MIke R
Senior Insider
Just back from a 9 day trip. We like to do 9 days because it gives us 7 solid days of vacation that do not involve travel.
Here are some details:
Jet Blue: After a fun decompression evening in Boston's north end, we took the non stop down from Boston and it was outstanding. Wheels up at 7:08 and touch down in SXM at 10:53. That will now be our routine for certain and BTW we did a park and fly with Sheraton and got a great suite and free parking for $189
Delta: writing this report as I am on the plane flying north and so far so good....on time..friendly worker bees.....developing
St Bart's Commuter: As usual their service was excellent and they had us on the island by early lunch time. With carry ons only we breezed right on through In Transit and were latched on to the first Caribs before we knew it. Another of many many fast, stress free, seamless trips down we have done
Auberge petit anse : Again just what we want and need.....simple clean functional and so on the water, you re almost in the water...a view second to none anywhere on the island too.....in a very quiet and peaceful part of the island ......perfect!
Beaches: We stayed in the hood for most of the trip.....with Petit Anse, Colombier and Flamand all a short walk away, and with as diverse and different as all those three beaches are, we were perfectly content to go to those beaches and not use the car
Weather: Beyond belief good.......warm to hot and breezy the entire time with very little rain that all fell at night
Mosquitoes......what mosquitoes?...the lack of rain and constant breezes made them a complete non factor
Transat and West Indies Regatta: two terrific low key, laid back, fun happenings .....the quay was alive the whole week with local arts and crafts....terrific local food and drink and some pretty good music as well at night...of particular was an African drum band that was very good and many of the local kids were up on stage dancing along with the beat..we particularly enjoyed that evening on the quay. We thoroughly enjoyed both these off season events and loved the laid back vibe with them both. Many of the Transat crews hung around the entire week after the race and hung out in Select (of course!) and it was great to get to talk to them about their race
Food: As many of you know food is not the center of our St Bart's vacation universe/experience but despite that we ate very very well......I had the pleasure and honor of cooking for Theresa and Mikes dinner party and went and got a big old mahi, grilled that with a lime,cilantro, white wine, butter basting and whipped up a shiitake mushroom and pea risotto to go with the mixed salad Theresa put together...was very pleased with the results and no leftovers tells me everyone was happy with dinner......another day I got some great looking fresh fettuccine at KikiMo and made a fettuccini with Parma prosciutto, artichoke hearts, and peas in a garlic cream sauce made with LOTS of that great French butter and loads of garlic ....and again no leftovers ......we got a half chicken, a rack of ribs, and a half a lobster tail from the BBQ in the butcher parking lot in St Jean and took them home and it was all very very good.....made up a tortilini salad with lots of veggies in the salad to go with the BBQ stuff and dinner was just amazingly good!!! ......we would do that again for sure.....long lunches on our waterfront patio with fresh fruit, prosciutto and melon, cheeses and pates and olives and of course great bread along with a bottle or three of wine, made us very happy campers.
As far as restaurants go we went we went to the following:
Gloriette ...terrific lunch ...feet in the sand dining and it was great to catch up with Peter and Sandra and see their beautiful baby...Lobster Cassowhatever was to die for good as was the grilled goat cheese salad ......
La Carre...outstanding dinner.....the Teres Major was so good it was a religious experience and of course the chicken wish bones were great too......truffle oil popcorn was interesting as well and they had Sicilian Planeta which Is my favorite Red so that completed a fun night out and a terrific dinner
Hideaway.....still the same despite the new decor...still laid back and unpretentious and good food...
Creperie......most underrated resto in town.....terrific meal there and dessert almost every night there too
Select.......Heart stopping double bacon cheeseburger with fries with a Carib...any questions?
Petit Colombe......every morning for their bread of the day, croissants and other sugary delights......also they provided sandwiches for our boat excursions to Colombier which were very good as well especially the curried chicken on baguette with lettuce and tomato
L'Entracte.....was excellent...first night dinner there and we had a goat cheese salad..a really good chicken Caesar salad, beef carpaccio and a cheese pizza....food and service were both very good
Random things.......not only are retail shops more and more blowing off the European custom of closing for lunch but there is also a push for retail to be open on Sunday now .....sad......parking issue is going to kill retail in Gustavia as the cars are mostly worker bee cars .......you see very little parking and yet at the same time you see empty restaurants and shops!...as a resort retailer myself that would be a major concern for me .....your customers HAVE to be able to park near by or they won't come .....you learn that in almost every single retail conference you attend !......grocery stores are all pretty much better than ever .....
