Miami again. I wonder if anyone ever gets through there on time. Some final thoughts: Our trip was great and we can't wait to return to St. Martin. The help from this bb was appreciated. The service in all the restaurants was outstanding. They really know how to take care of you. Since we rented a white Hundai like everyone else, we tied a red ribbon on the side mirror so we could find the car easily in the parking lots. This worked well for us. It's now 8/28 and the post cards we mailed 8/10 still haven't arrived. I can't imagine what it's like to drive on the island when it's the busy season. It was bad enough with none there in August. If I take my 2 daughters with me next year, I'll have to have 2 people take a cab and the luggage from the airport to the villa. No way could you fit 4 people and luggage in a Hundai and I can't imagine driving in anything bigger on the island. I hope that they can finish repairing the damage done by the hurricane. And finally, in 1966 I went to Paris for 6 weeks. 32 yrs. later I still remember that summer as the best time I ever had. Something has always been missing from our previous vacations, but I couldn't put my finger on it. We've done all the usual things, Disney World, Las Vegas, etc. and enjoyed them, but they weren't perfect. I've now found what has been missing. As Carol Hill said, St. Martin gets into your soul, and it did for us. The people and the island are perfect for us. I love the French language and the blend of the Dutch and French cultures makes St. Martin a special place. As I sat on our poolside patio one evening I realized that we had found the thing that had been missing from previous vacations. We can't wait to return
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