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Linda's Notes on June 2012 SXM Trip
June 5, 2012 Tuesday
Ah, another trip to SXM—our 10th! Thx to daughter Jeremi
for the early ride to the airport. AA check-in quick and security
not bad at all (1 TSA agent / passenger – ha!). All great; all on
time. Although Don says the cockpit door flew open upon take off
from MIA—so much for cockpit security! Funny but scary. Arrived at
SXM early. Greeted warmly by Leslie Bruce of Kenny Car Rental.
Nice Corolla “R-3”. Off to Market Garden for some groceries, then
on to Oyster Pond. Explored Rue Filibuste, but did not know where
we were going. Went to L’Oasis Restaurant, and they called Maryse
to come meet us. We had actually passed it: her private home, a
wonderful hillside place near the end of the road. Great pool,
beautiful moon. Can’t wait to see the day views!
Oops, my
night light tiny bulb blew the electricity and TV! You’ve got to be
kidding! A tiny Christmas bulb? (…we blew the electricity for the
whole place—oops!)
2w bulb into
110 adapter into 220 French outlet = SH#$%^#&!
June 6 Wednesday
Windy day – all day. Relaxin’ “chillaxin’” at the pool. Drive to
Rima’s in Phillipsburg and around the island. Stopping at Ocean
Club for “hello” to Elvis, Cheryl, Noreen, and Ken. Ken confirms
the rumor that the Grill will be open through June. Our group is
planning to come for Rib Night on Wednesday. The Grill is honoring
Sapphire “coupons” (?) for meals, and many Sapphire residents are
coming over. Stopped in Marigot at La Croissanterie sandwich shop
for a great lunch to go. Traffic delays in Grand Case because of
digging/construction on the main road. Home for eating.
Electricity went out for about 3 hours. (not my fault this time!!)
Cooler than normal temperatures. Really nice but windy.
My half of
the bed is full of baguette crumbs…oh my!
June 7 Thursday
Our much anticipated trip to St. Barth’s! Thrilling, beautiful,
great people Paul was assisted by charming Nadia. Definitely a
highlight of the vacation. (and I think the waves were much bigger
than 10’! …besides, Don was sitting aft of midship—he couldn’t see
what I was seeing!)
June 8 Friday
We are a little sore the day after the St. Barth’s trip. Instead of
Orient or anywhere else, we stayed “home” to rest and recover! Such
beautiful views, wonderful pool, and great people! Shared drinks
and conversation with our hosts Maryse and Gerald.
June 9 Saturday
Time to move to Ocean Club. Jo, Bob and friends all arrive today.
The new mattress and pillows are wonderful! Nice new patio and
dining furniture. Fresh paint throughout. Grill was open and we
all ate there. Met Lou & Gene from Sapphire, Monique & Jason,
Stephanie & Martin, Tracey & ?. Beach has a lot of cushy sand.
June 10 Sunday
Going to Orient today! Beautiful day. Back to OC Cupecoy and Maho
Express. Pool and Grill for evening.
June 11 Monday
Time is flying by. OC Cupecoy beach and pool today. Maho and run
to Summit this morning. Grill this evening. Meeting more and more
dissatisfied Sapphire customers.
June 12 Tuesday
Planned to go to Orient with the group—no—changed our minds and went
to Phillipsburg instead to buy GSM phone on Back Street. Home via
Grand Marche. OC Cupecoy landing to rest/read, then TTOL social at
Caravansarai. Home for pool time. Easy day.
June 13 Wednesday
Group went
to Dany’s at Cupecoy, but we stayed at OC Cupecoy and pool.
June 14 Thursday
Orient! Met more TTOL folks. Found a giant live starfish. Back to
OC for pool and more snorkeling at OC Cupecoy. TV has had weird
reception for past 24 hours.
June 15 Friday
Quiet morning: run, reading at the landing. Friday evening “steak
night” with the group: Jo & Bob, Dan & Judy, Debbie & Don, Sandy &
Bud, May & Bill. Thx to Elvis for the extra grill! Everything
was so tasty and fun!
June 16 Saturday
Quiet day. Jump roped up to 70 without a miss! Don didn’t feel
well. Trip to Phillipsburg. Home to eat at OC Grill. New
neighbors from Los Angeles in #12: Vicki & Garth, JD & Chuck.
Jason & Monique left. Folks now in #14 (rented through RCI—no
longer privately owned).
June 17 Sunday Fathers Day
What to do??? Up late again. Off to Orient at 10AM; group
already there. Don had a good day at Orient and wants to stay 6
months! For our return, tried a new shortcut from roundabout near
the monument at the border, go half around (rather than ¾) and
across to meet the Middle Region road. Really great shortcut and
avoids all the new speed bumps on the Middle Region road. Traffic
great this whole trip (except as mentioned in Grand Case). Onward:
Mission to buy KFC. So Expensive! $27.50 for 15 pieces—and they
count a scrawny wing as a whole piece! I didn’t find a thigh or
breast in the whole bucket until one at the bottom! Anyway, we
pooled our chicken, veggies and dessert with the group with Jo &
Bob, Judy & Dan for some “pot luck” fun.
