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Caribbean Travel RoundupNewsletter - Paul Graveline, Editor |
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Trip 6/00 My wife and I just returned from our 3rd trip to St. Martin. Actually, our original plan was to just go to St. Barts and come home. Our last couple trips to SXM were OK but between the homeless dogs, perverts on Cupecoy, the car break-ins; we had had enough of the place. Our frequent flyer restrictions, however, required a 3 day lay-over in St. Martin. So it was either St. Martin or pay full fare on the way home. After 7 days on St. Barts and being away from home prior to that, we were ready to come home. But we decided we were going to make the best of it during our brief stay on SXM. We arrived Juliana from St. Barts on Air Guadeloupe. We breezed through customs and the guys from Budget were there to greet us just outside the terminal. Budget gave us a good rate, provided friendly/efficient service, and a relatively new car. We were off to L'Hoste hotel in no time. We loved the hotel. The staff was very friendly, it was right smack in the middle of Orient beach, and the Playa beach bar out front had great food and service. We felt a lot safer on this trip. In the evening there is a guard at the main entrance to Orient to make sure that people coming in at night belong there. We ate our breakfast at the hotel and normally had lunch at the Playa beach bar. We did not wonder off to the other beaches on this trip. (This significantly reduces your chances of car break-ins and other unpleasant events.) With all the comforts right there at your door, there was not need to go anywhere else. We almost forgot how great the people watching was on Orient. After a week on quiet St. Barts, we welcomed the activity. It was relatively uncrowded, since it was June, but still plenty of people. About half of the lounges in front of the beach bars were occupied. Except for the American cruise shippers coming down to gawk, most of the women were topless. Although most of the nude sunbathers were down at Club O, I was surprised to see as many as I did at the Playa and Bikini beach areas. Always a few folks from Club O walking the beach au natural during the day, most in the morning. Live and let live is the motto on Orient and that is why I think so many people return year after year. Very few places in the world give you such a choice of what to or not to wear. Did most of our dining in Grand Case. Two nights at L'Alabama. I can't imagine the food and service being any better anywhere then here. Did go to Marigot one night and had dinner at one of the restaurants at the Marina. Can't remember the name, but the service was snooty and the food so-so. In my opinion, there is no need to travel any further then Grand Case for dinner. So many great places to eat. We were sorry to have to leave, even though we were looking forward to seeing home again after about 3 weeks. We got to the Airport a couple hours early but we're glad we did. The Gulstream Airways flights to San Juan had been backed up all day. Our flight left at 3pm, but it was the 10am flight. A lot of unhappy people. But not us; we actually got out an hour earlier then scheduled. We left with a much better attitude toward SXM then we had arrived with. We really enjoyed our stay and were actually looking forward to going back again soon. There is still a crime and homeless dog problem on the island, but it appears they are making progress in these areas. I actually saw two police patrolling Grand Case during the evening and that was two more then I had ever seen there during past visits. Until next time.
Trip 4/29/00 - 5/6/00 This was our third trip to St. Martin, each time staying at Grand Case Beach Club. Our first time there was in 1986; for you old- timers, we were there when they were repainting the wood trim on the buildings from dark brown to pink. Our second trip was in 1994, just one week after the old restaurant burned down. The trim is now a turquoise, but the pink is beginning to show through in places. Saturday, 4/29 - We were late leaving Dallas due to rain moving through the area a little earlier in the day, but we made up most of the delay by the time we got to San Juan. We were greeted by rain there, but it was over shortly after we landed. Our tickets read American for the flight to St. Martin, but we actually were booked on American Eagle for that leg. Somehow, it seemed more appropriate to take a prop plane (an ATR) on this segment anyway, and the flight is so short that the difference in speed between this plane and a jet is negligible. Also, a smaller plane means a smaller crowd trying to get through immigration at Princess Juliana Airport. One difference we found was that the waiting area is now semi-enclosed and air conditioned, although the weather was neither too hot nor too humid this time. On our earlier trips, however, this would have been most welcome. Our travel agent had reserved a jeep for us through Budget, but we found that they don't have an office at the airport. Later when we got it, they said someone should have been there holding a sign to identify himself to see that we got a ride to their office just off the airport grounds. Since we never made that connection, we took the shuttle to the hotel, which was included in our package anyway, and got the car later. By this time, about 7:30, it was dark, so having a driver allowed the female, worrying member of our party relax just a little bit. Checking in at GCBC was no problem, and we were given a free upgrade to a junior suite. This was a third floor room in the Oleander Building, overlooking the town side of the bay, with a loft bedroom. I recall our first trip, when we arrived at the hotel around 10:00 p.m. and discovered the reception to be closed and locked up. The driver left, and we were met by the security guard, who produced a room key telling us that they kept a room available in case someone "dropped in" without a reservation. Now, ever since then, I have carried a picture in my mind of a station wagon pulling up and Mom, Dad, and the kids spilling out, deciding to stay here since the drive that day had been too long to continue. I mean, does anyone actually come to an island in the Caribbean without having made hotel reservations? It turned out that the St. Martin company our travel agent booked us through had made