Quick trip trip report

MIke R

Senior Insider
Did a quickie trip from Thursday to today......

The events of the summer and fall just burnt me out physically and mentally and I had to get away to recharge before the madness of another high season in the shops and newly opened cafe and hoops season started up again ....I am eternally grateful to be married to such an easy going selfless woman who simply said " we both can't go but you earned it..so go...I fully support it".....pinch me....how'd I get so lucky?

this is my third solo trip in the 36 years I have been going there ....



here is a snipet

flew AA down through PHL... MIA....easy peezy.....got off the plane in PHL and had lunch ..back on and off to MIA ....my inbound gate and outbound gate in MIA were two gates apart....BEAUTIFUL ...got in early to SXM by a half hour....but got in too late to get over to SBH and seeing I don't
need a combo drug of Xanax and Immodium to stay in SXM, I really didn't see a big deal at all, especially given the price I paid for my ticket ( cheap) ...this was the first time in a very long time I had to go through SXM immigration and all I can say is it totally reinforced my love for and commitment to breezing through in transit with carry on bags in hand ..totally .....


For those who might have to stay overnight in ST Martin, I
found a great place to stay overnight ...Simpson Bay Resort....it's a mega time share joint but it offers nice apartment units cheap and very clean and close to the airport ...worker bees were all overly nice and helpful ...the grounds are all well kept, gated and guarded , and there is a restaurant and casino on grounds....I got it for 99 bucks on Hotel.Com..... here are a few pics of my room and the grounds .....I had a decent late night dinner in the restaurant, and then played a few hours of roulette and blackjack.....I truly had an enjoyable evening in SXM.....go figure

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next morning I was off to Voyager for the ferry crossing..my taxi cab driver who took me to hotel from airport agreed to come back in the morning to run me to the boat..... he was there prompt and ready to go at the time I requested.....I was so impressed with his service I told him I would advertise for him online....his name is Simon of VIP taxi and his phone number is 721.523.9118...... .being someone who has been in the marine transportation business my entire adult life I was curious to see the Voyager operation and the new high speed boat .....this is not my first time going to SBH by Ferry

Staging area for boat ....and the boat cabin

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the boat itself is pretty bare bones....nothing nearly as nice as the Rapid Ex was....crew was efficient but no pre trip safety demonstration, which is a major no no in my book.....the ride was good but no where near the advertised half hour ...more like 50 minutes ..he wasn't running hard ...about three quarter speed.....immigration at the dock was woefully slow



more to come ..........


Breakfast lounge at Simpson bay resort
 

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My objective for these four days was to just rest and relax and that I did..spent most of my time on Lorient beach, sleeping, reading, listening to music....swimming...all right here..IMG_0363.jpgIMG_0362.jpg

I rented a 32 foot Contender with my friends from the Cape Carol and Dave, and headed over to Colombier for the day...it was empty ...and as it usually is, the highlight of my trip .....so peaceful and quiet......next day mega yachts with enormous slides and jet skis showed up in Colombier, so I guess the holiday sh$$storm is beginning ...God bless and glad I m not there !!!!!

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my other wish was to spend time in Select just chillin with some ti punch and maybe a good book....but the traffic and parking is so over the top bad in Gustavia I ended up going into town only one afternoon and a few evenings ( when conditions were much better in town )..... as a 20 year resort retailer myself I can tell you that is NOT a good situation for any retailer to be in....your customers HAVE to have easy access to you or you are dead man walking ..I wish them luck....and this is not due to the road work in its entirety ...that's a weak excuse....there are too many freakin cars on the island and they all have only one person in them driving ......it's out of control .....my guess is on my upcoming family trip in April we will hunker down more at the bungalow and do Gustavia much less .....which is fine


I visited Suger at Auberge to see how he is doing and OMG he has so baby tortoises kicking around the complex

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ate out a lot..more than usual....but nothing that will make an OCD food person even mildly interested in....

Gloriette ...did it twice.....outstanding grilled mahi with rice and creamed sweet potatoes for lunch ..simple stupid good ...fresh ingredients done well ...great salad and pizza for dinner

Bannaniers ......amazing duck confit spring rolls ....great pizza

Creperie.....my favorite and the place I have been going to since the first year I arrived ....great food...portions that don't leave you wanting a bag of Doritos in an hour ..and the salted caramel ice cream should be illegal it's so good ....


