Trip Report: January 10 - 26, 2004
by StBartsFan2
Full Report
Hey Gang!
Well, we have been back for a week and it's been a tough reacclimation to reality. I travel for work, so I'm used to always being in motion. I guess that's helping with the return to work. All right, enough whining. On to the report. This was our Honeymoon and what an adventure! (Pics to follow, I promise Eddie!)
GETTING THERE---US Air flight out of Columbus, OH to Charlotte was uneventful and with only 20 minutes to catch the connection to SXM we missed meeting Tim and crew in Charlotte. The plane had already begun boarding and we were the last stragglers to make it on. whew. I asked a few passengers if they were SBHonliners and got a few strange looks. Oh well. Charlotte to SXM was smooth. Shortly after landing we popped into a cab to make our way to the marina for the Rapid Explorer. The traffic was heavy and it took us appox 45 minutes, and $20 US dollars. We were early for the boat ride departure and decided to imbibe a few rums and whiskeys at the marina restaurant before the boat shoved off. It was very overcast and we started getting that Jamaica-rain-all-week feeling.
BOAT RIDE; The waves were high and the wind was howling, and the boat was following suit. That's a crazy ride! At times, it felt like 30-foot swells, but of course, it was probably more like six to ten. The boat would tip skyward, then fall back into another oncoming wave for what seemed like a five second fall. Regardless, if you get motion sick, DO NOT TAKE THE BOAT! All the passengers were joking, laughing, preparing for paradise. After twenty minutes, everything got very serious on that boat, nobody talking, laughing anymore. Ha. We saw a few people doing the technicolor yawn. The whiskey in my empty belly rolled a bit, but ultimately, we were unscathed.
Once in Gustavia, I spotted a young woman holding a sign with my last name on it. I thought she was my villa contact. Turned out to be our rental car girl. she was a very nice French girl who processed my credit card there on the dock and handed me my keys. For what I paid, I thought I would be driving a go-cart. I was surprised to see a relatively new looking red compact....something. Trios, tervos, whatever. It was more than fine. We rented from Soleil Caraibe. After wrapping up the car paperwork, the young lady asked if we knew where we were going. I told her this was our first trip to the island and we were staying at a villa. She said there was supposed to be someone from the villa company meeting us there. We looked around and saw the other boat people departing the dock, but no villa rep for us. She agreed to wait with us until help arrived. She was sweet. And pretty. Love that French accent.
After a few minutes, "Sprockets" arrived. We named him Sprockets as he was the spitting image of the SNL sketch charater played by Mike Myers. And he spoke like him too. But Sprockets drove like Mario Andretti. He commanded "jus follow after me and I vil take you to villa!" As this was my first driving experience on the island, I was stunned by the speed at which Sprockets negotiated the tight turns and narrow streets, as if we were in a car chase and he was trying to lose me. Ha. It was too much fun. It was just a precursor to my wild driving that week.
THE VILLA---SIB REF, overlooking Gouverneur beach. What a place! Palace more like it. It is beautiful. After entering the villa and taking her first look around, my bride exclaimed "you did good honey!" Sprockets flitted around the villa pointing to various appliances and remote controls with a half-hearted attempt at explaining how things worked. "Ju will vork it out, if no, call and ve vil help you, that is all I must go." Funny guy.
You guys can look up the villa for pics (and I will post some too), but they don't do it justice. I think this place is perfect. Great location; 5 mins to Gustavia, 7 mins to St. Jean, 2 mins to Gouverneur beach. Perfect. It's the place to be. Our maid for the week, Wendy, was a sweetheart. She was originally from Chicago and ended up on Fantasy Island. Wendy brought us breakfast every morning; Bread, pastries, etc. The villa has a HUGE pool, nice grill, impeccable furnishings, ipod dock/loud stereo which I tried to wear out, stunning views, blah blah blah. Get this villa if you can.
GETTING AROUND---Our first night on the island I got the crazy idea to explore. Heh. We took out the map, gave it a quick once-over, and away we went. In the dark. We had no idea where we were going. So I decided speed. Boy, is that fun! After we had driven North for a while, we ended up at Oasis. We loaded up on Jim Beam (a waiter on the island referred to it as James Beam...ok) wine, bread, chips, assorted junk food, more wine, and ciggies. A carton of Marlboro Lights=12 euro! Bottle of Jim Beam=11 euro! beautiful. Driving the narrow roads at breakneck speeds is simply too much fun. My bride tired of my maniacal racing, but I did not. I drove the hell out of that rental car.