the error of forgetting to contact the hotel. Everything was straightened out by the middle of the week, and we actually got a partial refund after we returned home. We went to the restaurant there at GCBC, the Sunset Café, for dinner, but since it seemed that we had been eating all day on the flights, we only had appetizers. I had the mushroom ravioli (3 ½ stars out of 5), while Linda had stuffed crabmeat (2 stars). We finished up with complementary fruit flavored rum shots. Sunday, 4/30 - After petit dejeuner at the Sunset Café (our breakfast every day), we decided to walk through Grand Case to look over the restaurants for the week ahead. Neither of us are big eaters, and we usually just have breakfast and dinner, skipping lunch. But with all of the great restaurants in Grand Case, this was going to take some planning. All of a sudden, we heard a siren from a police car coming up behind us, definitely a first for us since we had never experienced any police activity on either of our trips before. I had read some internet posts about increased crime on the island and was beginning to wonder. It turned out there was no major crime, they were only clearing the street for a bicycle race coming right through the town. After checking out restaurant menus, and dodging a few stragglers in the race, we returned to GCBC to enjoy the beach at Petit Plage, which is the smaller and more private of the two beaches bordering the hotel. I remember on our first trip that the beach on the town side, right in front of our room, was much deeper than it is now. This had changed by the time of our second trip, so that there is now no more than two or three yards (excuse me, 2 or 3 meters) of beach in front of the wall supporting the built-up area directly in front of the hotel buildings. It is the same further down the beach, with a section of seawall having collapsed and high tide washing at another section. If this trend continues, it appears that a few of the restaurants fronting the bay may eventually be washed out. Once you get beyond the piers, however, the beach widens to the depth it was years ago. That evening, we walked into town to have dinner at Il Nettuno, as both of us dearly love Italian food. I had the snail and mushroom soup (4 stars) followed by linguini with Italian sausage (4 ½ stars), while Linda had fried mozzarella (5 stars) and pasta with eggplant and tomato sauce (4 ½ stars). With a fine bottle of Valpolicella, we had a great meal, although I could barely finish mine, and Linda brought about half of hers back to the room. Luckily, there are refrigerators in the rooms, as a part of a small kitchen with all we would need to cook our own meals. Monday, 5/1 - I finally reached Budget this morning by calling their office on the Dutch side, after never getting an answer at their French locations the previous day. I did get a telephone company recording, but it was in French, so I have no idea what it was saying. We were picked up by one of their drivers who had also picked up a guy at L'Habitation. This poor soul was on the island for business, and was being forced to stay for six whole months. We were taken to their airport office where we picked up a Toyota Rav4. By having an open car, we avoid the theft problem, since we never leave anything in it when parked. And who needs air conditioning when the temperature is much lower than it is on a typical summer day in Texas? Leaving the airport, we took a tour of some parts of the island we hadn't seen on our previous trips. Actually, I made a wrong turn in Cole Bay, I think, and we ended up taking the road between Middle Region and Upper Prince's Quarter, around Oyster Pond, rejoining the main road at Orleans. That afternoon, the weather began to look threatening, so we beached at GCBC for the day. Sure enough, we had some light rain, but we just huddled under the beach umbrella and waited it out. Heavier rain came in late that night, but we had already returned from dinner by then. It did knock out the power, however, and the hotel started their emergency generator. Unfortunately, the generator is in a building just across the parking lot from our room, and it was quite noisy. What made it worse was that it would run awhile, shut itself down, and then restart. The noise it made starting up was more irritating than the steady drone it made when running. The generator must only supply power to the outside lights, since our room air conditioner didn't restart until the power was restored. We resumed our tradition of enjoying frozen drinks on the balcony while watching the sun set and the sailboats come into the bay for the evening. Having looked over the menu at the Sunset Café on Saturday, we decided to have dinner there. I had the rack of lamb with mushrooms (are you getting the idea that I like mushrooms?) (4 stars) while Linda had the Seafood Combo which was lobster, shrimp and grouper (4 stars). I had Tisamissu for desert (4 ½ stars), and we finished up with more flavored rum shots. Tuesday, 5/2 - Taking advantage of our own set of wheels, we went to Friar's Bay for the day. We had never visited this beach on our previous trips, and I don't why since it really is lovely. It was fairly lightly populated, no more than 30 or 40 people including those at the beach bars, and I noticed more French being spoken than English. With beach chairs and shade available, it was a most enjoyable day. We returned to GCBC in time for the manager's cocktail party and visited with a number of other guests. That evening, we ate at Restaurant DuSoleil, both having chicken stuffed with lobster and shrimp. That was excellent, being rated at 4 ½ to 5 stars, and the service was great in the friendly, American casual style. On our Sunday stroll through town, we had tried to find a restaurant we visited on our last trip which served omelets and crepes, but we couldn't find it or remember quite where it was. It wasn't an outstanding restaurant, but it was good and its menu was unique. After being seated in Restaurant DuSoleil, we realized that this was the same location, looking out over the bay. Wednesday, 5/3 - We drove over to Orient Beach this morning, and I was very disappointed with what we found. We visited there very briefly in 1994, no more than about 5 minutes, so I don't remember what it was like then, but it had changed immensely since 1986. At that time, there were a few vendor stalls and a