Sunday, June 20, 2010

Aruba and a Wedding!


For years, I have been waiting and dreaming about the day that my favorite female (also my only female!) cousin who is like a sister to me, Maria, takes that leap and walks down the aisle to marry Fred, the love of her life.  As a bonus, they were planning a destination wedding!  I sure was excited when almost 2 two years ago they announced that they were considering having it in the Caribbean.  One of their favorite vacation sites soon became the choice.  Aruba, here we come! 

Wedn May 26, 2010
We left the house midday and made the trek to Chicago for the night. Staying at a hotel where we could leave the car for the week, a hot breakfast before the long flight plus a shuttle ride to our terminal at O’Hare sounded like a pretty good deal, which turned out to be a perfect plan. The Quality Inn in Elk Grove Village was immaculate and so comfortable, even the gym was fun! After settling in, we put the new GPS unit to good use and found the McDonald’s Museum which was...closed! Oh well, the next stop was Steak and Shake which if anyone knows us, they know that burgers and thick shakes are right up our alley. Since we don’t have one within 200 miles of our home, it’s quite a treat.


Thurs May 27
After enjoying a leisurely breakfast, compliments of the hotel, we took their shuttle to O’Hare a couple hours earlier than needed, giving us plenty of time to check in with American Airlines, get through security and wander around the shops. Unfortunately, our flight wasn’t until 2 pm but there were no delays the entire trip. We got into Miami under cloudy skies at 6pm Eastern Standard Time and were on the plane heading to Aruba by 7. When we arrived in Aruba at 9:50 pm, it was dark so we weren’t able to enjoy the view. The airport is rather small and practically deserted at that time of night. There were no cabs at the taxi stand for the first few minutes. When they did arrive, some were questionable -looking at best. On one, the driver literally pulled up, jumped out, slapped the sign on the roof and hollered “Who next?” When a very new looking SUV arrived, I didn’t waste any time and stepped right out. No one was organizing anything anyhow. As the driver sped us down their “highway” towards the high-rise area as they call it on the island, he gave us a little information. It had rained the past 2 days which was extremely rare for Aruba and was now very humid with no wind. He explained that they generally have a nice trade wind that keeps things comfortable. Over the next few days, we learned just how hot it can get on a Caribbean island when the trade winds disappear. They were having a dry, hotter-than-usual season.


The currency in Aruba is called the Florin with an exchange rate of approximately .55 on the dollar so although prices on many things looked high, once you figured the exchange, it wasn’t too bad. They are on Atlantic Standard Time which is the same as Eastern Standard Time in the US when the clocks are turned forward for Daylight Savings Time as they were when we visited. All businesses take dollars and speak English. Their language is called Papiamento. Since it’s a part of the Netherlands, Dutch is also spoken freely. In addition to those 3 languages, most Arubans also know Spanish and can easily switch between the languages. Bon Bini...welcome! Aruba is part of what’s called the Netherland Antilles or ABC (Aruba, Bonaire, Caracao).We have no working cellphone nor did we bring a laptop. The island is only about 19 miles long and 6 miles wide. It is the most returned-to island in the Caribbean. 90% of return visitors are from the US, but there seems to be a large Dutch population year-round. We are 15 miles north of Venezuela and only about 900 miles north of the equator so the sun is way more intense than our skin is used to. We are about 3000 miles from home. The prominent tree on the island is the Divi which they say points to the high rise hotel area so you always know where to go. Sure enough! I could see the shadows of the trees on our way to the hotel and the twisted, gnarled Divi’s were pointing northwest.


The Holiday Inn Sunspree’s lobby is an open-air style, no doors and the windows are just wooden slats to let in the breeze and there were no bugs. There is a bar in the lobby and the bartender made a batch of fruity drinks which he gave to the guests that were in line to check-in. It was a nice little greeting! Our room on the 5th floor of Bonaire Tower, 6507, was very roomy with a large balcony that partially overlooked the front drive, the garden area, and had a clear view of Eagle Beach. We could also see down the main boulevard. I was very comfortable in the room and found it pleasantly quiet. The down comforters were amazing! There are three towers and Bonaire is in the middle. The Aruba Tower is on the other side of the lobby and Curacao Tower is located at the far northern edge of the hotel.


