Archive for August, 2017

The eclipse

Posted in Family outings, Leah, Molly on August 24th, 2017 by c-had – Be the first to comment

We saw the eclipse! Well, at least the 80% eclipse that Maryland got. We did not travel long and far to full totality like some of you. Instead we traveled 10 minutes to our local library branch. I even got a picture of the eclipse with this contraption.

Photographing the eclipse

I wasn’t sure if I could photograph the eclipse, but I ended up pulling it off. I didn’t have a proper solar filter, so I used eclipse glasses and some gaffer tape to hold it on. Picture taken with my Panasonic GX7 (Micro Four Thirds), a cheap old Canon FD 300mm lens on an old Canon FD 2x tele extender, attached with a cheap Micro Four Thirds to Canon FD adapter. With the 2x crop sensor, that’s a 1200mm full frame equivalent, so the sun filled much of the frame. Here it is at its peak.

Eclipse

OK, enough photography geekery. Stacie brought Simon and Matilda (and a friend) to join in the fun, so we got to hang out with them two days in a row.

Viewing

Looking up

Eclipse viewers

How did we end up at the library? Well, that’s a longer story similar to some of yours. We originally thought we’d just watch the eclipse at our house, but we didn’t think about getting solar glasses for the eclipse until a week beforehand, when they were impossible to find.

The Robinson Nature Center nearby said they were getting a shipment of glasses on Wednesday and would say when they arrived on their Facebook page. Jen watched it throughout the day and jumped in the car with the girls when the message went out that they had arrived. Sadly, they were sold out before she arrived. Apparently a bunch of people just hung out at the center waiting for them to arrive, and they were sold out within 10 minutes.

Our library handed them out at all branches the Saturday before at 11:00. Leah and I got there 30 minutes early, but the line was already giant (this is just a small portion of it). I’d guess over a thousand people. Only the first couple hundred got glasses, which did not include us.

Search for solar glasses

The library was also hosting an eclipse viewing party where they would have some more glasses for use, so we decided to make that our last ditch effort to see the eclipse. Given our previous experiences with getting glasses, we got there at 12:30 (party started at 2:00). We found there was already a pretty long line, and it just kept getting longer. Eventually, they gave out tickets for each pair of glasses they had, and we were fortunate to be far enough forward to get tickets. We ended up just taking half the glasses we were allotted, though, to help out with huge number of people who didn’t get tickets. Here’s a view of the party on the front lawn of the library.

Eclipse party

We all enjoyed experiencing the eclipse, and were glad we managed to do it. We even topped off the fun with a sweet treat. The library is just down the street from a Rita’s. Since we’d failed to get custard at the Rita’s in Six Flags, this was a good chance to make up for that failure. Yum.

Six Flags America

Posted in Family outings, Leah, Molly on August 23rd, 2017 by c-had – Be the first to comment

Leah participated in a reading program at school this past year that awarded her a free ticket to Six Flags America. It’s been a very busy summer, but we finally found time to go. And not only did we go, but we got to go with a bunch of friends from playgroup. Simon and Matilda, Keira, and Jake all joined in the fun (as did some of their parents). In fact, Molly’s first trip ever to an amusement park included Keira and Jake. Simon and Matilda were sadly not there (Matilda would have been 3 months old, so she probably wouldn’t have remembered it if she had gone). Leah was sort of there, as Jen was pregnant with her at the time. Here they are all those many years ago:

Holding hands

We got to Six Flags at 10:30 when the park opened. This was our first trip to Six Flags, but the others were experienced (most had season passes). All the older kids were tall enough now to ride all the rides (something new for Molly), but Leah and Matilda couldn’t ride the largest of them. That said, Molly was still scared of any roller coaster that went upside down or was too extreme. We tried to convince her to try one, but she was quite resistant. So, we started with some tamer rides that everyone could ride. First, the Flying Carousel:

Flying Carousel

Flying Carousel

Then the Tea Cups

Tea Cups

Our first roller coaster was the Ragin Cajun, a spinny mouse coaster that everyone could ride. And, surprisingly, everyone did ride it including Jen. She took a couple Dramamine before arriving so she could try some coasters, but I was still surprised to see her on it. I think Stacie deserves the credit for pushing Jen to ride this ride (and many other rides). The girls rode together, so Jen and I got to ride in a car by ourselves.

