# Caribbean Vacations Forums > St. Maarten/St. Martin Travel Forum >  >  Brief visit  6/26-6/29

## Karen

We started our vacation in St. Martin on Orient Beach at Esmeralda where we stayed for the 5th time.  It was nice to break up the trip to SBH with a couple of relaxing days on Orient. We spent our days at Coco Beach and had a great lunch at Bikini Beach and Kontiki.  The first night's dinner is always at L'Astrolabe where we were warmly greeted by Thomas and Amin like old friends.  We ventured to Grand Case for dinner at Il Netunno (sp) for great Italian.  For the last evening we walked to Orient Village, via the well-lit street, and ended up at Paris-Texas for a good meal.  Patrick, the owner is a delight.  We never felt unsafe but we were careful.  We also met some great folks from Tennessee and Arizona.  It was a nice way to start the real vacation.  On to SBH for a way too short visit.

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## andynap

Nice area. I like Spiga for Italian but Il Nettuno is an old standby.

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## phil62

I agree, Andy. The food is better at Spiga, but the vibe at Neptuno, particularly during the NFL post season, can't be beat. We used to go there for Super Bowl many years ago. One of the owners is a huge Redskin fan, and I used to delight in going into the place in full Cowboy regatta. We had many NFC East "discussions" back in the day.

Phil

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## Karen

We love the Redskin owner guy, too.  Maybe because he kisses my hand each time and says nice to see you again.  He knows that my husband is a Dallas fan (or used to be)and is very gracious to us.  I don't have the heart to try Spiga with that kind of banter waiting for me.  I really like wandering around Grand Case and looking at the different menus.

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