MIke R
Senior Insider
It was a great 10 days for sure...the Gods and Godesses of travel and weather were certainly in our corner..
Pre Trip Fun
It started out as we like to do with a few days of decompression...a beautiful summer like day in Boston where we took in the New England Aquarium, well worth the stop if you are looking for things to do in Boston....had a great lunch at Legal Seafoods on the wharf...Legals, for my money is the most consistently great place for seafood in Boston - and we all know how fussy I am with seafood, so consider the source...that afternoon we met Lambchop and Eric for some Oysters and Beer at the Union Oyster House....95 bucks for Oysters and Beer for 4 people made me sure appreciate the fact that I can eat all the Oysters I want for free when I am not eating out!!!.....LC and Eric are as nice as can be and it was great to spend some time with them and get to know them "offline"....Hope the Marathon went well for them.....that evening in Providence with friends and the next morning down to EWR where we had our annual gathering at the Marriot bar of friends and family who stay way too late!....but as our heads hit the pillow we were now in a completely good relaxed vacation mode with St Barts right on the horizon....
The Trip Down
I don't know what more I can say about CO EWR/SXM that I haven't already said...but a tell tale sign of how popular this route of passage is ...is the fact that they now have brand new 757's doing the trip to replace the old 737's and have now two non stops going everyday - one at 7:50 and now one at 9....
that being said.....same ol story...out on time...in early..we landed at 1137...
we woke up at 6...jumped on the shuttle....sashayed past the loooooong line of people trying to check bags, with our carry ons....breezed on through security....had a relaxing wait serviced sit down breakfast....boarded the plane first....I dove into my music...Wendi into her book...Lena into her movie...next thing you know...we are landing....and I would want to change this routine.....why??????....LOL
.same deal on the return...
reason number 10 on why I love St Barts Commuter and will never fly anyone else
we were scheduled to fly out of Grand Case but when we got into Juliana i walked over to the transfer desk just to see if we could avoid the taxi ride over......asked the agent what the deal was and he told me Air France was running very late and the 1 o'clock had all Air France people on it so they were going to cancel it, but he would find out if they could keep the flight on the board and get us on it....sure enough....they did that for us!!!!....THEY ROCK!..so instead of cabbing over to GC and getting into St Barts at 5.....we were now flying out of SXM at 1, which actually left at 1250 and were on St Barts at 105....total time in SXM....an hour, and three Caribs.....and I would want to change this routine......why??????????????....LOL
April vs June
I am happy to report the end of April is more like June than March.....a little busier than June, but not so that it tarnished our needs and expectations....beautiful..I still prefer June, but if June is going to stress out Wendi, than given what I saw, I can live with going in April...and that was a big relief for both of us
Auberge petit Anse
....home away from home....keys in the ashtray...door open...10th straight year in good old #17...its like a well broken in pair of slippers to us..it is so nice to not have to stress the lodging, and have the same results year in year out....it was mostly empty... a few others there....without a doubt the quietest most laid back peaceful places I have ever stayed on the island
Long Pants vs Shorts....
oh man the long pants team took it on the chin big time..saw many locals in shorts at dinner..including the infamous JP at Creperie.....Suger at L'Entracte in shorts...wow....if this were a fight, the ref would step in and stop it....LOL
Restaurants
.....stayed with the tried and trues
Andy....Eddy....Wishing well....L'Entracte...Kiki y Mo...Select...Creperie....Repaire and of course Chez Mike......all were excellent.....got some wonderful Wahoo and Mahi from the fish boys and did a grilled night along with my signature risotto with lobster and goat cheese...grilled some asparagus....picked up some Lobster Fritters from Wishing Well as an app for that grilled fish meal I was doing, and begged for extra creole dipping sauce which she gave me for my fish...it was a feast!
Weather
.....world class....breezy...very little rain....not to warm..not too humid
Beaches.
....Lorient twice...lots of turtles....St Jean once....Colombier twice..Petit Anse a lot..Flamands a lot...
***********************************************
here are a few pictures.....
visited a friend who stayed at this villa out at Toiny....very nice afternoon...terrific lunch....terrific company..a nice way to start the week
next day we took Lena on her very first walk to Colombier on the lower path..she was so excited for it...
when we got to the beach, friends of ours the day before wrote Lenas name out in rocks...we told Lena a mermaid did it...she freaked out when she came upon it..a classic moment in the life of a kid
I helped out with a little basketball clinic they put on...what a blast..even though I usually dont like doing this on vacation, it was fun...and watching my 5 year old girl school the older boys was worth it!