We hadn’t eaten much since the airport in Chicago. Most of the restaurants stopped serving before 11 and it was past that time so after a quick run down the beach to stick our feet in the ocean, the only thing we found was a McDonald’s a few blocks away. We’ve learned from experience that all McDonald’s offer something unique. In Aruba, it is mayonnaise! They serve large packet of mayonnaise with every order of fries. Also, the menu was very simple with about half the offerings on a McD’s on the US but they did have KitKat McFlurries which are not offered here. On our little walk to and from the restaurant, we noticed that the cars are extremely small. A Toyota Corolla is pretty much a full-size vehicle here. They have cars not sold in the US like the Chevrolet Spark and Hyundai Getz. They aren’t much bigger than a Smart Car. The roads are very narrow and people literally park wherever they want....sidewalks, sides of highway, ditches, etc.


Fri May 28
We woke to a bright, beautiful day. The azure water is so beautiful against the white sand. I tried to take a picture from the balcony but the camera lense immediately fogged up and needed about 5 minutes to clear. Rachael came to see us and offered to show us her hotel and catch up with Maria for a few minutes before they went to a salon appointment so we walked the walkway that runs along the hotels on the ocean side to the Occidental Grand which was 4 hotels away. It was so crazy-hot at 9 am. Their lobby was absolutely beautiful. We just visited for a short time before the girls’ left for Maria’s pre-wedding hair appointment. Stopped at Dunkin Donuts on the way back so I could experience my first cup of Dunkin coffee which is supposed to be the best tasting coffee. It was pretty good in the iced version with a guava cream filled donut. We quickly learned that food is not cheap here.


The next order was to find a wide-brimmed straw hat for Amanda. Since there were shops along the path between the hotels and the ocean, we went back to that area and found lots of interesting hats. Walking back to the hotel with our feet in the water, we literally ran into Jerry, Megan and Haley. It was great to finally get to meet his girls!  They were having a blast playing on the beach and in the warm water. We continued wandering the beach until we found the area where we were going to meet the group in a few hours for our snorkel cruise. After that, the cool air conditioning in our room felt like heaven.


We went down to the beach to meet up with everyone for our afternoon’s activities a little early and found ourselves in the midst of a Soul Party at MooMba beach. There were 3 bars on the beach, a dance floor and lots of people in bathing suits grooving to the music. Got my first strawberry Daiquiri of the trip. An annual 4-day music festival that brings in international musicians called “Soul Beach” was being held on the other side of the island that weekend.


There were 20 members of the Carpenter/LaCourt wedding party that were able to make it for the Jolly Pirate Snorkel Cruise on Friday afternoon so we set sail on a replica of a Pirate’s in the Caribbean type boat with about 20 other guests and 4 crew members for a 3 hour trip. My cousin Maria and her fiancé Fred, Zachary and Rachael (Maria’s grown children), Katie and Maggie (Fred’s grown daughters), Nick (Fred’s 14 year-old son), my brother Matt and his girlfriend, Ali, my cousin (Maria’s brother) Jerry and his two school-age daughters, Megan and Haley, Judy (Fred’s office manager) and her husband, Tex, Louie (Fred’s friend) and his wife, Kathy, Amanda and myself were all able to make it. My sister Paula and her husband, Brian, will arrive later tonight.


We took a small boat from the dock out to the ship and were given flippers, goggles, snorkel breathing tube and a life jacket on board. Open Bar was part of the package and included a very tasty Pirate’s Punch. Maria ripped open her knee playing volleyball earlier in the day so one of the crew took it upon himself to make sure she got the proper medical treatment on the boat which consisted of pouring a bunch of local Palmyra Rum onto her knee....and she just thought they were going to give her a drink! The knee continued to ooze and sting with all the jumping in and out of the ocean throughout the week, but I’m happy to say that it is now healing nicely.