bar or two just outside Club Orient, and nothing along the beach to the north. Now, it felt like we were somewhere in Florida, with row after row of beach chairs. It is a beautiful setting, but vastly over- commercialized. There must have been several cruise ships in port, since the place was crawling with people. We took a spot near Pedro's, which in retrospect was probably a mistake, since it was somewhat less crowded down around Coco Beach. Since we were at Orient Beach, we decided to try one of the beach restaurants for lunch, so we got sandwiches at Pedro's. I had a hamburger, which was OK (2 ½ stars) just average and nothing to write home about, although the meat had a good charbroiled flavor. Linda's chicken sandwich (2 stars) was supposed to be BBQ, but the flavor was so mild as to be hardly noticeable. That proves that you just can't get good BBQ outside of Texas. For dinner that evening, we did the unpardonable: we fixed our own meal in the gourmet heaven that is Grand Case. Our excuses are that first, we had Linda's left-over pasta from Sunday and second, we didn't have our lunch until about 3:00 p.m. We went to the Match supermarket in Marigot and bought some french bread, cheese and wine to go along with it. All together, this was not our best food day, but at least housekeeping did the dishes (that's my job at home). Thursday, 5/4 - The beach du jour was at Plum Bay. This was the exact opposite of Orient Bay, and much more to our liking. There is no development on the beach there, although there are villas in back of the beach, and no facilities, either. This is the kind of beach I expect on a tropical island. There were hardly any people there, either, maybe a dozen or so, and great stretches with no one at all. Again, more French than American. Behind us some workers were putting the finishing touches on a huge villa complex of several buildings. If the owners need a house-sitter for it, please contact us. Dinner that night was at L'Auberge Gourmande, at the suggestion of Lena, our waitress Monday night at the Sunset Café. These two restaurants are owned by the same man and provide a contrast in ambiance. Sunset Café is much more informal, the service friendly in the American style. L'Auberge Gourmande is more formal with superb food and service to match; not your typical "French waiter" service, but good efficient service without the haughtiness sometimes encountered. I had fried duck breast (5 stars), and Linda had grilled tuna steak (4 ½ stars). I splurged on dessert, concerto of three chocolates (4 ½ stars). Friday, 5/5 - The power went out again early in the morning, so we heard the generator start up again, and again. We decided to spend our final day at the hotel beach, which in retrospect was a mistake. The winds had picked up considerably that day out of the north, making Petite Plage like the Sahara in a mild sandstorm. We moved to the town beach side, but that one is definitely inferior. We should have packed up and gone to Long Bay or Baie Rouge for the day, probably the latter would have been more protected from the wind. This being our final night meant we had to have dinner at Sebastiano. (I think that there is some provision in the French Civil Code requiring that you eat there at least once when you stay in Grand Case.) Actually, we were lucky to get a table, since they were seating two large groups that night. (I counted place settings for 23 for one family group.) I should have made reservations, but they managed to squeeze a table in for us. When Christine came over to apologize for the noise this large family was making, I assured her we had no complaints and just felt fortunate to be seated. Service was excellent as always, even with the kitchen having to accommodate such a full dining room. I had seafood linguini (4 ½ stars) and Linda had lasagna (4 stars), topping things off with a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. Saturday, 5/6 - This was the day we had been dreading, the day we had to leave. We waited until almost the last minute to check out, drove to Budget to turn in the jeep, and on to the airport. I was hoping for another ATR to San Juan to help the adjustment to big city life, but we found ourselves on a 757 which had come up from Aruba. Getting through customs was a breeze even with the large planeload, although it was a much longer walk from the gate area than I recall previously. Dinner was served on the flight to Dallas, but after so many days dining in Grand Case, who wants to even think about airline food. Absolutely no problems on the return flight (why is it that any airline problems you ever have are always on the way to the islands?), although by the time we got back to the house, it was almost midnight. General observations - The one question everyone has about St. Martin remains unanswered: Which is better, Il Nettuno or Sebastiano? Il Nettuno is more casual, but not a little mom and pop operation. (Not that a mom and pop place is bad; we just loved Le Toucan on our first trip.) Sebastiano is more formal, a higher class establishment. But we couldn't decide on a favorite between them the last time and we can't this time, either. I guess it will just take more research. I never mentioned dinner prices in the daily summaries above. Meals ran from the high $50's to the high $70's for the two of us, in part because the dollar is high against the franc. Count on more if you are really picky about the wine you want. Almost always, service was non compris. Considering that breakfast was included in the room rate, and that we usually do not eat lunch, meal costs are more than reasonable for what you get. Let me grouse a bit about the airport. Arriving isn't so bad, but departure is something else. It is hot, crowded and lacking in amenities. Plus, you have to pay to be allowed to leave. For our next trip, I'm determined to find a way to use L'Esparance Airport in Grand Case instead of Princess Juliana. By the way, that airport is much busier now than it was on our either of previous trips. On our first trip, there might have been two or three flights the whole week. During our second trip, I noticed maybe two or three flights a day. This time there were a good dozen flights each day. Fortunately, the planes are small and the airport is closed at night, since the landing pattern is right over the village. I recall when we made our first trip here, the rooms