From: paul.graveline%travel@wugate.wustl.edu (Paul Graveline) 
Newsgroups: soc.culture.caribbean
Subject: CARIBBEAN TRAVEL ROUNDU14
Date: 1 Sep 92 13:19:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Travel Online, St. Louis, MO
Reply-To: paul.graveline%travel@wugate.wustl.edu (Paul Graveline) 

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breakfast  (included)  and one dinner (not included) seafood buffet.  
My  wife  liked  it,  I  did  not.  One  night we had dessert in the  
restaurant  which  we  both liked. Our first day we had lunch at the  
pool  snack  bar/bar  - good. Another smaller snack bar / bar was at  
the  beach but we did not eat there. The hotel food and services was  
pricey!  
 
They  had theme nights like manager's party and barbecue night which  
we  did  not  attend.  The  only entertainment was a steel band they  
brought  one  night  to  play in the courtyard. Again we skipped it.  
The  hotel  was very quiet and laid back which suited our needs. Not  
a lot to do there.  
 
LBC  is  now  our  hotel of choice on St. Martin. For us none of the  
others  we saw came close. Also, the location is great, five minutes  
from Marigot. 
 
St.  Martin  was  slow  which suited us fine. We were told that last  
"season"  was  slow due to the recession and this year looked worse.  
Marigot  and  Grand  Case  were charming. Philipsburg was disgusting  
and  the  smell  of  Col. Sanders Fried Chicken upon arrival made me  
sick.  Two  hours there was more than enough and we did not go back.  
It was too much like home!  
 
Our  rental  car  was a 4 door white Subaru from Budget's Nettle Bay  
Office.  At  $132 for the week we felt we did well. They were honest  
and  helpful.  At  the end they drove us to the Airport at no charge  
(we  tipped).  They did not try to rip us on damages to the car, gas  
in  the  tank,  etc.  The  car had about 19000 miles and was in good  
shape  other than a front end shimmey. I learned why automatics have  
a D1 and D2.  
 
Our  favorite  beaches  were  Dawn Beach and Baie Rouge. The eastern  
side  of  the  island was rough and windy on some of the days. I was  
surprised  we  made it without incident over the dirt road from Dawn  
Beach to Orient.  
 
In  the  food  area,  Mark's Place (now closed for vacation) and the  
BBQ  shacks  in  G.C.  were  A+  for  lunch.  Also, on the road from  
Marigot  to  G.C. there is a strip mall on the right IDed by a large  
red  square.  In  the  back  is  a food store where we got excellent  
bread, cheese, pate, wine and beer for lunch. Again A+.  
 
St. Thomas Report by Deborah Greto 
---------------------------------- 
 
We  picked  up  a  rental  from Hertz and was on our way to Sapphire  
Beach  Resort and Marina. It took some getting use to driving on the  
opposite  side  of  the  road  but  finally  after  going  through a  
construction  detour  through  the  center  of  Charlotte Amalie. We  
arrived safe and sound at Sapphire.  
 
Our  accommodations  at  Sapphire were great. The resort consists of  
six  buildings  ours being the building next to the marina. The view  
from  our balconies were superb. The first floor had a small kitchen  
dining  area  living  room  with pull out sofa and a bathroom also a  
balcony  with  table and chairs and lounge chairs. The 2nd floor had  
a  king  size  bed  pull  out  sofa, table, chairs, TV, bathroom and  
another balcony with lounge chairs and table and chairs.  
 
After  we  unpacked  we began exploring the property and only got as  
far  as  the  pool  bar.  We let the kids go swimming while we drank  
some  "painkillers".  we  stayed  at the bar for lunch and had great  
burgers.  The property also has a restaurant the "Sea Grape". We had  
dinner  there  the  first  night  it  was  very  good. Everything at  
Sapphire  is  on the beach. So each bar, restaurant, pool etc. has a  
great  view. Later the first night we returned to the pool and had a  
late night swim. The pool is open 24 hours a day.  
 
On  day  two we ate breakfast at Sea Grape restaurant and decided to  
take  the kids up to mountain top. We have been there a few times on  
cruises.  We were surprised to see the entire place was redone since  
our  last  trip  there  in April of 91 about 6 months after Hugo. It  
now  has  more  sophisticated shops and a new bar area with a bigger  
deck  overlooking  the  bay. When we returned to the hotel a crew of  
"Lifestyles  of  The  Rich  and  Famous" were filming at the marina.  
They  were having a marlin tournament. We later drove to Red Hook to  
the  market  for  some groceries. There is only a limited, expensive  
selection  at Red Hook Market. The rest of the night we just relaxed  
at the hotel.  
 
Sunday  we  took  the ferry over to St. John. We had called Hertz to  
rent  a jeep but when we got there they only had a pickup truck with  
a  canopy and benches in the back so, we took it. Our first stop was  
to  Trunk  Bay  to  show the kids the underwater park. The beach and  
park  were  just  like  our  last  visit  (on a cruise) and the kids  
enjoyed  the  snorkeling  but said there weren't very many fish. The  
life  guard  on  duty overheard the kids and told us that if we went  
out  to  the  right  of  the underwater park in between the buoys we  
would  see  more fish and coral. So we went out to the area she told  
us  and  she was right there was much more to see. The guard told us  
that  the  cruise  ship tourists have just about ruined the area but  
that  the  Park  Service  continues to allow them there because they  
figure  if  they  keep  them in one area they can control the damage  
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