It was a short ride out to the first snorkel site, the German shipwreck Antilles. Due to the strong current and number of people out there, Amanda and I decided to stay in the boat and take pictures of our party as they snorkeled. The water is amazingly clear and warm. The next site was in a shallower cove so we jumped in and experienced a great view of fish, coral, anemones, rock and plants. Our gear was very nice which made it quite easy to have an enjoyable time. They were feeding dry ramen noodles to the fish, causing quite a large group to come around. We then tackled the rope swing! I took a lot of pictures and a video of the antics. Some guests were getting pretty creative with their launches into the water by doing somersaults, cannonballs and belly flops. The crew had some of the girls get on their backs and hang onto them as they did flips in the air. Drinks were flowing freely and Top 40 music was playing loudly as well. The drinking and gambling age in Aruba is 18. I’d say we all had a great time, and it was so nice to spend such a relaxing afternoon with loved ones.

We got back to shore at 6 pm, right on schedule, then walked back to our room to shower, go to dinner and meet up with Maria, Ali, Megan and Haley later to relax and celebrate her last night of singlehood while the guys go out for a little bachelor party. Something seemed odd when we got to the room, and it only took a few minutes to realize that the power was out, not just in our room but around the entire island. We found out later that there had been a fire at the power plant. The clock on the tower at The Paseo Herencia across from our hotel was stuck at 5:55. Not knowing what to do or if there would be enough water for showers, we changed clothes then wandered into the streets with hundreds of other tourists to look for a place for dinner. Few places were open, but were fortunate enough to see Matt and Ali in their car so we rode around with them awhile, then parked and started walking on the beach path, hoping for one of the restaurants on the water to be open. We came across Gilligan’s Beach Grill that was running on generators and wasn’t very busy. It was built on a patio on the beach, no walls and lots of ceiling fans with soft lighting. Matt and I tried a Balashi Beer which is Aruba’s own brew that has won international awards. It’s a pilsner very similar to a Miller Beer. It seems that most meals are served with a small side of vegetables or salad-type greens as part of their entrees. Portions are smaller than back home (a good thing) and everything seems very fresh and grilled or baked. Very little deep-frying in done.


As we were leaving the restaurant at 9 pm, the lights started coming back on. We walked over to a gelato shop for dessert. They had about 50 flavors of the dessert and the line of people there every night was a testament to the tastiness of the gelato being served. Ice cream, sorbet and gelato are a very popular dessert in Aruba. We were served it every night in some form. Most of the prix fixe meals included an ice cream treat.


The guys had gone over to Hooters shortly before we got to Maria’s hotel. She was already in her room with Megan and Haley after sitting in the lobby in the dark with Judy and Kathy for awhile while waiting to see if we would make it. We all got to chatting and pretty soon it was past 11 and Jerry was back to get his girls so they could go get some sleep. Amanda and I walked back to the Holiday Inn. It was still very warm outside. There are people out since the bars were hopping and most shops are opened until 11 or so. It feels pretty safe here.

Sat May 29
Paula and Brian came to our room just as we were getting up, around 8 am, so they enjoyed the view from our balcony as we got ready and slathered on the sunscreen. The 4 of us went to “Salt and Pepper” for breakfast. It is a tapas bar at night with indoor and outdoor seating. We immediately chose indoor seating! The place is called “Salt and Pepper” because the walls are lined with hundreds of salt and pepper shakers donated by tourists from all over the world. I got an omelet filled with gouda, a native Dutch cheese. Service is fast but we’ve noticed that they don’t bring the bill until you ask for it. Must be from that European habit of lingering over meals. No one is in any sort of rush.


