50th Anniversary Trip! Arrival in SXM, 12-13 Dec 2019- aka Rudy our hero!
Yesterday there were a number of times when we were pretty sure we wouldn't make it here so being able to make ANY fun plans was a gift. But more on that below.
Our flight down from MIA was great. After tucking in Vanna (our RV) in the Hampton Inn lot we took the shuttle over to the airport, went through TSA and found our gate in record time. None of the hassles with MIA that others have run into. We were sitting in the middle of the plane for our flight, which was fine except that when we arrived at St. Martin they opened both front and aft doors so were about exactly last to get off the plane and onto the shuttle bus for the 134 yard ride to customs (why bother with a bus??). So it took almost an hour before we could exit the airport and find Alain Arnell's smiling face in order to get our rental car. His son Guillaime (William) picked up us and a French gal up and took us aaaallllll the way around to the other side of the airport in Beacon Hill where their lot is located now- used to be just down the street from the terminal! Some of the road there was flooded from recent rains, said Willie, and pointed to one section of the giant puddle that contained a hidden pothole to avoid- not really big said he. It took maybe a half hour for W to process the French gal and then us, and I had the common sense to ask him about the route to Orient. He smiled, shook his head and said, problem mun, there's a general strike and the roads through the French side are blocked and nothing is moving! Gulp. Here's a news article about it: https://www.
Thanks to the map (no street names!) and our fuzzy familiarity with the roads through P'Burg we did manage to get over to Oyster Pond after turning off the main road. We saw the roadblock ahead at the border just after we turned so we knew Willie wasn't kidding. We took the back road to the French Quarter (Orleans) figuring we were home free- NOT! After re-entering the main road there was another roadblock, people yelling turn back, turn back! So we sat there in front of a little store figuring the only thing to do was to go back to Oyster Pond and try to find a hotel room there. Brave Joni struck up a conversation with one of the locals hanging out in front of the store, who said he likes Americans and would try to help us get through the roadblock!! His name was Rudy and he had a motorcycle, said to follow him. He took us up a tiny side road, squeezing past cars coming the other way until we got to the top of a hill, heard a truck horn and there it came, almost 2 lanes wide! After pulling into driveways, etc we and the other cars near us could let him through- but he only got another hundred feet or so before he stopped with other cars in the way! Now there was a total standstill of cars and 2 big trucks trying to go both ways! Just as we began to think about what it would be like to sleep in the car all night, Rudy and some neighbors were able to get everyone to back down the hill so we could finally move. Praise be, Rudy led us to Orient! Rudy- our hero!! We slipped him $40, we were sooooo happy.
So over three hours after landing at SXM, we finally did find Club F (not easy in the dark!) and met the managers, Chloe and Thierry who welcomed us warmly, saying that we were the only guests until Saturday and that they were really worried about us! We figured that they'd be packed with Club O gone, but she said they had been and will be full (6 rooms) from Christmas until May, that this was just the slump before the holidays. Chloe ordered us a pizza from BO Pizza that was fantastic! Joni and I ended the night with outdoor showers and a soak in their huge hot tub, under a full moon and billowing clouds. It was an awesome ending to what could have been a hellish night!
We had read up a bit on people's impressions of Club F and it's everything we hoped for. (See pic of Joni sketching by the pool). We have a very nice big room with king-size bed, frig, etc. They have an open bar, huge hot tub and nice pool overlooking Orient Bay. Today Chloe fixed us a yummy continental breakfast of French pastries and fruit, juice etc and offered us a cooler with ice and drinks for the beach. The latter may have been due to the strike as we didn't want to chance getting to the supermarket up on the main road (we heard just now that the whole shopping area is shut down and the military have been flown in!). Anyway, we headed to the beach and had a great 5 hrs there although it was really windy. Not many people were there due to the strike, including Cedrick who usually is in charge of the chairs and umbrellas. Thankfully, Randy made it into the Perch Lite bar and served sandwiches and drinks, including Happy Hour. Yay, great hot dog and yay, 2-for-1 guavaberry colodas!!
As an aside, I was waiting for our drinks at the Perch and a gal behind me said that their friends were supposed to fly home yesterday but their taxi had to turn around and they missed their flight. I read today that the only way to the airport is by boat! Glad we are safely tucked away in our nice Orient Village paradise!
Now we're back at the Club on Friday mid-afternoon, having a float in the pool and our own little happy hour here! What a huge assortment of booze, have they! More tomorrow and we promise the reports will be shorter!
The photos below show Joni sketching at Club F and the Club O beach showing the Perch Lite beach bar.
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