5th Trip "Notes" June 18-25

leep75

SBH Insider
Just returned from trip #5 to St. Barths. If you've ever read any of my earlier reports, you'll remember that we are pretty much "minimalists" when on vacation and for this trip that was no different. Here's a summary of our week:



Villa -- Do Dragon (Wimco VDD). We really loved the villa so much so we hardly left it! This 2BR 2 1/2 bath villa is right on the beach on Flamands. We found the deck and pool area to be quite private and never had any issues with being "seen" from the beach. The villa had a gas grill that we used two nights and was very clean and easy to use. The kitchen had everything we needed, however, my wife did not like the pans as any she used would give her problems with sticking. We probably should have purchased cooking spray or oil, but no biggie. The villa also had beach chairs and a hard side cooler (I would prefer a soft side, but again, not a deal breaker). VDD has AC in both bedrooms as well as in the living room. We left the AC on at night, but when we were 'home' we always left the sliders open and was very comfortable with the nice breeze coming from Flamands. Mosquitos didn't seem to be a big issue with this villa. They did spray one day during our stay and we did get a few bites here and there, but not bad.


Beaches -- Flamands (obviously), Saline, Governour and Lorient. Our first day we visited Saline and stayed until 2:30 or so. Saline has always been our favorite beach on St Barths and we planned to return this trip, but never made it back. The island was very windy and we took a good sandblasting at both Saline and Governour, in fact on Governour (Day 2) we only lasted maybe an hour before we retreated and finished the morning out at Lorient. The rest of the week was spent on Flamands each morning, then by the villa pool in the afternoon hours. We really liked the convenience of having the beach right outside our door and we didn't have to "work" for it as we do when walking to Saline or Columbier so we simply stayed close to home....


Restos -- Select, Saintoise, Chez Rolande, and Le Creperie. As I said earlier, we didn't really want to leave the villa and other than going to Select, we usually didn't. We did Select for cheeseburgers and fries three times and drinks nightly. We did pizza from Saintoise two nights to take back to VDD. Each time here we walked up and ordered as we don't speak French (although that is a goal some day) and had about a 30-45 minute wait each time, we would order a beer and simply walk down to the beach and wait Pizza here is great, first night was simple pepperoni, the next was ham/pineapple. We stopped at the butcher shop on our way home from Lorient and bought some kabobs to grill and did that two nights with potatoes. After dinner on one of these nights we visited Le Creperie for a dessert Crepe, and as in the past we were not disappointed. Very good! Chez Rolande seemed to only be open during the lunch time hours and we stopped in one day for some cod fritters, then on another I went by alone and had stuffed crab, au gratin sweet potato, and creole rice. I took another order of fritters (lobster) back to the villa for Kim.

Travel/Rental Car -- We flew AA and St Barth Commuter both ways and had no issues at all with travel, carry on only and were worried, but had plenty of clothes and purchased the items we normally check (sunscreen) at the Marche. Only negative here is no bringing back vanilla rhum... Flights were uneventful, however, our return flight from SXM and from MIA to ORD were very hot. Almost like they didn't turn the air on at all. Once we landed it seemed like they flipped the switch and cool air started coming out, but during flight the air coming out of the vents seemed hot, extremely uncomfortable. We rented a mini from Turbe and other than not being able to figure out the top, it was OK. While the Cooper was fun to drive, I think next trip I'll go back to a Jimny. The top on this Cooper was frustrating to open each day and I didn't feel the added expense was really worth it.....

Once again, a great trip. We love the solitude and quiet time that the island gives us. We don't stay out late, we get up early, we spend time together, talking, reading, laughing, and loving. It's just a great island that we enjoy and especially during the "low" season. However, we did have our most difficult parking this year as many times no spots were available on the dock just past Select. In the past we would always be able to park here at night with no issue. This year, we usually drove all the way down past Baz and would park at the post office. We will return, probably not next year as I think we will start doing bi annual trips at least until our kids have finished high school as we are beginning to realize that it won't be too much longer and they'll be out of the house.
 
Nice report, thanks. The work on Rue Auguste Nyman has removed a bunch of parking spaces and pushed more cars down to Rue Bord de la Mer. The Blue Zone parking restrictions have also been suspended. Those two things likely account for your parking situation. I'm finding plenty of spaces in the pay lot.
 
Great trip report. Like you, we found the beach outside so much more convenient than loading up the Jimny every morning and thus we only spent a couple of days elsewhere. The kitchen definitely leaves a little to be desired, so we have a mental list of things to bring (or purchase) for our next stay.
 
Thank you for your detailed reporting:up: My problem with airplanes is that they're usually too cold for me.
 
Thanks for the great report.

Leep75, you're the first to share that VDD has A/C in the living room. We booked it recently and were concerned about it getting hot during the day if we have to keep the doors closed (trying to contain a toddler). A/C throughout the house solves that problem. Thanks again.
 
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