had no television, not even a telephone. By the time of our second visit, telephones had been added, along with a television, but little was available on it other than some cable station from Anguilla. Now, they have all the U.S. broadcast networks and even HBO. Even more upscale, the bathroom was equipped with a hairdryer. You no longer have the "roughing it" experience we had years ago. While it was nice to be given a free upgrade in our room, all in all we prefer the single level room. With the loft bedroom, the bed is not positioned under the ceiling fan and is located up where all of the hot air rises. On our past trips, we would turn on the fan, turn off the air conditioner, open the balcony doors a little, and be able to sleep comfortably with the natural breezes. Here, we had to run the air conditioner all night (or at least as long as the power remained on). Also, the ceiling level in the loft is low, and it took a couple of bad bumps on my head before I would remember to stoop when getting out of bed. The bathroom is down a flight of dark, creaky stairs, so we ended up leaving the bathroom light on all night. One other room selection hint: pick a room on an upper floor. The rooms on the first level open right onto the walkway along the beach, giving you no privacy whatsoever without keeping the drapes drawn. Upper floor rooms have balconies where you can sit, enjoy a couple of drinks, and watch the sailboats come and go in the bay. We also have a suggestion for the management at GCBC. Please, rebuild the restaurant in the original location. On our first trip, there was a restaurant called The Waves on the top of the promontory between the two beaches. It was outstanding, certainly the equal of any in the village of Grand Case. Unfortunately, it burned down the week prior to our second trip. The current restaurant, Sunset Café, is very good, but doesn't match the original. It presents an atmosphere of a little too much informality and lacks the view afforded by the old one. Why not rebuild the old location since its kitchen is still in use, and keep the new one as a beach bar and breakfast/lunch place? I've seen comments posted to various web sites concerning poverty and crime on the island. Sure, the material standard of living is lower than most visitors see in their home surroundings, but the same is common throughout the Caribbean. That alone doesn't keep this from being paradise. We neither experienced nor heard of anyone else experiencing any crime, although surely it is present. We walked to dinner almost every night without incident. As I mentioned previously, we never left anything in the car, so we were never bothered by the possibility of theft from it. GCBC provides room safes and security guards. I'm not saying that the island is free from any problems. While it appears that the island is trashy and disorderly, it really is just a place where real people live without a central planning authority dictating how they are to live. If you want everything spic and span and all in its place, go to someplace like Disney World. The island could use a good metal recycling plant, however. I've already noted the change in Orient Beach, and there is similar development throughout much of the island. Traffic can be horrendous at times, just like at home. Cruise ships add to all of this hubbub, and it seems that there is hardly a day when just one is in port. However, there are pockets which remain more or less undeveloped, such as Friars Bay and Plum Bay. This is what makes Grand Case Beach Club such an attraction to us. It is like a little oasis, quiet and set apart from the rest of the world, but near enough so that the world's finest dining is a mere pleasant stroll away. It will keep us coming back again and again.
Trip 8/00 We got back in late from St. Thomas and it took me a couple of days to get out from under the PILES of stuff to do at work so that I could begin to organize my notes and write something that might just be readable. I apologize in advance for the length of this report. I think that because I was never required in elementary school to write a "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" type paper, I'm making up for it now. Or maybe it's because I always wanted to write the "Great American Travelogue" and this is as close as I'll ever get to it! As with any vacation I take, I don't know going into it whether it is going to be one of those "adventure" type vacations where I want to do a lot of things and explore the "unknown"; or if it is going to be one of those "battery recharge" vacations that means laying on the beach in between good meals. I never know what will happen until I get to the islands. This year it turned out to be a low-intensity, pretty much do nothing week on St. Thomas. SATURDAY We got up Saturday morning at 3:30am to be ready for the cab at 5:00am to get us to the airport in time for our 5:50am flight from Cleveland to New York's Kennedy Airport. In New York we switched to another flight at 8:00am than flew straight to St. Thomas and arrived at noon. Both American Airlines flights actually arrived earlier than scheduled in the destinations. We arrived in a rainy St. Thomas. The locals were all expressing relief as they said the rain was the first of any significance in several weeks and was greatly needed. RIGHT! It could have at least held off another week until AFTER my visit. The representative picked us up from Discount Car and drove us over to the office. We completed the paperwork with Joyce since Al and Geraldinne weren't in and picked up our white Echo. Last year it seemed like every car on the island was a little red Toyota…. this year every other car on the island was a white Echo. The car cost us $302.00 for nine days plus $18.00 worth of gas that we put in while literally driving over the entire island. Drove through downtown and out to the east end of the island to Secret Harbour where we were to stay. At check-in we re-acquainted ourselves with Margaret at the front desk and Ernest the General Manager. I had previously requested via the Internet, the same room that we had the previous year. I was most happy when we were assigned to that same room. The one-bedroom, beachfront suites at SH have a large living room/dining area plus a kitchen, bathroom and good-sized bedroom. There is also a balcony/porch with table and chairs and lounges. These rooms are