We all stopped at a little grocery store in the area for some supplies which sounds like a simple task but was actually kind of difficult since everything seemed to be written in other languages, was an Asian ingredient or just didn’t look appetizing. Still, we were able to stock up on some different juices, cookies and cracker-type foods to snack on in the room. I bought a bag of plantains which was like large bananas that had been cut lengthwise and dried then packaged in an unmarked Ziploc bag. They were neither salty nor sweet but did taste very fresh and not something you’d find here. I’m sure there were no preservatives on them! We also tried these things that were called dried Asian plums or something. They were the size of cherries after being dried but had a large pit in the middle so there wasn’t much fruit. There was a powdery coating that tasted like a mix of salt, sugar and flour but overall, they were terrible! Must be an acquired taste!


There are a number of little shops in our hotel that we looked around in and found some great souvenir ideas for later. We took a walk on the beach and explored our resort a little more. It has a few restaurants, some bars, a casino, hot tub, adult pool and family pool. The Adult pool is very nice, with a raised patio area filled with beach chairs so you can lay on them but still be partially submerged. It also contains a large fountain to swim under with a bench located in the middle. They have water aerobics and bingo every afternoon. Towel service and beach chair use is free. The towels are huge and fluffy, and the chairs are really comfortable.


I promised Maria that I would come to her hotel by 4 pm to take some pictures as the girls got ready so Amanda and I put on our nice dresses and walked over to the Occidental in time to have a glass of champagne with the girls and get some great photos of Maria in her wedding dress. My gift to the couple is a book and video I’m making. She gave us a swag bag filled with Belgian Chocolates, flip flops, a beach towel, Aruba Aloe, Aruba Aloe lip balm (the island is home to a company that grows and sells excellent aloe products) and a bottle of Ponche Aruba (a creamy rum-based drink) all in a great bag from American Eagle. The chocolates didn’t last long....they went great with champagne. We then went downstairs to meet up with the rest of the party and all took a DePalms Coach bus to the Tierra Del Sol Country Club Resort for the ceremony. Maria, Rachael, Katie and Maggie followed in another car so that Fred did not see her dress before the wedding.


The site was absolutely beautiful; decorated in white and pink, overlooking the golf course with the beach in the background, along with the California Lighthouse. The sun set during the time spent out there. Because it had been so unseasonably warm, they closed the restaurant, Ventanas Del Mar, to the public and served us indoors. There were little silver lanterns marking the aisle, and seats are covered with white silk tied with a pink bow. The bouquets are filled with stargazer lilies, calla lilies and pink roses. Maria wore a breath-taking strapless mermaid style, champagne colored dress with gold and pink rose embroidery. Fred had on a cream-colored tuxedo jacket with black pants. The boys wore dark colored suits and green ties. Rachael wore a one-shoulder black satin dress and Fred’s girls more strapless dresses that were cream colored on top with a green shirt and black belt. There ceremony lasted about 20 minutes and included many traditional elements. I doubt there was a dry eye in the house! It was so relaxing and beautiful. After the professional photographer took group pictures, guests were taken into the lounge and treated to a great champagne, cheese and fruit reception while a musician played guitar.


While everyone was enjoying the party, a reporter came in from the island’s newspaper, interviewed them and took pictures for a lifestyle article they ran that week. It’s a really nice article even if it is written in Papiamento and the large picture of Amanda that they ran is adorable! Best Man Nick then gave a speech welcoming the Carpenters into their family. Maid-of-Honor Rachael followed with a speech and led it into a surprise dance for Fred and Maria in which I was able to tape. All 5 of the kids danced to Beat It in a choreographed number they had created reminiscent of when they were little kids and would make up dances for them. Paula gave them a book she had handmade to match the wedding colors and could be used as a scrapbook, photo album or guest book.