Wendi and Lena did the Yellow Submarine....Daddy stayed behind and drank at Select.........
they said it was good, fun, and worth it...good for them
Lena had as many as 8 Iguanas coming to the bungalow every morning for breakfast....she was feeding them my 5 euro a head Red Leaf!!!!..so she got reduced to bread
Bertrand at Marine Services has these sweet 31 foot Wellcraft Scaribs LOADED with bells and whistles....a real sweet ride....Kevin and Kate and Theresa and Mike joined us for a cruise to Colombier...lots of fun...too much drinking for everyone but me ( I was the designated driver )......our very own forums foodie extraordinaire, KevinS, passed up the enormous amount of incredible food we all brought with us and instead asked Lena if she would give him some of her PB & J on pain cereale, which she did...and she never gives me any so she must really like him.....a great time as had by all...super weather....great company..one of the best days of the week..
went to check out the new Gustaf for sunset..we love what they ve done with the place.....
these kids books are great...in English and French and give the history of the island on a kids level...the author was on the island doing book signings...its going to be a series...
miscellaneous stuff.......
Kevin and Kate hosted a nice sunset gathering at his villa.....wonderful evening....Theresa and Mike were there as well...too bad it rained, so no pictures...it was more about the company anyway...thank you guys!
ran into JDR and his good looking family at Andys......nice to meet you all...
the island continues its methodical and relentless march towards being "mainstream" as it is building everywhere..roads are being torn up everywhere too....whatever..its their island and their destiny...bonne chance.....pelicans are disappearing big time....grocery prices weren't bad at all...rented a Hyundai I-10...went forever on gas...had enough power to climb hills....good car.....Petit Colombe now has an expanded donut section...but repeat after me...St Barts is NOT being Americanized...LOL.....I think you will see lots of retail shops closing up soon if it doesnt get better soon...
MBolo now has a DRY ( SEC ) version of their vanilla rhum which is much higher octane and not as sweet...I loved it..Wendi dindt..so we got both....no bugs...no rain and lots of wind will do that
The moment which choked me up...flying out of SBH on the return as we flew by Auberge petit anse...out of the corner of my eye and behind me I saw Lena ,with watery eyes, blow a kiss to Auberge through the window and say "Abientot".....wow....what a lucky kid when I compare her to where I was at, at 5 years of age!
so we're all booked for November and next April...no problem leaving the island..we dont need to breathe into paper bags or call 911 to get us off the ledge...whats special is you cant have it all the time...and it will always be there and there is plenty ahead of us that is just as fun and rewarding...so onward and upward...for me I leave for my motorcycle trip in two days after only two days of work....and we start the Cape thing in a few weeks...so you aint gonna hear me complaining....life is good
Pre Trip Fun
It started out as we like to do with a few days of decompression...a beautiful summer like day in Boston where we took in the New England Aquarium, well worth the stop if you are looking for things to do in Boston....had a great lunch at Legal Seafoods on the wharf...Legals, for my money is the most consistently great place for seafood in Boston - and we all know how fussy I am with seafood, so consider the source...that afternoon we met Lambchop and Eric for some Oysters and Beer at the Union Oyster House....95 bucks for Oysters and Beer for 4 people made me sure appreciate the fact that I can eat all the Oysters I want for free when I am not eating out!!!.....LC and Eric are as nice as can be and it was great to spend some time with them and get to know them "offline"....Hope the Marathon went well for them.....that evening in Providence with friends and the next morning down to EWR where we had our annual gathering at the Marriot bar of friends and family who stay way too late!....but as our heads hit the pillow we were now in a completely good relaxed vacation mode with St Barts right on the horizon....
The Trip Down
I don't know what more I can say about CO EWR/SXM that I haven't already said...but a tell tale sign of how popular this route of passage is ...is the fact that they now have brand new 757's doing the trip to replace the old 737's and have now two non stops going everyday - one at 7:50 and now one at 9....
that being said.....same ol story...out on time...in early..we landed at 1137...
we woke up at 6...jumped on the shuttle....sashayed past the loooooong line of people trying to check bags, with our carry ons....breezed on through security....had a relaxing wait serviced sit down breakfast....boarded the plane first....I dove into my music...Wendi into her book...Lena into her movie...next thing you know...we are landing....and I would want to change this routine.....why??????....LOL
.same deal on the return...
reason number 10 on why I love St Barts Commuter and will never fly anyone else
we were scheduled to fly out of Grand Case but when we got into Juliana i walked over to the transfer desk just to see if we could avoid the taxi ride over......asked the agent what the deal was and he told me Air France was running very late and the 1 o'clock had all Air France people on it so they were going to cancel it, but he would find out if they could keep the flight on the board and get us on it....sure enough....they did that for us!!!!....THEY ROCK!..so instead of cabbing over to GC and getting into St Barts at 5.....we were now flying out of SXM at 1, which actually left at 1250 and were on St Barts at 105....total time in SXM....an hour, and three Caribs.....and I would want to change this routine......why??????????????....LOL
April vs June
I am happy to report the end of April is more like June than March.....a little busier than June, but not so that it tarnished our needs and expectations....beautiful..I still prefer June, but if June is going to stress out Wendi, than given what I saw, I can live with going in April...and that was a big relief for both of us
Auberge petit Anse
....home away from home....keys in the ashtray...door open...10th straight year in good old #17...its like a well broken in pair of slippers to us..it is so nice to not have to stress the lodging, and have the same results year in year out....it was mostly empty... a few others there....without a doubt the quietest most laid back peaceful places I have ever stayed on the island
Long Pants vs Shorts....