June 18 Monday
Wake late as usual ~ 8:30. Ready to run, but one of our
friends came over: her Mom
just died during the night at age 99! The death was not shocking
to her, but the timing so awkward! They are on Spirit Airlines,
ticketed to return Saturday and there are no flights back earlier…
unless they purchase new tickets on a different airline (at $$$$
each!). Lent her use of new GSM phone and email. Funeral delayed
1 week—much better. Finally off for laundry and a late, hot run to Maho. Later pool, beach perusal, dominos. Lunch in room.
I thought we
accidently threw away a near-full can of Off mosquito repellant
(really important!). I went to the trash area to check our bag. (I
knew there were only about 3 bags in there, so it’s not as bad as it
sounds). “Nope, ‘sho’ nuff” the can was empty and intended
to be in the trash. “Oh wait, what’s this over here? A scrapbook
glitter set someone left…how cool! Let me take a look…” SLAM “Oh
no! the big gate closed and I’m locked behind the trash fence! I’m
glad I told Don where I was going! I wonder how long it will take
for him to miss me?” [I try to maneuver the lock and latch to no
avail.] Seconds later—laughing out loud—I just wave over the fence
and call for Wayne, the security guard, to let me out. He was on
the phone, but acted like it happens all the time. (Not to me!)
Visit with
the whole group at happy hour and Jo & Bob’s porch. Home for
Linda’s salad. (Don not eating.)
June 19 Tuesday
Planned early swim to Dany’s—up early, but already
white caps and windy, so cancelled swim. Hike and jump roped
instead. 80 without a miss! Don not feeling well. Walked along
the cliff road to Dany’s for pictures with Don driving as escort.
Beautiful views of course. Dany agreed surf has been very rough.
(Too bad! I wanted to swim.) Decided to go to Marigot market to
buy spices before lunch. Wonderful lunch at Marigot harbor
Tropicana—our favorite! Then I did a quick 9 minute climb up and
back Fort St. Louis for pictures. (I had to burn off some calories
from that fantastic carrot, ginger soup!) Evening porch time with
Jo & Bob, Judy & Dan. Lots of young people now in pool and at
Grill, singing to the music!
June 20 Wednesday
Orient. Beautiful, but extremely windy and very rough surf. Did
not do long swim as I planned. Back for fun pool visit with Vicki
& Garth, JD & Chuck. Visit on May & Bill’s porch with Jo & Bob,
Judy & Dan, May & Bill.
June 21 Thursday
Run to Maho. Laundry, start packing, Scarlet return, dominos.
Pictures on beach. Pool time. OMG, we are hosting the group
tonight for porch ‘happy hour’. All day I have been thinking about
what we have to share, but I forgot we were hosting! Now our
friends are all dressed nicely and walking to our place, and we are
in the pool! Plus, our usually, relatively neat place, now has
half-packed luggage strewn across the couch and chairs! No
problem! Mary (& Harold) came over too. Vicki came over later…such
a sweetheart. It’s hard to leave!
June 22 Friday
Up and out by 6:28 AM for the 8:15 AM AA flight to MIA. Best job
ever this trip using/apportioning our food to minimize
waste/leftovers. All flights on time. Arrived early in MIA with
lots of rain. The new passport processing immigration center in MIA
is very nice, but really farther away—at least from the gate where
we deplaned. Foreign passport holders still use the old passport
processing area (we passed it later). Gate change at DFW was never
updated on the monitors, so we and many others back-tracked
unnecessarily. Only through the gate agent and phone voice message
from AA did we know.
Summary
All in all, a great trip, exciting trip to St. Barth’s (read: only
need to do it once!), great beach time with friends, new
mattress….BUT it’s great to be home with family, friends and the
dog!
What’s New At Ocean Club
Security
gate (kept closed at night)
New security
service
New
mattresses, pillows, linens, towels, pool towels
New
furniture for porch, dining, nightstands, dresser
New
upholstery on couch and living room chairs
Good to have
Grill open in June
Good to see
#14 occupied and #9 continued with renovation/remodeling
Good to hear
rumor that Villa 2 will be repaired soon
Good to have
Elvis, Mildred, Cheryl, Noreen, Sandra here so many years
Good to have
Dany operating well at Cupecoy
Good to have
Porto Cupecoy showing growth
Good to have
the old abandoned condos demolished at the golf course
What I Want to Do Next Time:
Tijon
perfumerie at Grand Case
Ft St Louis
L’eau Lounge
at Loterie Farm
Explore road
to Le Santel in Sandy Ground
Emilio
Wilson Park in St. Peters
A long swim
somewhere!
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