Then another smaller ride: French Quarter Flyers

French Quarter Flyers

French Quarter Flyers

We then went on Wild One, a wooden roller coaster originally built in 1917 at a different park and moved here in the 80s. Again, everyone could ride this. Both our girls said afterward they didn’t like the big drop at the beginning, yet both of them wanted to ride it again. So, most of us rode it a second time.

One of the reasons we rode it again was that there was no line. We apparently found a great day to visit the park, because there were almost no lines all day long. It was awesome.

We took a lunch break, then some of the kids really wanted to do Shipwreck Falls. It’s a big boat that crashes down into water (like Splash Mountain, but a lot wetter). Molly tried to get out of it when she saw how wet the boat was, but Jen said, “If I’m riding it, then so are you! Sit back down!”

Shipwreck Falls

We all ended up completely drenched. Even with the sun, it took hours to dry off.

Drenched

Since we were already drenched, we went ahead and rode Renegade Rapids. And then we headed to our first coaster that the smallest girls were not big enough to ride - the Mind Eraser. Molly did not want to try it (you go upside down), and Jen was happy to sit out. I rode it though. It’s fun.

Our next stop was Coyote Creek Crazy Cars (bumper cars), where all the kids (and Zach) joined in. Leah thought Matilda needed some directions on who to bump into.

Coyote Creek Crazy Cars

Molly does not have a lot of experience driving a car, and so had a little trouble getting the hang of using the pedals and steering wheel simultaneously. This gave the smaller girls ample opportunity to ram into her and Keira.

How does this work?

Now you’re getting it, Molly.

Now you've got it

It’s fun to crash into Jake.

Crash

We then went to the other wooden coaster - Roar. Everyone could (and did) ride it. It’s a bit shakier than Wild One, but still lots of fun. After riding it once (and cleaning up the drink I spilled in my backpack), some of the bigger kids wanted to ride Apocalypse. Molly did not, and the little girls couldn’t. So, I joined the three of them and we rode Roar again while the others rode Apocalypse. There was still no line when we finished, so we rode it a third time. Then we stopped riding it, both because the others had returned and because we had fully shaken our brains after riding the wooden coaster three times in a row.

The kids and Zach then hopped on High Seas (not my kind of ride).

High Seas

After that, it was time for sweet treat. We headed to Rita’s and had to stand in line for a while before finding out their custard machine was broken. We still got some ice, but we also got some Dippin’ Dots to make up for the missing custard.

After our treat, we headed to Gotham City, home of most of the really serious rides. Our first stop was The Joker’s Jinx, a seriously twisty coaster. The little girls couldn’t ride it, and Molly didn’t want to, so the three of them went with Jen and I to Riddle Me This (like an open air Gravitron that tips up on end). The girls got to ride it a couple times before the others finished on The Joker’s Jinx, and they loved it. I mentioned to Molly that she was going upside down on this ride, and if she could handle that she could handle it on a coaster. To my surprise, she thought that made sense, and asked if she could now go on The Joker’s Jinx. So, we went back to The Joker’s Jinx along with the other older kids.

Molly was pretty scared as we got strapped in. It’s also a ride with a fast launch (0-60mph in 3 seconds), which freaked her out. As soon as the launch was over, we emerged into a twist followed by a loop. As we finish the loop, I hear her screaming with joy “I like going upside down!”. She loved the ride, and was suddenly emboldened to ride all the most extreme rides. Here she is after conquering her fears.

Joker's Jinx

All the kids, Zach, and Jason then went on The Penguin's Blizzard River, a water ride that doesn’t really get you wet.

The Penguin's Blizzard River

The newest ride at the park is Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth, an extremely tall swing ride. To our surprise, all the kids ended up riding this daunting ride. Neither Jen nor I did. It was really high.

Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth

High flying

We then went to Superman, the biggest, steepest, fastest roller coaster of the park. It starts with a huge climb followed by a 200 foot drop reaching speeds of 73 mph. The little girls couldn’t ride it, but everyone else could and did (even Jen). Molly said she wasn’t even scared to ride it (her attitude was really transformed by her success at The Joker’s Jinx). Superman was a favorite of many of us.

As if that wasn’t crazy enough, we then went on to Batwing, a coaster that lies you on your back at the start, then flips you over so your flying (held up by the shoulder straps) and zooming around. Again, the little girls couldn’t do it, but everyone else (even Jen and Molly) did it. However, Molly, Jen, and I were not a fan. It was just too much for us. Rather than screaming about how great the ride was, Molly was screaming “I don’t like this” over and over throughout the ride. I don’t think we’ll be riding this on future visits.

We then made our way back. Several of the kids rode Wonder Woman again as we went by it, though Molly did not as her head was hurting from Batwing.

We then stopped for dinner. Jason and Keira left to head home, but the rest of us enjoyed park food for our second meal of the day. We got a picture of us all beforehand.

Our crew

After dinner, Jen and I would have been happy to head home, but the others weren’t done yet. The kids hit the Flying Carousel again. Then they wanted bigger rides.

The boys wanted to go back to Superman, so they set out on their trek. The girls decided to ride Ragin Cajun again. The girls were going to ride by themselves, but were told they needed one tall person for every short one (Molly counted as a tall one). So, I ran to the front of the line to accompany them on this spinny mouse coaster.

Ragin Cajun

Since the boys weren’t back yet, the 3 girls and I then rode Wild One again (meaning we had ridden each of the wooden coasters 3 times). Then the girls rode the Zydeco Zinger a couple of times.

After their second ride on the Zydeco Zinger, they were confused as to why the ride was not allowing others onto it. We had to explain that it was after 8:00 and the park closed at 8:00. Yes, we arrived when the park opened and stayed till it closed.

We then headed toward our car (stopping at the gift shop to pick up Wonder Woman souvenirs) and completed a long day of fun.

Thanks so much to everyone else for bringing us along. It was so much more fun having friends there, especially friends that we’ve had for so long.

Goodbye Aruba

Posted in Celebrations, Trip on August 19th, 2017 by c-had – Be the first to comment

Eventually, our trip to Aruba had to come to an end. It was a great trip, and it was great to get away together. I don’t think it was our favorite island destination we’ve been to (that would probably go to our Puerto Rico trip or the Bahamas), but it was a great place. And, if you’re the sort that likes to just sit on the beach for a long time, Aruba’s beaches are awesome. Sadly, that’s not us.

I think this will be our last trip to an island for a while. Jen’s motion sickness keeps getting worse, so water activities are becoming bad choices as evidenced by this trip. So, maybe next time we’ll have to check out the Grand Canyon or New England or something.

I can’t end this on a negative note. We had a great trip to Aruba, and got to spend an entire week just the two of us. Thanks again to Grams for keeping the girls so we could do this.

Sun and aloe

Posted in Celebrations, Trip on August 18th, 2017 by c-had – Be the first to comment

We tend to focus more on active things than chilling on the beach, but we did spend a little bit of time on the beach in front of our resort. We also discovered that by staying in the area that caters more to Europeans, you get the occasional (to our right and our left) topless sunbather (not pictured).

Beach time

Most of Aruba is dedicated to the tourism industry, but they do have at least one product that they are known for exporting. Given that they get so much sun, that product is a logical choice - aloe. We went to the Aruba Aloe factory and got the tour. Here our guide shows us the inside of the aloe plant right next to rows of aloe on the aloe farm.

Aruba Aloe

Aloe farm

Aruba Aloe farm

We also got to tour the factory, though it wasn’t fully operating since it was the weekend.

Aruba Aloe factory

Aruba Aloe factory

They make lotions, creams, soaps, and more. And we managed to make it out of the place having only bought a couple of things, which I call a win.