NEW FRIENDS---Our first day on Gouverneur Beach, we were walking by a couple laying on the beach and I noticed a USC cap (University of Southern California) laying by the man's chair. He immediately approached me, sensing I was American, not sure, and I began trash-talking his Trojans. My OSU Buckeyes take on the Trojans this Fall. He was Bill. Wild Bill is what we call him now. Super guy. I asked him if they wanted to grab a drink later and I told him we were staying up the road at villa REF. After returning to the villa, I got a knock on the door, and it was Wild Bill. He invited us out to dinner with his (wives..ha) and we accepted. What a great group of people. At dinner with Bill he introduced us to a couple from Manhattan, John and Christine. We found out later that they had just met, but you would have thought they'd known each other for years. We will stay in touch with both groups. Their hospitality and warmth were extraordinary. Bill told me he is a "lurker" on this board, but never posts. If you're reading this Bill, GO BUCKS!
We met Eddie (SBHonline Eddie) by accident our last night on the island. We were looking for a light dinner and stumbled into the private b-day party for the owner of Le Select. Eddie provided us some info and we snapped some photos. Good guy.
EATING---We grilled at our villa and stuffed on ham and swiss plenty. I will give you my take on the restaurants we patronized. I kept most of the receipts but have lost some and forgotten some of the places.
Le Bouchon-- Great eats and affordable. Good pizzas and a killer steak sandwich. We were told this is the place that the locals frequent. It's an outdoor cafe thingy and we ate there three times, two lunches and a dinner. Lunch for two=33 Euro. Yes, that's affordable on this island.
Wall House-- Superb dining experience! We were invited to dine with the Wild Bill bunch at Wall House, the last night before they were to close for the season. Thanks Bill. Dinner for two=141 Euro. During after dinner drinks, the waiter handed out what my bride called the Willy Wonka Golden Ticket invitations for the end-of-season Wall House party, to take place the next night. We attended, danced, drank, and watched Wild Bill dance some more. Great place.
Pa Cri-- If it had not been for our dinner companions (you guessed it, the Wild Bill bunch) this would have been a very unremarkable meal. The food was average to below average. Dinner for two=170 Euro. Bill started laughing about something and couldn't stop. We all laughed uncontrollably at nothing. Lot's of fun. If you go here, take Bill. If Bill's not around, skip this joint.
Bte a ZAiles-- Very good sushi. We loved this place. I screwed up and ordered a shot of Patron...22 Euro. Whoa.
La Route Des Boucaniers-- Best food we had on the island. Definitely check this one out. I lost my receipt and I can't remember how much dinner cost us.
Le Select-- Great hangout. I ordered three mixed drinks and four shots of Quervo and it came to $22 US dollars. That's the best deal on the island! We had a lot of fun there, listening to the band and people watching. We didn't have any of the food, but plenty of the affordable booze.
Le Ti-- This is an "after-hours" joint for the party crowd. Again, we didn't eat there, just drank. We ended up at Le Ti a few nights of our trip (thanks John) and all hell broke loose with French fashion shows, people dancing on tables (us) and champagne bottles being passed from group to group. We loved this place.
La Plage-- This is an outdoor joint on St. Jean beach. Very good food! We were entertained by the people and a fashion show.
BEACHES---I will give you my take on the beaches we enjoyed. None of them were crowded. All the beaches are topless and Saline and Gouverneur are fifty percent bottomless. My bride got into the topless groove on the second day and didn't take a top to the beach after that. We did the nude thing a couple of days. When in Rome, right?
Gouverneur- The best beach in our opinion, but they were all great. This one had the beautiful sand and it's where we met the Wild Bill bunch, so I guess we are partial to it.
Saline- Beautiful bodies on this beach. It is much larger than Gouv, and it's just as beautiful.
Flammands- Again, beautiful beach. This beach water is calmer than the others and a bit windier with some stinging sand when the wind whips up.
St. Jean- We didn't spend much time here, except to eat once and walked it after our meal. It was beautiful too!
DEPARTING--- The Rapid Explorer got me on the way back. I didn't lose it, but it made me queasy for the rest of the day. Ugh. I think we will skip the boat the next time.
WEATHER---The forecast indicated partly to mostly cloudy all week with rain. Mostly cloudy in Ohio means you're lucky to see five minutes of sun per day. In St. Barths it means you will see a few clouds with mostly sun. It would rain at night for approx a half hour. The days were absolutely perfect.
Ok, this is long enough. I will post photos soon. As newbies, we had a wonderful time exploring everything for the first time. We did have the good fortune of meeting great people and getting inside info which we would not have known otherwise. Feel free to PM me with questions. We would highly recommend St. Barths for a once-in-a-lifetime Honeymoon.
Peace!
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