For dinner, the choices were red snapper with shrimp and whipped potatoes or tenderloin with truffle sauce and red potatoes. Both were excellent and were served with vegetables, rolls and a large salad complete with large chunks of feta. Dessert consisted of warm chocolate cakes and Grand Marnier sauce with vanilla ice cream...the best dessert we had the entire trip in my opinion! The bar even managed to look up the recipe for an Old-Fashioned and made me one of the best ones I’ve ever had. Kind of funny since an Old-Fashioned is pretty much a Wisconsin drink.


We took the coach back to the Occidental where the wedding couple and kids retired for the night after a very long day. Matt, Ali, Paula, Brian, Amanda and myself headed over to “Salt and Pepper” for Sangria. We ordered a pitcher of red and a pitcher of white Sangria which tasted great. The place must close at midnight or 1 but they were in no hurry to kick us out.

Sun May 30
Wondering what the island looked like away from the resort area and a curiosity to see how the residents really lived in Aruba, we rented a car for the day to find out. Well, it wasn’t really a car, more of a large, bright yellow roller skate. This Hyundai Getz was so small that while sitting in the driver’s seat, I could easily touch both the driver’s side and passenger’s side windows at the same time. We learned a lot about Aruba on this day. First, it is HOT. Second, the highway system is almost non-existent. Third, street signs don’t really exist so apparently people go by landmarks, although there are few of those as well. Finally, when they close their “highway” they don’t exactly direct you to a detour. You just kind of find your way around. Everything is in the metric system which is also a challenge to us Americans. Good thing I knew that a speed limit of “80” didn’t mean 80 mph although I highly doubt you’d want to go that fast on these broken-down roads.


We did not have much luck finding the sites that we’d set out to see, but we were able to get a great video while driving along which shows how small and simple their cities, stores and homes are. Entire homes are not much larger than my kitchen and living room combined. Businesses (aside from restaurants) are closed on Sundays except grocery stores which are open from 9am – 1pm. Arubans tend to work Mondays through Saturdays, 8 hour shifts every day so they really do rest on Sundays. There are no sidewalks and some roads are nothing more than packed gravel. Very few people have lawns.


We headed south towards Colorado Point but Highway 1B suddenly was barricaded near the airport so we headed north to Santa Cruz, then caught another highway which was mismarked on our map, but it got us back towards the coastline, passing through the sleep town of Savaneta and San Nicholas. We did pass the water treatment plant which is said to create some of the best desalinized water in the world. I would agree. The only thing strange about the water is that it’s never cold. Even in the hotel, it comes out of the tap lukewarm. In the shower, the water barely heats up so maybe it’s a good thing that it’s naturally warm. Apparently the pipes are buried at a very shallow level all over the country. We also passed the Valero Oil Refinery. Oil was discovered here many years ago so the refinery has been used, then closed a number of times throughout the decades. It was closed last year. Colorado Point was actually very beautiful, regardless of how hot and dry the day was. The area covered in dark, sharp, volcanic rock. Cactus grew freely and lizards were prevalent. The views of the water when looking over the ledges was breathtaking. We must have been about 50-75 feet up and could see fishing boats in the ocean and windmills on the hills to the east. If the day hadn’t been slightly hazy, we may have been able to see Venezuela. Bachelor’s Beach was located to the left.


After wandering down the hills from the point, we came across a large herd of wild goats. There are burrows as well but we did not see them. The goats are not scared of cars and just continue wandering across roads, eating what looked like dead foliage. We saw some rock climbing cliffs near the southern end of Arikok National Park and there were fishermen’s huts set up along the beach near the sand dunes of Boca Grande Beach.


The drive to the other point of the island literally took about a half hour, but we stopped along the way. Oranjestad is the capital city of Aruba and with a country of only about 90,000 people, it’s hardly a metropolis. The port area and main shopping area is filled with little restaurants, clubs, boutiques and the Crystal Casino. I did give Amanda a quick lesson in gambling at the casino and “donated” a few bucks to their economy. Locals set up stands to sell their souvenirs to the visitors that come from the cruise ships. Since it was a Sunday and no ships were in port, there were only a few vendors out. We did find some great woodcarvings to bring home. Then it was on to Eagle Beach, one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. It’s very similar to Palm Beach where the Holiday Inn in located, but the beach is wider (thanks to the hurricane of 2004) and it’s less populated due to the fact that this is called the “Low-rise” resort area of the island so the hotels are much, much smaller and located on the other side of the road. These beaches have the softest, whitest sand I have ever felt. It is like powder.