Eating around Aruba

Posted in Celebrations, Trip on August 17th, 2017 by c-had – 1 Comment

We try not to eat out all the time when on vacation. Thankfully, with a kitchenette in our hotel room and a grocery store within walking distance, we managed to avoid restaurants for a couple meals a day. That said, we still ate out several times and had some excellent meals.

The night we arrived, we went to Yemanja Woodfired Grill in Oranjestad. It’s a nice restaurant with good food. It was a bit of a pain to get to since there were cruise ships in port creating a lot of traffic, but that was thankfully the only day cruise ships were in port during our trip. Not cheap, but nothing in Aruba seems to be cheap. I had the BBQ mahi-mahi and Jen had the grilled swordfish. Jen’s favorite part of the meal was the pesto risotto. This turned out to be our only meal we ate indoors - most restaurants had outdoor seating given the always perfect weather. We failed to get a picture at dinner (sorry).

A couple days later after our busted eco-tour, we decided to find some dinner near the hotel. Our concierge recommended we try Tulip, a restaurant offering traditional Aruban food down the street that seemed to be somehow associated with our hotel. We arrived and found the place deserted (we were actually the only patrons for part of our meal). I had the Keshi Yena, a traditional Aruban casserole with pulled chicken in tomato sauce with raisins and green olives, gratinated with Gouda cheese. It was different, but good. Jen had grouper, and learned that she’s not the biggest fan of grouper. We failed to get a picture at dinner again (sorry again).

Saturday for lunch we decided to skip the PB&J and try something different. There was a fish monger next to the grocery store called Daily Fish. In addition to buying fish to cook yourself, they would fry the seafood for you. It was much more reasonably priced than the other restaurants (around $10 per person), so we thought we’d try it. I had fried cod and Jen had the calamari, both with potato wedges and coleslaw. We also tried a coconut soda there for the first time, which Jen liked so much she started searching Amazon to see if she could get it in the states. The lunch certainly wasn’t fancy, but it was good and inexpensive, which was perfect for us.

Daily Fish

Saturday night we went to Madame Janette, a restaurant known for great food, and it did not disappoint. What’s in front of me may look like a potato, but it’s actually their Cordon Bleu Schnitzel. They took ham and dutch gouda, then wrapped it in their famous schnitzel. It was delicious, as was Jen’s gnocchi fungi e tartufi.

Madame Janette's

Despite being very full from an excellent meal, we still ordered dessert. It was delicious.

Dessert

We knew we had to try Dutch Pancakes at some point on our trip. So, on Sunday we ventured into Oranjestad again to wander around and get lunch at the Dutch Pancake House. I had a Dutch pancake (it covers the whole plate, thinner than American pancakes but thicker than a crepe) with fruit and whipped cream. Jen had poffertjes (kind of like silver dollar pancakes but puffier). They were delicious, as was the fresh squeezed orange juice.

Dutch Pancake House

Monday, we had reservations at The Flying Fishbone for a fancy dinner. However, we had just been on a long excursion (and eaten a late lunch). We also discovered that we were going to have a 40 minute cab ride to get to the restaurant. Neither of us was up for that. So, we cancelled and ate at our hotel’s Passions on the Beach. It’s a restaurant that is set up daily on the beach.

Final dinner date

Here’s a view of the restaurant. Every afternoon at 4:30 they clear this area of all beach-goers and set up tables for dinner. The kitchen is a permanent building behind the tables.

Passions on the Beach

We sat down just before sunset, and got to watch the sun set on the beach as we waited for our food to arrive. It got a bit dark while we were actually eating, but it was still very nice. I had the grouper with scallops and shrimp, and Jen had the Mediterranean shrimp. It was good, though not great. It was also quite expensive, but at least we saved the money from that long cab ride.

Our table

Overall, we ate really well. Just be prepared to spend a lot on food if you’re planning a trip to Aruba.

