SXM June 2014

DonLinda

Sint Maarten
June 1 - 20, 2014

Updated:
06/30/2014

Other Trip Reports and SXM Links --> Here

Linda graciously wrote the text of this report. The longer we stay, the more we enjoy the Ocean Club pool, grill, the returning friends, and beach....hence, ... the fewer places we travel around the island.

The OC Queens at the left are May, Linda and Jo. Lots of pictures outrun the text at the bottom

Pictures are not synced with events.

Some Pictures expand

A friend at Orient parking lot.

Cupecoy vines and cave

Elvis and Linda on Spurs Victory night!

RendeVous

Sunday, June 1

Ahh, St. Martin, again! Home sweet away-from-home. Flights on time (only 10 minute delay leaving DFW). All good; count our blessings.

Arriving at SXM 12 minutes early. Leslie Bruce from Kenny’s Car Rental appeared quickly with our cute new Nissan, license plate “R14”.

Quick stop at Maho Express for evening libations and breakfast foods, then on to the Ocean Club!

Don had his usual (every night) late night pool swim in our favorite pool.

Sal still had the poolside grill open with guests watching a hockey game, so we went up to say hello.

We have new kitchen appliances, countertop and cabinets. Very nice bathroom counter and dresser-style cabinets with 6 drawers (Linda happy!).

AC working well. Computer/tech connections by Don and unpacking…..late night/long day.

Monday, June 2

Ugh, AC went out during night; so uncomfortable. So much trouble trying to sleep. Don worried about missing kindle and woke at 5AM searching. Found kindle in back seat of car; it had fallen out of bag as we loaded car at the airport.

Up and out to Sharon’s at Simpson Bay for cell phone sim's chip and then to Grand Marche near Princess Casino.

The new bridge is so nice! Afternoon at Cupecoy/OC beach. Lots of sand!

Tuesday, June 3

Orient via Marigot for a few hours on the beach relaxing with friends.

On the way back—just west of Grand Case—a man at a house on a little hill over the road threw a large iguana down on our car! It hit the hood—so glad it didn’t hit the windshield and break glass into Don! Terribly upsetting.

Nice afternoon at OC beach and pool. We think AC is fixed.

Wednesday, June 4

Another rough night with AC compressor going out again. Tough to sleep. Don staying at OC to await the AC guy...who does come and replaces the controller... all good now.

Up and out on the road to Phillipsburg for the America’s Cup Regatta! So exciting to sail and crew on the actual Stars and Stripes.

Thursday, June 5

Lunch at Dreams. Beautiful view, good food. Food + tip = $70 (with water to drink). Atlantis Casino to watch Spurs game!

Friday, June 6

Orient and dominoes with friends

Saturday, June 7

Our long time Bunch of OC timeshare friends arrive from various parts of US. Fun dinner together at OC grill “Green Monkey.”

Sunday, June 8

ZeeBest Bakery for goodies to go. Passat sunset cruise with friends really nice.

June 9 – 11

OC beach and pool time.

Had to take phone back to Sharon’s and learned our “chippie” had the wrong area code for USA to be able to call us. Bummer.

Went to UTS and got a good chip. Let Sharon know and she was quite disturbed that UTS had sold her the faulty chips. She refunded us our money. Love Sharon's service and understand the complications of the business.

Thursday, June 12

Lunch with friends at Layla’s on beach in Sandy Ground. Nice venue.

Our group “steaknight” dinner together. Lots of fun!

Friday, June 13

One of the OC iguanas has adopted us and likes to come to the porch for lettuce.

The group has another fun dinner together at the OC grill. Sal graciously offered to keep the grill open every night that the Spurs beat the Heat!

Saturday, June 14

Don is teaching Rubik’s cube to anyone who will pay attention!

Sunday, June 15

Fathers’ Day. Wonderful breakfast at Rendez-Vous in Porto Cupecoy. Don had eggs Benedict and mimosa. The carrot ginger juice and egg white omelet were great.

We also know that Ernest and Fidel’s was a great place and will visit there next year.

Final Week

The final week was more OC beach time with one group dinner “rib night” at OC grill and delicious pizza from Papa Dan’s our last Thursday night.

Friday, June 20

AA was 45 minutes late leaving SXM for a flight computer malfunction. That made a bit of a rush in Miami, but we made it home safe and on time! Great to be back with family!

Some Pictures expand

Linda doing Caribbean Ikebana

Geena, Val, and Linda at OC Grill

Our Patio pet

New banana leaves 'trumpet' their opening.

	OC Beach looking toward Dany's	Cupecoy Rock - stitch is faulty
OC landing sand filled stairs	Cupecoy beach at Dany's	Favorite view from the OC landing
Blue Mail	Blue Mall front panorama	Blue Mall
Blue Mall	Blue Mall	Blue Mall
	Yellow crested night heron	The 12 Metre race captain
Parking next OC	Hurricane drill	Hurricane drill
Passat Evening Cruise	Passat Evening Cruise	Passat Evening Cruise
Porto Cupecoy	Porto Cupecoy	Porto Cupecoy
Porto Cupecoy	Porto Cupecoy	Cupecoy Rock
OC Beach looking toward Sapphire	View from OC Villa #1 looking toward Dany's	OC Villa #1 view toward Sapphire
	Always Hungry	Layla's
Our Wonderful friends whom we have shared Ocean Club every year for over a decade now. Life on the island would not be the same without them.
David, Bob and John	Bill and Jo	May and Bill
Bob and Jo	Rhonda, Sal (grill owner), and David	Bob and Jo
Judy and Dan	Don and Beauty	Linda and Jo
Linda and John	Wanda and Don	Grill rib night
Service with a smile	Jo, David, Rhonda and Bob	Davis fixing the steak night fire
May and Bill	The Patriarch - Bob	The Matriarch - Jo
The cook extraordinaire - Bill		John and Wanda
The guy gang - David, Dan, Bob, Bill, Don	The girl gang - Linda, Jo, May, Rhonda, Judy	Beauty and Don
Linda and Rhonda	May and Jo

Traffic	Traffic was not bad this year. We stayed home at OC quite a few of our 19 days. The new bridge is a wonderful.
Crime	There was a disturbing robbery on the OC Beach area while were we there. Two young women were robbed at gunpoint and they lost numerous valuables, They caught two of them, but other circumstances are not conclusive on the main perp. Do not take valuables to the beach.
Money	Took about $1900 in small bills. Used Capital One Venture for Grand Marches' food and OC lodging only. Brought back about $200.
Meals	We ate at the OC Grill many times. Sal is working diligently and faithfully during the low season. He still has Petra as well as a culinary graduate Milton and a lady named Nana. Sue and Geena have returned to the States. The grill is closed on Thursday's and often during noontime. There is a good breakfast bunch most days and the Wednesday ribs night is well attended. The Mango Tango's are wonderful! We cooked some of our own meals so we know what we are eating and we share home cooking with our OC friends. The Maho Express was open at 10PM on Sunday when we arrived.
OC Security	Guards 24-7. Large gate closed at night. Surveillance cameras over the beach and inside parking areas of OC.
Internet	The OC Beach Bar wifi worked adequately. password = zack0077. No need for Scarlet this time, but it was sometimes slow. Yes, .....could play pandora on the pool area.