literally on the beach and ours is on the second floor of the first building next to the restaurant. It has a great view and is close to everything. We moved our stuff in and headed over to the Blue Moon Café for lunch. When you get to St. Thomas, BE SURE to pick up a copy of the restaurant guide that is produced by the folks at Banana Winds Studio. It is a great place to start when trying to decide where to eat. Passed the bar on the way and said hello to Bobby Beach (Yeah, I believe that one too), the bartender we met last year who has been with Julie for years. He had worked for her over at Oasis at Sapphire before it was sold and subsequently burned down. After lunch it was time to provision the kitchen in our suite so off we went. Our first stop was Plaza Extra to pick up the basics….beverages, snacks and the like. Having done that we headed over to Marina Market in Red Hook to pick up some bakery, cheeses, and some of the more “gourmet” type items. We took our shopping items back to the room just in time for a major power outage due to the storm coming through. Our phones went out and would stay out until Thursday of the next week. Took it easy for the rest of the afternoon and headed out to dinner at 7:00 at Raffles at Compass Point. The meal was very good. We were able to use one of the coupons from the Rotary Club discount booklet that Terrie from Caribbean Steak House & Saloon had been kind enough to obtain for us a few months before. Recouped the entire cost of the booklet with the first coupon. We would be able to use the book several times during our visit. Afterwards we headed back to SH and settled in for some rest after all the traveling earlier in the day. SUNDAY Woke up to a partly sunny morning. It seemed that the rain was pretty much over. Heard later in the week from some of the locals that we missed the "Great Termite Awakening" on Saturday night. That was OK with us as we're not fans of creepy-crawlies, especially ones that also fly. Sat on the porch and read a book while I had my morning coffee. That would be the way I started out all of the days at SH. Actually managed to get through a couple of books in only nine days without too much effort. Headed over to the Kmart later in the morning and picked up some inexpensive sandals for my significant other to use on the rocky beaches. Picked up the liquor for the week and also some to take back home along with the mixers. I’m still amazed at the prices on STT. It’s a good thing I don’t live there because I would probably be tipping the glass a bit too often. A fifth of Bacardi Limon was $5.99, Stoli was about the same (I pay $20.00 apiece here in Ohio). With the blender and fridge at SH, we were now all set for the week with frozen drinks. If you are a smoker, cigarettes run about half of what they do here in Ohio. Cartons were in the $13.49 to $15.49 range. Got back to SH and put in the first serious beach time of the week. Even though we both had pretty decent base tans, we still managed to get burnt…..it looked like the "lobster people" were going to be around for a couple of days. After the beach we ate a pretty good lunch at Blue Moon Café. Back to the beach for the afternoon. Headed into Red Hook for a fairly bad dinner at Café Wahoo. I was very disappointed after all the good things I had heard about the restaurant. Later in the week I heard many things from locals about that establishment and none were positive. It sure wasn't up to the level of the old Piccolo Marina that was there several years ago. After dinner we walked over the edge of the SH property to where the pier is and sat there for a while. Last year we spent several evenings sitting and watching the water and managed to see several very large rays swim around right up at the beach one night. We weren't so lucky this year, but it was still a nice, peaceful way to spend some time. I was surprised throughout the week that more of the resort's guests did not take advantage of the beach area at night. MONDAY Today we finally took advantage of the complimentary continental breakfast that is included with the room at Secret Harbour. This year it was set up as a serve yourself buffet. I couldn't figure out last year why they had the servers treating it like an off-the-menu order. You could choose from toast, bagel or English muffin. They also had coffee, decaf and tea available as well as a variety of juices and fresh fruit (cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon and pineapple). On certain days there was also Danish. Today was going to be our "Great Adventure" day for the entire vacation. In all of the visits I have made to St. Thomas, there are still several of the beaches that I have never been to. So, I decided that this time around, we were going to try a couple of new ones. We headed out first for Magens Bay as a starting point and then moved further west. Our first stop was Hull Bay. Hull turned out to be a very pretty beach. It was a little on the rocky side, but the water was relatively calm. When we were there, we were two of maybe eight people total that were on the beach. There were a number of fishermen coming and going and several fishing boats at anchor. There is a nice looking; rather good-sized bar/restaurant there that I’ve heard is hopping later in the day. After leaving Hull we continued west and after taking a lot of roads that got progressively narrower and more potholed, we wound up at Dorothea beach. This was an interesting place. There were a half dozen or so condos there as well as a “members-only” swimming pool just up from the beach. The beach itself was small and extremely rocky, but very pretty. The water was incredibly rough and had constant breakers. It was the roughest water I remember seeing in any of my visits to the USVI. There was also a very strong and constant wind…..the closest thing I’ve seen in the USVI to what you find on Aruba. The middle of the beach had a very large sign warning everyone against swimming as the beach has a serious undertow towards its center. This beach was totally deserted except for one poor dog that was tied up outside one of the condos. The beach was a great place though if you were looking for shells and the like. We saw the best assortment that we found on any of the beaches anywhere on St. Thomas. After Dorothea, we headed back to Red Hook and hit the shops at American Yacht Harbour where the Caribbean Steak House and Saloon is located. The shops were nice and I especially liked the one that seemed to be run by a witch that carried a lot of Tarot cards and other unusual items. I can’t remember the name, but I seem to remember something having to do with Rhiannon…as in the Fleetwood Mac song. Afterwards we headed back to finish the afternoon with more beach time at Secret Harbour and then some nice, cold frozen drinks in our suite before heading into downtown for an excellent (as always) meal at Virgilio’s. Henry who we met there last year after moving down from Agave had left and gone back to Agave. There was a new person to greet us, Ernesto Garrigos, the executive chef.