oh man the long pants team took it on the chin big time..saw many locals in shorts at dinner..including the infamous JP at Creperie.....Suger at L'Entracte in shorts...wow....if this were a fight, the ref would step in and stop it....LOL
Restaurants
.....stayed with the tried and trues
Andy....Eddy....Wishing well....L'Entracte...Kiki y Mo...Select...Creperie....Repaire and of course Chez Mike......all were excellent.....got some wonderful Wahoo and Mahi from the fish boys and did a grilled night along with my signature risotto with lobster and goat cheese...grilled some asparagus....picked up some Lobster Fritters from Wishing Well as an app for that grilled fish meal I was doing, and begged for extra creole dipping sauce which she gave me for my fish...it was a feast!
Weather
.....world class....breezy...very little rain....not to warm..not too humid
Beaches.
....Lorient twice...lots of turtles....St Jean once....Colombier twice..Petit Anse a lot..Flamands a lot...
***********************************************
here are a few pictures.....
visited a friend who stayed at this villa out at Toiny....very nice afternoon...terrific lunch....terrific company..a nice way to start the week
next day we took Lena on her very first walk to Colombier on the lower path..she was so excited for it...
when we got to the beach, friends of ours the day before wrote Lenas name out in rocks...we told Lena a mermaid did it...she freaked out when she came upon it..a classic moment in the life of a kid
I helped out with a little basketball clinic they put on...what a blast..even though I usually dont like doing this on vacation, it was fun...and watching my 5 year old girl school the older boys was worth it!
Wendi and Lena did the Yellow Submarine....Daddy stayed behind and drank at Select.........
they said it was good, fun, and worth it...good for them
Lena had as many as 8 Iguanas coming to the bungalow every morning for breakfast....she was feeding them my 5 euro a head Red Leaf!!!!..so she got reduced to bread
Bertrand at Marine Services has these sweet 31 foot Wellcraft Scaribs LOADED with bells and whistles....a real sweet ride....Kevin and Kate and Theresa and Mike joined us for a cruise to Colombier...lots of fun...too much drinking for everyone but me ( I was the designated driver )......our very own forums foodie extraordinaire, KevinS, passed up the enormous amount of incredible food we all brought with us and instead asked Lena if she would give him some of her PB & J on pain cereale, which she did...and she never gives me any so she must really like him.....a great time as had by all...super weather....great company..one of the best days of the week..
went to check out the new Gustaf for sunset..we love what they ve done with the place.....
these kids books are great...in English and French and give the history of the island on a kids level...the author was on the island doing book signings...its going to be a series...
miscellaneous stuff.......
Kevin and Kate hosted a nice sunset gathering at his villa.....wonderful evening....Theresa and Mike were there as well...too bad it rained, so no pictures...it was more about the company anyway...thank you guys!
ran into JDR and his good looking family at Andys......nice to meet you all...
the island continues its methodical and relentless march towards being "mainstream" as it is building everywhere..roads are being torn up everywhere too....whatever..its their island and their destiny...bonne chance.....pelicans are disappearing big time....grocery prices weren't bad at all...rented a Hyundai I-10...went forever on gas...had enough power to climb hills....good car.....Petit Colombe now has an expanded donut section...but repeat after me...St Barts is NOT being Americanized...LOL.....I think you will see lots of retail shops closing up soon if it doesnt get better soon...
MBolo now has a DRY ( SEC ) version of their vanilla rhum which is much higher octane and not as sweet...I loved it..Wendi dindt..so we got both....no bugs...no rain and lots of wind will do that
The moment which choked me up...flying out of SBH on the return as we flew by Auberge petit anse...out of the corner of my eye and behind me I saw Lena ,with watery eyes, blow a kiss to Auberge through the window and say "Abientot".....wow....what a lucky kid when I compare her to where I was at, at 5 years of age!
so we're all booked for November and next April...no problem leaving the island..we dont need to breathe into paper bags or call 911 to get us off the ledge...whats special is you cant have it all the time...and it will always be there and there is plenty ahead of us that is just as fun and rewarding...so onward and upward...for me I leave for my motorcycle trip in two days after only two days of work....and we start the Cape thing in a few weeks...so you aint gonna hear me complaining....life is good