Finally, a complete eco-tour

Posted in Celebrations, Trip on August 16th, 2017 by c-had – Be the first to comment

After the failure that was our first excursion into Aruba’s natural wonders, we debated about what to do. We’d been looking forward to that tour more than anything, and we felt like we were cheated out of the experience we wanted. We didn’t really want to spend more money on another tour (we’d already spent enough money on this vacation), but we really wanted to see more of the undeveloped part of Aruba. So, we eventually decided to book another one with a more reputable company (thanks to Courtney for recommending them). They had jeeps that actually worked (and were surprisingly comfortable, though Jen did have to hold the door closed up front since it didn’t latch). And we were glad to have the jeeps, since the terrain was pretty rough.

Jeep tour number 2

We drove the jeeps up a hill to see the view of the coastline.

View from on high

Our tour took us back the the Natural Bridge. It was pretty much the same as our first visit there.

Back at the Natural Bridge

We then went to another place nearby to explore a cave at the coast. Here’s Jen climbing down.

Cave exploring

We walked along some rocks toward our cave destination.

On a rock

Eventually, we came upon a cave with a pool of water, protected from the ocean by some rocks. Our guide Eduardo (next to me) told us to jump in. Many thought he was joking (it was about 10 feet down), but Jen and I were ready to go. Here I go.

Jump

Mid-air

Falling

Splash down

Then it was Jen’s turn to jump. She went for the cannonball approach.

Jen ready to jump

Cannonball

It was a very nice pool in a cave. We explored it for a while before climbing out to continue our tour.

In a cave

We then went to the Bushiribana Gold Mill Ruins, where the Dutch used to process the gold before shipping it back to The Netherlands.

Gold mill

Gold mill ruins

Gold mill inside

We saw the Ayo Rock Formation, but did not go up to it. It gets really hot in the middle of the day as it is made of volcanic rock (like much of Aruba).

Ayo Rock Formation

We also visited Fontein Cave in Arikok National Park, which was inland a bit.

Fontein Cave

Fontein Cave contained lots of cave drawings from the Arawak Indians.

Cave drawings

This is what you look like in a dark cave when someone takes your picture with a flashlight.

In headlights

We then drove on to Baby Beach again, which was actually supposed to be part of this tour (unlike our previous one). While most of Baby Beach was very shallow, a small part of it was deep enough to snorkel (snorkel gear was provided on this tour). Jen tried snorkeling again at Baby Beach, and didn’t get seasick. Hurray!

Snorkeling

There were lots of fish there. Some of them were quite large.

Big fish

Black fish

A fish

This visit to Baby Beach was much more enjoyable than the first.

Baby Beach selfie

We then dried off and headed back to the ABC Tours facility where they provided lunch. They have a little restaurant on site which served the lunch that was included in the tour. It was quite good.

The tour was great. I’d highly recommend ABC Tours to anyone. We wish we’d decided to go with them originally. Our guides were great, the sites were good, the lunch was good, and most importantly, the jeep never broke down.

Our jeep

Sunset kayaking

Posted in Celebrations, Trip on August 15th, 2017 by c-had – Be the first to comment

After Jen getting seasick on our sailing adventure and having a busted eco-tour, we were excited to try a different excursion. This time, we went for a night kayak tour. We’ve done kayaking on previous trips and really enjoyed it. We were excited to do it in Aruba. Jen was a little worried about being on the sea again, but she took two Bonine and thought she’d be fine.

The tour was supposed to have other people, but they cancelled at the last minute. So, it was just us and our guides. We had a clear bottom kayak to see the marine life under the boat. Jen’s smiling at the beginning of the adventure.

Kayaking

We got started as the sun went down so we could see the sunset from the ocean.

Kayaking

Sunset from a kayak

Sunset behind Jen

Sunset

Kayaking

Our clear bottom kayak was equipped with underwater lights so we can see the fish after the sun goes down.

Lights

We didn’t see any larger or more colorful fish under the lights (like those we’d seen snorkeling a couple days before). I guess they had all gone to bed. We did see some little fish, though.

Little fish

Sadly, this was where things went wrong. Despite taking two Bonine, Jen got seasick. Our guide asked if everything was OK, and she told him the situation. So, we stopped paddling around and just headed straight back to the beach.