…..and we had the same waiter that we had the previous year. Unfortunately, the young man who hails from the Dominican Republic still had such a heavy clip/accent that he was no easier to understand than last year. I think the maitre’d was aware of the fact since he followed the young man from table to table and repeated what the waiter had previously said so that the patrons could understand it. Still it was fun and the meal was fabulous as usual. We headed back to SH to finish the evening and went to the bar at Blue Moon where we met Dave, the new bartender. He had been on-island for the past seven years and had spent the previous five years at Alexander’s in Frenchtown. He had only been at Blue Moon for three weeks but was a good addition. We talked about some of the changes in restaurants that had taken place in the past seven years and reminisced about several of our mutual “acquaintances”. TUESDAY This was a day that started out with more reading on the balcony and then writing some of the notes that I put down that are the basis for this trip report (since my memory lately seems to have more bad days than good ones (). Spent a lot of time on the balcony overlooking the beach until we finally gravitated down to the beach for some sun. Had lunch at Iggies over at Bolongo. It turned out to be a very pleasant experience…. nice burger and sandwich type lunch menu and really cold beer. I also liked being right there on the beach…..somewhat similar to Caesar's over at the Marriott properties. I had stayed at Bolongo a few years back but had not been on the property since it was "renovated" after all the hurricane damage. It has a passable beach, but has never been what I considered to be one of the better ones on the island. Tuesday afternoon was our great shopping adventure. We spent several hours going through the stores at Havensite. There was only one ship in so it was not overly crowded, plus we didn’t get there until early afternoon and most of the cruise shippers seemed to have already been and gone. Tuesday night generated the only real excitement during our visit….and we could have easily managed without the same. To make a long story very short, I spent much of the evening at the front desk of SH (telephone service to the individual rooms was not restored until Thursday) speaking with various parties back home as one of our cars was stolen from our locked garage in Ohio. After a lot of trouble, we were able to get the proper people working on it back home and they managed to retrieve the car while it was still in one piece. It wound up being taken to the impound lot and cost us a "mere" $165.00 to get it released once we got back home. Some times the good guys DO win. LOL The downside was that we never did get out to eat dinner…..that’s especially bad since there are always too many places to try on STT and too few nights available to start with. I really hate to lose any chance to try another STT restaurant for any reason. WEDNESDAY This was going to be a day at the Secret Harbour beach. The weather was partly cloudy so the sun didn’t feel so intense and it probably helped us from burning to a crisp, but it was still enough to peel my entire nose. I tend to forget that even when cloudy those UV’s still shoot through. Several years ago I went to St. Lucia in February so I did not have my normal base tan. The first day it rained all day, but we still spent the entire time on the beach. I didn’t use any sunscreen because I didn’t think it was needed…..until later that night when the sun poisoning kicked in big time. Learned that lesson! Spent a good bit of time snorkeling before and after another good lunch at the Blue Moon Café. There seemed to be a good amount of critters swimming around the reef again this year (the kind with scales primarily although there were more of the two-legged type than last year). The number seemed to increase as it got further into the week after that storm had moved through. Went to Mim’s for dinner and it was absolutely excellent. We sat railside as usual and loved the lighted view you get of the rocks below the restaurant. This night we saw a spotted ray come right up to the water’s edge within the lighted area. The waiter said there had been several spotted rays seen further out earlier in the day. THURSDAY I finally took the time to walk up towards the upper level of rooms at SH to check out the “rumored” swimming pool. It turned out to be truly beautiful, but underused. I had never before even tried to find it because I go to STT for the beaches. But the view from the pool area is absolutely gorgeous. We headed back into downtown CA this morning and it was great. There were no cruise ships in today so we had all the shops to ourselves. Just about everything was open and there were very few shoppers. Managed to pick up a nice ring for my sweetie at Cardow Jewelers and then we bought a number of things at her favorite shop, White House/Black Market. After spending our money we headed up to Cuzzins for a very nice lunch and a couple of ice cold beers. After we ate lunch it was time to head up to Magens Bay. Managed to take some wonderful pictures of Mahogany Run this year. Then we drove past Udder Delight and into the beach entrance. For us, no trip to STT would be complete without spending a lot of time vegging on the beach at Magens. This year there were quite a few more people at the beach than when we visited last year…..but it still wasn’t bad without the cruise shippers. There seemed to be a local church group at the beach for the day and some of the kids were so cute. Little ones (6, 7, 8 years old) with long, long dreadlocks. I love laying on the beach and having the bar maid/waiter bring you drinks while you bake