A few people have asked me what the local Vitet eggs look like in Marche U.....they look like this..and they are not refrigerated so dont look there..this is an incredibly great tasting egg of you can find it
Try this stuff in your coffee instead of that gloppy cream which comes out of those small containers .....it very much had a consistency of light cream or half and half that we are all used to at home and it lasts much longer than that Creme Legere
Boat day at Colombier with the lime flag
Safran at finish
Lena is working on an iMovie that should be done by tomorrow and I will post
Here are some details:
Jet Blue: After a fun decompression evening in Boston's north end, we took the non stop down from Boston and it was outstanding. Wheels up at 7:08 and touch down in SXM at 10:53. That will now be our routine for certain and BTW we did a park and fly with Sheraton and got a great suite and free parking for $189
Delta: writing this report as I am on the plane flying north and so far so good....on time..friendly worker bees.....developing
St Bart's Commuter: As usual their service was excellent and they had us on the island by early lunch time. With carry ons only we breezed right on through In Transit and were latched on to the first Caribs before we knew it. Another of many many fast, stress free, seamless trips down we have done
Auberge petit anse : Again just what we want and need.....simple clean functional and so on the water, you re almost in the water...a view second to none anywhere on the island too.....in a very quiet and peaceful part of the island ......perfect!
Beaches: We stayed in the hood for most of the trip.....with Petit Anse, Colombier and Flamand all a short walk away, and with as diverse and different as all those three beaches are, we were perfectly content to go to those beaches and not use the car
Weather: Beyond belief good.......warm to hot and breezy the entire time with very little rain that all fell at night
Mosquitoes......what mosquitoes?...the lack of rain and constant breezes made them a complete non factor
Transat and West Indies Regatta: two terrific low key, laid back, fun happenings .....the quay was alive the whole week with local arts and crafts....terrific local food and drink and some pretty good music as well at night...of particular was an African drum band that was very good and many of the local kids were up on stage dancing along with the beat..we particularly enjoyed that evening on the quay. We thoroughly enjoyed both these off season events and loved the laid back vibe with them both. Many of the Transat crews hung around the entire week after the race and hung out in Select (of course!) and it was great to get to talk to them about their race
Food: As many of you know food is not the center of our St Bart's vacation universe/experience but despite that we ate very very well......I had the pleasure and honor of cooking for Theresa and Mikes dinner party and went and got a big old mahi, grilled that with a lime,cilantro, white wine, butter basting and whipped up a shiitake mushroom and pea risotto to go with the mixed salad Theresa put together...was very pleased with the results and no leftovers tells me everyone was happy with dinner......another day I got some great looking fresh fettuccine at KikiMo and made a fettuccini with Parma prosciutto, artichoke hearts, and peas in a garlic cream sauce made with LOTS of that great French butter and loads of garlic ....and again no leftovers ......we got a half chicken, a rack of ribs, and a half a lobster tail from the BBQ in the butcher parking lot in St Jean and took them home and it was all very very good.....made up a tortilini salad with lots of veggies in the salad to go with the BBQ stuff and dinner was just amazingly good!!! ......we would do that again for sure.....long lunches on our waterfront patio with fresh fruit, prosciutto and melon, cheeses and pates and olives and of course great bread along with a bottle or three of wine, made us very happy campers.
As far as restaurants go we went we went to the following:
Gloriette ...terrific lunch ...feet in the sand dining and it was great to catch up with Peter and Sandra and see their beautiful baby...Lobster Cassowhatever was to die for good as was the grilled goat cheese salad ......
La Carre...outstanding dinner.....the Teres Major was so good it was a religious experience and of course the chicken wish bones were great too......truffle oil popcorn was interesting as well and they had Sicilian Planeta which Is my favorite Red so that completed a fun night out and a terrific dinner
Hideaway.....still the same despite the new decor...still laid back and unpretentious and good food...
Creperie......most underrated resto in town.....terrific meal there and dessert almost every night there too
Select.......Heart stopping double bacon cheeseburger with fries with a Carib...any questions?
Petit Colombe......every morning for their bread of the day, croissants and other sugary delights......also they provided sandwiches for our boat excursions to Colombier which were very good as well especially the curried chicken on baguette with lettuce and tomato
L'Entracte.....was excellent...first night dinner there and we had a goat cheese salad..a really good chicken Caesar salad, beef carpaccio and a cheese pizza....food and service were both very good
Random things.......not only are retail shops more and more blowing off the European custom of closing for lunch but there is also a push for retail to be open on Sunday now .....sad......parking issue is going to kill retail in Gustavia as the cars are mostly worker bee cars .......you see very little parking and yet at the same time you see empty restaurants and shops!...as a resort retailer myself that would be a major concern for me .....your customers HAVE to be able to park near by or they won't come .....you learn that in almost every single retail conference you attend !......grocery stores are all pretty much better than ever .....
A few people have asked me what the local Vitet eggs look like in Marche U.....they look like this..and they are not refrigerated so dont look there..this is an incredibly great tasting egg of you can find it
Try this stuff in your coffee instead of that gloppy cream which comes out of those small containers .....it very much had a consistency of light cream or half and half that we are all used to at home and it lasts much longer than that Creme Legere
Boat day at Colombier with the lime flag
Safran at finish
Lena is working on an iMovie that should be done by tomorrow and I will post