Once we got there, we sat in the parking lot while Jen recovered and our guides packed up the boats. We could see the lighthouse well from there.

Lighthouse

They gave us some fruit, iced tea, and water as post-paddling refreshment. After 20 minutes or so, the stuff was packed and Jen was feeling up to driving back to our hotel.

Our guides were great. I’d definitely recommend a kayak tour with Clear Kayak Aruba, though I’d probably choose one of their day tours in a different area to see more life under the water. That of course assumes that you don’t have major problems with motion sickness. For us, I think this’ll be our last kayak tour. I don’t think our next anniversary trip will involve any boats.

Exploring Aruba’s natural beauty

Posted in Celebrations on August 14th, 2017 by c-had – Be the first to comment

In previous trips, really enjoyed going on eco-tours, where you get to see some of the natural beauty. There are a bunch of them (often called jeep tours) in Aruba, which will show you some of the undeveloped parts of Aruba. Many of these are run by the larger tourist companies, but we decided to go with a local woman who was recommended to us - Madi. She seemed to provide a much more personal, local experience than the big companies, though reviews said that her trips were occasionally unreliable. We decided to risk it. After some difficult communication, we managed to book the tour.

We almost got a private tour, but she managed to find another group (two moms and three kids) to join us. She and her husband picked all of us up in a van that we drove to the entrance to Arikok National Park. That other group did have a special request - to be dropped off at Baby Beach instead of their hotel, which Madi agreed to. She told us it would be out of the way, but she’d take us to a couple extra places after dropping them off.

At the natonal park

We then switched into her jeep to drive into the park and to the Natural Pool. Well, that was the plan at least.

Broken down jeep

Yes, the jeep was in very poor condition, and refused to work. It struggled to start, took us a few feet, then died. We waited in it as they tried to fix it. Eventually, our guide told us the Natural Pool was actually closed for swimming (she’d just found out), so she’d take us to a different, less known, natural pool. Given the non-working jeep, this seemed like a good course of action.

The van that brought us there had left, but thankfully it came back to pick us back up. Then we went back the way we had come. Much of this was on the road (we did not go off-road into the national park), but we did eventually go off-road. This van was not made for going off-road, and Jen’s back ended up sore for days.

Rescue ride

We then went to the Natural Bridge. It was a very cool place, though sadly not as cool as it used to be. It collapsed in 2005, but it’s still a lovely area. A lot of people just stand on the rocks by the parking lot, but Jen and I were more adventurous. First, we climbed down to the sand behind the bridge.

Natural Bridge

Waves

Then we climbed up the rocks on the far side of the fallen bridge.

Climbed up

Here’s the bridge from the far side. You can also see a picture of what it used to look like before falling down on the side of the building.

Natural Bridge

Natural Bridge selfie

On the other side of the Natural Bridge was a place that the waves crashed to create a mist called a Blow Hole by our guide.

Blow hole

At this point, despite the vehicle difficulties, we were in a positive mood about this tour. Our guide kept telling us how great the hidden spots would be, especially including this unknown natural pool. As we drove away from the Natural Bridge, we stopped briefly at a small inlet where the waves crashed in that had a rock that looked like a fish face.

Sadly, that was basically the end of the tour. We drove and drove for about an hour, gradually starting to wonder where these great places were. Then we arrived at Baby Beach to drop off the other folks. There was a lot of arguing (mostly in Papiamento, the native language, which the other guests spoke). I never fully understood why we didn’t visit any of the other places we were supposed to. Danger was mentioned at some point, and a lot of discussion about how Baby Beach was too far away and we never should have come that far. I asked about the extra things after dropping off the others she’d told us about, but she said that it was too late and this would be the last stop of the tour.

We ended up spending a little time at Baby Beach, since we were already there. It’s a very nice beach at the end of the island that is protected by a reef. The water’s only a couple feet deep most places, and incredibly clear.

Baby Beach

Baby Beach selfie

Then, we had a 45 minute drive back to our hotel. On the drive back, Madi sat in the back facing me like a tour guide for a little while (though there was not enough room for this, which made it very awkward) trying to make us feel better about the tour. When it became evident that this wasn’t working, she moved to the back row, lay down, and went to sleep.