in the sun. This year it was Miles, a very energetic waiter with a great smile and sense of humor. We saw him wading way out into the water to not only take drink orders, but also to cool himself off because it was definitely a hot one in the sun. After the entire afternoon on the beach, we headed back to get ready for an absolutely fabulous time at Agave Terrace. We had a railside table, but moved inside when a rainshower hit. Agave had live entertainment that night and the local artist, Aben Marrero did a great job with a number of reggae classics as well as some gospel type songs. FRIDAY This was primarily another day at the beach at SH. By late morning though, it was time to make a short, repeat visit to Havensite to finish up our souvenir shopping for the folks back home. Once again, there were no cruise ships in and today there were only a few shops open. We visited one shop that we had never been in before, Gourmet Gallery. It reminded me a good bit of Marina Market, but I think it is a bit pricier. It had a very good selection of wine as well as a lot of unusual gourmet type items. This will probably be added to our list of “must visit” shops for future visits. Stopped at a little sandwich place in Havensite for some lunch and it was surprisingly good……especially since it didn’t look like much from the outside or from the Spartan furnishings inside. A guy who could have passed as a twin to Bluebeard served us. The only thing he was missing was an eyepatch or a pegleg. Stopped across the street at Pusser’s Outlet store on the way back to SH and picked a couple of really good buys. It was smaller than I expected with a lot of odds and ends, but if you find something you like, the price is definitely much lower than at their regular stores. Went back to SH for some more iced drinks and sunning on the beach. Headed back into town to Bluebeards for dinner. We had planned on going to Room With A View but they were closed for several weeks so we wound up at Banana Tree Grill where we had a very good dinner. The Gorgonzola sauce for the filet is excellent. SATURDAY This would be our last full day on the island and the departure- depression started to hit already. Spent the entire morning sunning and swimming on the beach at Secret Harbour for a last time. At lunchtime we headed back towards Tutu to pay a visit to the artist studios at Tillett Gardens. (By the way Tillett Gardens is up for sale and the asking price is a mere $2.3 million). While visiting with a couple of the artists we reminisced about the days when Jim Tillett was still alive and the difference in the artist community back then. I remember visiting the large studio right after he would come back from one of his trips to the Pacific or down island. He would be working on his silk screen designs or some other project with all kinds of students and apprentice artists alongside. We went in to a candle shop owned by a native St. Thomian by the name of Jason. Jason sat in the back corner of the studio working at a PC. But the real draw for this place was the older gentleman working in the front, George. George has lived on STT for almost thirty years now and had worked closely with Jim many years ago. George had some great stories about Jim that really illustrated how much of a character he had been. I would tell a few here, but for those of you who knew Jim, you can understand they would have to be heavily censored. LOL. After talking to George we walked across the courtyard to Polli's for some Mexican food. Lunch was very good and the setting was great. After lunch we headed back to SH to hit the beach for a while. Karin and Trace from Banana Wind Graphics and Terrie and Frank from Caribbean Steak House were kind enough to invite us along to Duffy's so off we went to enjoy that "unique" place. The narration and descriptions provided by Karin were wonderful as the local "regulars" paraded through…..including Jeff who had been our waiter that evening at Blue Moon. After a while at Duffy's we headed over to Frank & Terrie's place, The Caribbean Steak House & Saloon. If any of you ever get the chance, be sure to go and eat here. These two people are without a doubt the best hosts on the island. The menu is incredibly diversified and the food is great. If you just want a place to kick back and have a drink, it's ideal. Anyhow, at some point either really, really late, or really, really early depending how you look at it, we stumbled out and managed to find our way back to SH. SUNDAY Slept in late (at least as far as the vacation went). Got up about 9:30 and started to pack…..always the toughest thing to do because there is too much time to think about leaving. Managed to get everything together, leave a few parting gifts for the folks at SH, checked out and then headed back into CA for the last time on this trip. We decided to spend the balance of our free time prior to flying out at the Carib Beach right next to the airport. We took advantage of their Sunday brunch and found it to be very nice, although I'm not a real fan of all you can eat buffets since I don't care to eat a large amount at one time….and I also find that food quality doesn't last long sitting out in the heat of the tropics. The same artist who we had listened to earlier in the week at Agave Terrace provided the live entertainment. By the time we finished eating, we were able to sit outside and enjoy the beach for a little while before heading over to Discount to return our rental car. Got dropped off at the airport and had an uneventful trip through ticketing, customs, immigration and onto the plane for our flight to Miami. As soon as we were on the plane we started planning for the next trip back to STT. We wound up with a couple hour delay in Miami while the airlines waited for some bad weather to clear the Midwest. We got delayed long enough to arrive back in Cleveland at 11:00pm just as the worst of the storm was hitting. I thought we were going to have to swim home from there. So ends the saga of St. Thomas for 2000.