Select....lunch....cheeseburger. ....nothing has changed there...the sum of the parts are still
greater than the whole ....

Petie Colombo..something is going on there ....lots of bare shelves and way less offferings and the almond croissant was not as good as usual ...Choisy is now ahead of them In the bakery race ....absolutely


Tamarin ......I have not been there in probably 25 years....they have made it a truly beautiful place to relax and dine.... no doubts ......just stunning...went with Amy and Phil and Kevin and Kate ..I was a little disappointed in the menu offerings that evening....the fresh fish of the day was Salmon ......huh?.....I had heard they did a nice wahoo and had my cravings set for that so when I heard salmon I wasn't happy....I wasn't in the mood for steak, and never order chicken out, and I'm totally tired of tuna that I have a lot in the summer and fall, so the menu kind of painted me into a corner ...I ( uncharacteristicaly) went the Italian route with Veal Saltimboca which was good , although the cured Danielle ham was sliced a little too thick, which made it somewhat chewy but it had great flavor ...the app I shared with Phil, a toasted baguette piece with ricotta cheese , Danielle ham, and basil was very good .....Amy and Phil had the steak served up like a Chateaubriand, which they sent the leftovers home with me and I made it into a baguette sandwich the next day and the steak was very tasty ....anyway the company was great that night ....the conversation lively and the ambience was extraordinary so I would say despite the menu offerings and my cravings being a bit out of sync, I would go back for sure .....



more to come
 
So anyway that's about it.....I'm booked in for April...we figure we have four to maybe six vacations left with our daughter before she goes off and vacations with school friends and eventually a boyfriend so we re gong to alternate for those years between SBH and Jost......

Construction and development is in a frenzy....but I suppose as long as we have Colombier and Auberge remaining as is, it's still worth the trip....

I have heard from a very reliable local source that the water quality situation at St Jean is worse than they are all saying ......I do not wish to get into an argument or debate with the Chamber of Commerce wanna be volunteers who frequent this site....I'm simply reporting what I heard and personally I am not swimming there at all .....you are all free to do whatever you wish with this information .....I dont like the beach much to begin with so it's an easy place to avoid for me....I'd much rather be at Colombier

I'm sitting in the executive lounge at SXM now as I screwed up and didn't book my return flight until I got to the island only to find out there was one seat left on one flight all day, so I'm here four hours before my flight ....oh well.....the lounge is nice ...the flights are on time...airport is pretty dead....and I got a dirt cheap upgrade to first class ( 83 bucks) so today should be a pretty easy travel day ......my travel karma always serves me up right LOL.....


Kevin and Kate have eclipsed being my special friends and are much more like family these days and their efforts to make my four days exactly what I needed them to be were extraordinary and there are no words to describe how grateful I am.....you guys are truly the best and I hope the rest of your stay is everything you want it to be .....and we ll do this again in April God willing
 
Oh one more thing which is HUGE for the carry on crowd ...there are now check in kyosks at SXM so no more getting in that long slow line at the counter to check in ....I was off my commuter plane and at the gate area in a snap with tickets in hand
 
Yes Lloyd it is was great to see you at Select ...you and Pat look terrific ...unfortunately given the awful parking situation in Gustsvia it would have been an hour if I looked to park when we drove by and spotted you, so I parked illegally to at least say hello ....hopefully next time it can be longer
 
Grreat reporting . . . I feel like I was along on the trip! Very glad that it accomplished your mission of unwinding & relaxing. Now -- onto a new ski season!
 
Tamarin ......I have not been there in probably 25 years....they have made it a truly beautiful place to relax and dine.... no doubts ......just stunning...went with Amy and Phil and Kevin and Kate ..I was a little disappointed in the menu offerings that evening....the fresh fish of the day was Salmon ......huh?.....I had heard they did a nice wahoo and had my cravings set for that so when I heard salmon I wasn't happy....

salmon wouldn't do for me either. perhaps conditions kept the fishermen in port? or the fish just weren't biting...other than thon???
 
Speaking of the ferry, has there been any progress on the efforts to have a ferry terminal near the airport on St. Martin?
 
salmon wouldn't do for me either. perhaps conditions kept the fishermen in port? or the fish just weren't biting...other than thon???


Perfect fishing conditions the entire time I was there .....who knows why ?....but it was disappointing for sure ...may be next time
 
nice report, we kept waiting for leftover beer to appear in the back of dda's truck no such luck, guess you drank it all....lol
 
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