Sadly, I cannot recommend anyone take her tour. Perhaps you’d have better luck with her, and perhaps you’d enjoy her cooky nature more than we did, but I think there are much better options out there.

Oh, and if you’re keeping track, this is now one sailing excursion where Jen got seasick, and one completely busted jeep tour. Will our record improve? You’ll have to wait to find out.

Sailing the Black Pearl

Posted in Celebrations on August 13th, 2017 by c-had – Be the first to comment

Our first big excursion in Aruba was a sailboat cruise. We did this in the Bahamas and it was great, so we found one that sounded similar in Aruba. This time we chose to try a sunset cruise instead of one in the day time. There were lots of sailing excursions in Aruba, but most were party boats. We looked for something more calm and relaxing, and found the Black Pearl.

Black Pearl

Yes, it looks a bit like a pirate ship, but note the blue cushioned lounge seats. This was sailing in comfort.

We stopped twice to snorkel on our sailing adventure. Jen enjoyed it for a bit…

Snorkeling

Fish

Fish

Fish

Sadly, Jen’s enjoyment didn’t last. She had taken a Dramamine before the trip, but she still got seasick while snorkeling. Our hosts kindly gave her a couple Bonine to help. Then, at our second stop, we skipped out on some of the snorkeling and swam over to a beach in front of a giant expensive house to sit on solid ground for a while. It was very helpful, and was a beautiful spot to sit as well.

Solid ground

Sun getting low

The stop helped Jen a lot. As did the food when we got back on the boat. They gave us cheese sandwiches, and then grilled cheese sandwiches as well. These were made with Dutch Gouda (widely found throughout Aruba due to their relationship with The Netherlands), and were quite yummy. After the rest and food, it wasn’t long before Jen was smiling again.

We're on a boat

The ride back afforded lots of beautiful views of the sunset.

Sunset approaches

Sunset

Sunset

Aruba sunset

And one more pic after we were back on dry land.

Sunset

The cruise was excellent. We didn’t go as far away as our Bahamian cruise (our Aruban cruise just went up the coast a bit), but it was still fun. Even Jen said she enjoyed it, despite her seasickness. I’d highly recommend sailing on the Black Pearl if you’re going to be in Aruba. And they even make a video of the experience!

Aruba

Posted in Celebrations on August 12th, 2017 by c-had – Be the first to comment

For our 15th anniversary, Jen and I wanted to take a big trip somewhere. Our previous trips have included Jamaica, Bermuda, and the Bahamas. Given then infinite wisdom of the Beach Boys, we knew we had to complete the first verse of the song Kokomo. So, we booked our trip for Aruba.

I love ARUBA

This was a trip for just the two of us for an entire week. The girls stayed with Grams (thanks Grams!) and had a great time. The girls actually said they wished we’d stayed for longer, as Grams spoils them more than we do :)

We stayed at the Amsterdam Manor resort on Eagle Beach. The big high-rise American hotels are mostly on Palm Beach, while Eagle Beach has much fewer people, making it much quieter.

Amsterdam Manor

We arrived at our hotel before check in time, so we hung out on the beach in front of the hotel until we could get in. It’s a very nice beach, and despite being much less crowded than Palm Beach, still had plenty of vendors offering jet skis, tube rides, and parasailing.

Waiting to check in

Our hotel room had a kitchenette and was within walking distance of a grocery store, meaning we didn’t have to eat out every meal. This was nice, since eating out is very expensive in Aruba. So, we usually had cereal for breakfast and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, knocking out two of our daily meals. We then ate out for the third meal.

We ended up going all over the island. To do so, we took a lot of taxis. We also took the bus a couple of times, when the location we were headed to was on a bus line. In the end, we saved money by not renting a car, but we still spent a lot on transportation. Some people may not need this as much if they just stay at the hotel, but that’s not really our style.

As you can probably guess, we did a lot of stuff while in Aruba. I’ll post about all the things we went and did in the coming days.