Turquoise water? At first glance it appeared as though someone had artificially touched it up, like a picture for a postcard. But seeing it with my own eyes, I certainly knew that wasn’t true. This was my first impression of this glorious jewel of the Caribbean, affectionately known as "Provo". I spent a week with my two children, mother, sister and very close family friends on Provo. We rented Stonecrest villa in Ocean Point through TC Safari. The villa was spectacular, 5 bedrooms all with ensuite bath, a private pool, and exquisitely landscaped grounds overlooking Taylor Bay. This was paradise with a picture postcard background. Apart from enjoying our luxury villa, we had the opportunity to sample the one and only golf course on the island. The Provo Golf Club, opened in 1992, is boasted as one of the top 10 in the Caribbean region. I’m not so sure I agree with that but I did very much enjoy my round of golf. It was in very good shape and had a lot of water and sand hazards. A great challenge for all levels of skill. Greens fees were about $120, junior rates for children 16 and under were around $60 with cart. Club rental ranged from $20 for average type clubs to $40 for Ping, Taylor Made or Callaways. Service was excellent and clubhouse was airy and pleasant. An afternoon trek took us out to the "Tiki Huts" on the west coast of Provo, accessible only by 4 wheel drive. We began by renting two Suzuki jeeps from Scooter Bob’s located in Turtle Cove, as we were most certain from the literature about the road condition that our rented van just wasn’t going to be suitable for the road. Driving out to the Tiki huts the road was very rocky, rutted and as I suspected it wasn’t really 4 wheel drive that was needed but rather a vehicle with high clearance. There was only one small difficult spot that I recall where I actually engaged the 4 wheel drive. The Tiki huts were in bad shape, apparently used frequently as a party location with much trash and broken beer bottles strewn on and underneath them. However, away from the huts the beach itself was beautiful and remote, the water again was fantastic. The snorkeling there was good, but not the best on the island. The best snorkeling we found was just off the beach in front of Coral Gardens/White House area on Grace Bay. It was truly an underwater city, abundant with a wide variety of fish and coral. Unfortunately, from what we read about snorkeling on Provo another great site is Smith’s reef which we did not get the opportunity to investigate. Part of our group had the opportunity to personally meet Jojo the dolphin, frolicking in Grace Bay. They had rented a small catamaran from the Ocean Club, just across from the golf course. They met Jojo while underway in the bay, my daughter swam with him for a short time before she hopped back on the sailboat, then Jojo swam with the boat. This was a much remembered highlight of the trip. I’m only disappointed that I missed it, as I was playing golf at the time. Dining out, which we did less of than your average traveler since we had full kitchen facilities at our rented villa, we found the Tiki Bar & Restaurant in Turtle Cove to have the best fish and chips and conch dishes. We also sampled Hemingways on the Bay, it was average but nothing that left any lasting impressions. And some others not worthy of a mention. For the most part, we shopped at the local grocery stores and cooked in. The IGA was the largest supermarket, though I wouldn’t say the best with respect to getting local fish and seafood for example. Actually Island Pride, just across from where the airport road meets the Leeward Highway had locally caught red snapper which we were fortunate enough to be there at the right time to procure, as it sold out quickly once it arrived. Another good source for getting local delicacies were the fisheries markets out 5 Cays road. To get there one would take the Leeward highway towards the airport, immediately past the airport road take a left on South Shore Drive and follow that road to the Texaco and make a left at the Texaco on 5 Cays road, follow 5 Cays road out to where it forks with a dirt road to your left, follow the dirt road only a couple 100 yards you will find two buildings both on your left. The first one we found had wonderful fresh caught local spiny lobster, purchasing just the tail it ran for $14.00 per pound. The second building we found had just local conch, which we did not purchase, as no one in our group had packed a baseball bat to prepare it. But both markets had fresh locally caught fish sporadically, it was a matter of being there at the right time on the right day. The spiny lobster tail we prepared on our grill by splitting the tail and adding just a little butter, salt, pepper and paprika. It was absolutely fabulous, ah that sweet Caribbean lobster had hit my palette once again, a taste I remember over and over from other Caribbean jaunts. We did visit the casino at the Allegro Resort one evening. It was small but quite lively, we enjoyed mostly blackjack with a few token pulls of the slot machines certainly sinking money. The blackjack tables were kind to us. A nice diversion for an evening but I’d wouldn’t go to Provo for gambling. Our only disappointment was being unable to rent a boat suitable for exploring the cays, take in some waterskiing and off the beaten trail snorkelling. Capt Bill of Ocean Outback was our best hope for the type of vessel we needed but was off the island for two months. We toyed with the chartering a skippered boat option but soon decided between the price and our independent exploring mode of travel that wasn’t our cup of tea. Capt Bill we have to admit you became the butt of many jokes during our stay, but all in good fun. If someone was lost then they were with Capt Bill and our boat rental. We did heed some advice before our trip and did not waste our time on the Conch Farm or the Hole. A memory I’ll always have of Provo is it’s people. Warm, friendly and loved to joke. We met quite a few along our way in our week’s long stay, and I’ll remember each and every one. Another fine memory was at no point were we ever approached by anyone trying to sell us trinkets on the beach, as I’ve experienced on quite a few other Caribbean islands. This in itself was a divine treat. Thank you Provo you are a true jewel, though just a dot on the map but biggest in beauty and the abounding pride of your citizens brightly shines.
The official The Caribbean Travel Roundup World Wide Web site is http://caribtravelnews.com. The CTR is also available on America Online. Contact: Paul Graveline, 9 Stirling St., Andover, MA 01810- 1408 USA :Home (Voice or Fax) 978-470-1971. E-mail via editor@caribtravelnews.com or CTREDITOR@aol.com
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