The California Lighthouse is at the other tip of the island. It isn’t open but you could drive up to it and take some great pictures, get a snack of Hawaiian Shave Ice or coconut milk right from the coconut which the vendor will prepare right there with a machete. Arashi Beach is just below the lighthouse and Malmok Beach is next to it. Malmok is known as being a beach that locals go to in order to windsurf. It was too calm that day for much. I found it very relaxing to just sit and relax here, even if it is slightly rocky.


We ran back to the room and changed into some nicer clothes for a night out. First, we took a few of our elves to Eagle Beach for a “photo shoot and got some pictures of each other walking the beach, watching the sunset and just having fun. Back in Oranjestad, we decided on eating at Iguana Joe’s due to the fact that they seemed to have a lively crowd which could only mean one thing...good food at a decent price. The restaurant was located on a second floor, open-air terrace on a busy corner of the city. Amanda got their famous ribs and I ordered a native Aruban dish that was a sort of shredded chicken, cooked with spices and topped with a generous amount of Gouda cheese. The spice was hard to explain but tasted slightly hot but also sweet with a vague touch of cinnamon. There were raisins and onions cooked into it. I chose black beans and rice as my side dish since that seemed to be the tradition there. For dessert, we shared Fried Oreos. They were deep-fried cookies that tasted like a donut with a chocolate treat in the middle. It was topped with ice cream, fudge, whipped cream and a cherry!


Our night ended with a quick session in the Excelsior Casino inside our hotel. Yes, the same place where Joran VanDerSloot met Natalie Holloway 5 years ago to the day! We did not realize that at the time. Amanda enjoyed playing the penny slot machines for the first time and I was even able to walk away with about $10 in winnings. The casinos here are extremely small by Vegas standards but they are quiet and clean with decent service. There was a lounge singer and band playing near the bar area and I noticed lots of security.

Mon May 31
On this morning, we walked the entire length of the high-rise hotel area, all the way to Paula’s resort and back. An iguana greeted us by our hotels’ outdoor bar which happened to be called The Iguana Bar. We noticed they had the large chess pieces out so you could play the game. There is a very friendly cat that wanders the grounds. On our walk, I took many pictures of Eagle beach, the resorts and the plants and landscaping that each hotel had. There was a rocky breakwater signaling the end of Eagle Beach so we walked out onto the rocks and found a skink running by. By this point, it was only 11 am and already so hot it was hard to stand in the sun very long. The rest of the day was spent lying on the beach chairs, going into the ocean to cool off, then doing it all over again. Even the pool felt too warm to be refreshing. Maria and Rachael stopped by for a bit to see the room and let us know that they were having a farewell cocktail party that night at the Hard Rock Café since some of the group was leaving Tuesday morning. We snacked on our leftovers from the night before, juice, the dried plantains and little cookies.


A lot of the shops in the resort area don’t even open until 4 pm so we did a little window shopping at Paseo Herencia and the new mall. A number of vendors have little kiosks located along the streets where they sell Dutch porcelains, sundresses, Aruba Aloe products, jewelry, knock-off leather goods, sunglasses, frames, etc. The souvenirs are reasonably prices so it was fun to look and even purchase a few things. Each night, the Paseo puts on a show with music, costumes and native dancers that was interesting.


Dinner time found us at “Fishes and More” for their Early-Bird Special which was at 6:30 pm, hardly early. I had French onion soup and the biggest chunk of grilled Mahi Mahi with roasted potatoes and vegetables. Amanda ate a juicy tenderloin steak, along with the potatoes and vegetables as well. For dessert, they served a Hot Chocolate Sundae which was a large scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on top of a base of shredded coconut, and covered with hot fudge sauce and whipped cream.


