jvelardo77
SBH Member
Ok. This maybe a long one but I want to provide some details on our trip. This was a long deserved trip after having to cancel due to Zika (pregnant wife) and October (Irma).
First of all if you have never been to St Barths and did not know there was a hurricane then the island looks perfect. Yet knowing the island since 1992 and of Irma there is a lot of signs of damage.
We flew from JFK via JetBlue. This was interesting the flight was delayed 1:30 waiting for connecting passengers via Boston. Here is the kicker they let us board normally then had us wait on the plane with the option to get off. One gentleman who was on the plane disappeared and they had to find him before he left. With this after the SB Commuter people arranged a charter the winair crew all talked and were fairly calm. Turns out we were all on the same winair flight 3:50 but all of us had different reservations... Island time.
Landed in SXM and it was interesting with the tents and buses. We checked two bags and had our stroller gate checked. The last item was two strollers with one of them belonging to us. From there we went to the next bus onto another tent(checkin) and finally the waiting area. It was clean, AC worked and I got a Carib. No major complaints. Proceeded to Gate 1 and got on another bus to the Winair plane. My 9 month ol d loved it and they had a special infant seatbelt that clipped onto mine then around him (odd the majors do not do this...).
It was amazing to step off the plane and to be back on St Barths. The air, the view, the sun all seemed to be a little nicer than before.
We stayed in Vitet and this was my first time there. Previously we have stayed in Petit Saline but both houses were extremely damaged (Sky/Enfin). The house was amazing and a the fridge had some cold Caribs waiting. Immediately we headed to JoJo market stock up. We got diapers and everything for the night and morning. Threw on comfy clothes and straight to Le Select for the traditional Heineken and Cheeseburger.
Le Select and Gustavia looked great and I did not notice any major signs of Irma. The burger was great and the beer was cold.
The next day was spent resting at the house and a big shopping trip to the market in St. Jean. Turns out due to the high winds and seas the ship with refrigerated food delayed so we ended up hitting all the markets in Lorient to get everything we needed (mostly yogurt for the baby).
Restaurant Rundown:
1st Night: Eddies: 7PM reservation was empty by 8:30 was packed. It poured as we left and with the baby I parked in front to load little man up. People were cursing and honking at me until they saw me run out with a stroller. Then everyone apologized and offered to help.
2nd Day: Shellona. Babysitter from VIP Services (highly recommend). Sunday funday!! I miss Do Brazil but Shellona is pretty amazing. Food and service was phenomenal and I want them to open up by me in East Hampton (I have a spot on the water!).
3rd Day: Black Ginger: Loves Thai and this is a great place. Food was quick and extremely good.
4th Day: Lunch at Bananiers. Pizza, Escargot, Tuna Tartare. Everything was so good.
5th Day: Dinner at L'isola. New to me. Very NYC inside but we sat in the corner and ate some amazing food. Raviolis with Mushroom sauce. So good!
6th Day: Lil'Rock: Lobster and Ribs. Service was interestintng but food was good and we spent the afternoon drinking Rose' and swimming
7th Day: Shellona Lunch: A great way to end the week.
I missed a day in there but there was a lot of Rose', food and Caribs.
As we drove home one night around 10PM it was interesting how dead the island was. There is no doubt that tourism is way down but the people are extremely nice and the amount of construction everywhere is truly amazing. We ran into Jean Marc at JoJo burger and he put it best. It will take two years to get the full tourism back but the island is doing OK.
In conclusion we love St Barths and are looking to buy a property with the other couple we always go with (we introduced them the island 4 years ago and cannot see going anywhere else). is the island changed? Yes. Was it different after the previous major hurricanes? Yes. Do I still love the island. No doubt. I have been all over and while there is some beautiful places in the world everything is a little better in St Barths. We alway debate is the croissant that good or is it the view?
Sorry for the rambling thread I am not a writer.
First of all if you have never been to St Barths and did not know there was a hurricane then the island looks perfect. Yet knowing the island since 1992 and of Irma there is a lot of signs of damage.
We flew from JFK via JetBlue. This was interesting the flight was delayed 1:30 waiting for connecting passengers via Boston. Here is the kicker they let us board normally then had us wait on the plane with the option to get off. One gentleman who was on the plane disappeared and they had to find him before he left. With this after the SB Commuter people arranged a charter the winair crew all talked and were fairly calm. Turns out we were all on the same winair flight 3:50 but all of us had different reservations... Island time.
Landed in SXM and it was interesting with the tents and buses. We checked two bags and had our stroller gate checked. The last item was two strollers with one of them belonging to us. From there we went to the next bus onto another tent(checkin) and finally the waiting area. It was clean, AC worked and I got a Carib. No major complaints. Proceeded to Gate 1 and got on another bus to the Winair plane. My 9 month ol d loved it and they had a special infant seatbelt that clipped onto mine then around him (odd the majors do not do this...).
It was amazing to step off the plane and to be back on St Barths. The air, the view, the sun all seemed to be a little nicer than before.
We stayed in Vitet and this was my first time there. Previously we have stayed in Petit Saline but both houses were extremely damaged (Sky/Enfin). The house was amazing and a the fridge had some cold Caribs waiting. Immediately we headed to JoJo market stock up. We got diapers and everything for the night and morning. Threw on comfy clothes and straight to Le Select for the traditional Heineken and Cheeseburger.
Le Select and Gustavia looked great and I did not notice any major signs of Irma. The burger was great and the beer was cold.
The next day was spent resting at the house and a big shopping trip to the market in St. Jean. Turns out due to the high winds and seas the ship with refrigerated food delayed so we ended up hitting all the markets in Lorient to get everything we needed (mostly yogurt for the baby).
Restaurant Rundown:
1st Night: Eddies: 7PM reservation was empty by 8:30 was packed. It poured as we left and with the baby I parked in front to load little man up. People were cursing and honking at me until they saw me run out with a stroller. Then everyone apologized and offered to help.
2nd Day: Shellona. Babysitter from VIP Services (highly recommend). Sunday funday!! I miss Do Brazil but Shellona is pretty amazing. Food and service was phenomenal and I want them to open up by me in East Hampton (I have a spot on the water!).
3rd Day: Black Ginger: Loves Thai and this is a great place. Food was quick and extremely good.
4th Day: Lunch at Bananiers. Pizza, Escargot, Tuna Tartare. Everything was so good.
5th Day: Dinner at L'isola. New to me. Very NYC inside but we sat in the corner and ate some amazing food. Raviolis with Mushroom sauce. So good!
6th Day: Lil'Rock: Lobster and Ribs. Service was interestintng but food was good and we spent the afternoon drinking Rose' and swimming
7th Day: Shellona Lunch: A great way to end the week.
I missed a day in there but there was a lot of Rose', food and Caribs.
As we drove home one night around 10PM it was interesting how dead the island was. There is no doubt that tourism is way down but the people are extremely nice and the amount of construction everywhere is truly amazing. We ran into Jean Marc at JoJo burger and he put it best. It will take two years to get the full tourism back but the island is doing OK.
In conclusion we love St Barths and are looking to buy a property with the other couple we always go with (we introduced them the island 4 years ago and cannot see going anywhere else). is the island changed? Yes. Was it different after the previous major hurricanes? Yes. Do I still love the island. No doubt. I have been all over and while there is some beautiful places in the world everything is a little better in St Barths. We alway debate is the croissant that good or is it the view?
Sorry for the rambling thread I am not a writer.