Everyone in the group was able to make it to the Hard Rock Café that evening. I had a very tasty, extremely large Hurricane while Amanda filled up on an equally large smoothie. They had a great drink menu. Everyone was starting to get tired and slightly sunburnt by this point in the trip but we did hang out for a few hours and reminisce. It’s so fun getting a large group together of all different ages, having a cocktail or two and just laughing. We ended the night by going into the casino and spending the $10 I had won the night before.


Tues June 1
Our last day on Aruba! It seemed like the perfect day to soak up the sun, knowing that the weather back home would never compare so that’s exactly what we did. Aruba is definitely a place to come to if you enjoy beaches and water sports. There is parasailing, snorkeling, scuba diving, deep-sea fishing (Paula, Brian, Matt, Ali and Jerry experienced that and Brian even caught an impressive Wahoo!), boating, tubing, catamaran cruises and other fun water activities offered. We spent the morning and good part of the afternoon enjoying the beauty of it all, then met up with Maria, Rachael, Paula and Brian for a little local shopping later that afternoon. It was fun to go into Tous since that is Maria’s favorite designer on the island.


Paula and Brian joined us at La Petite Café for dinner. Again, it was Early-Bird Special time even though it was well after 6:30 pm. The restaurant didn’t seem very unique and the salads were average, until they brought out the main course! It is served on a hot stone and by hot, I mean hot enough to cook meat! Each stone looked like a flat piece of cement you would use as a patio paver, fit inside a think wooden base with the potato sitting on the side in a metal plate. They literally put a bib on you, put the tray in front of you, then flip it to cook the other side. The waitress explained that I should cut off a slice of my filet mignon, then sear it on the stone until it was cooked to my liking. The most aromatic steam was rising from our table! Brian had lemon chicken, Amanda ate grouper (yum!) and Paula had tenderloin with shrimp. Those stones had to be 400 degrees. Of course, we had ice cream sundaes for dessert. We left the restaurant full and happy, then rode with them to their hotel to see the timeshare and have a mango colada together.


Amanda and I wandered around a little more after we got back to our hotel and ended up at a jewelry store that had a large selection of silver rings in various sizes and designs. She was able to get a beautiful butterfly ring for $10 which symbolized all the butterflies on the island and I got a chunky ring with a design that reminded me of large grains of sand. We took one last trip to our casino where I had a Balashi and we lost a few bucks.




Wedn June 2
A cab picked us up at 5 am. The plane didn’t leave until 7:50 but by the time we got through security (twice....weird!), customs and all their check-points, it wasn’t that long of a wait. While in Miami within a two hour layover, we went to Miso, a sushi restaurant where Amanda tried some sort of creamy iced tea and a salmon roll. I had a rainbow roll which was a California roll with avocado and assorted raw fish draped over it. In Chicago, it didn’t take that long to get our luggage, find a shuttle bus, get back to the hotel and pick up our car so we were on the road to Wisconsin by 5:30 pm. A quick stop in Kenosha to meet up with Amanda’s boyfriend, Troy, and have dinner, then we were back on the road. It was only about 60 degrees and stormed on and off the entire way home but we didn’t complain. By the time we picked up the dog from Kevin’s, told him about the trip and got home, it was almost midnight and pretty cold outside. This continued for the next two weeks but after the extreme heat we’d just experienced, I was in no mood to complain!


Aruba is an interesting place! In my opinion, it’s the perfect place to go for a honeymoon or vacation where you simply want to enjoy beaches and water sports. If hiking, museums and cultural activities are what you enjoy, this wouldn’t be the place for those activities. But, if you want to relax and truly get away from it all, Aruba is the answer! It was probably the most relaxing trip I’ve taken in quite some time, with the best beaches for sure. Of course, a huge thank you to Maria and Fred for inviting all of us...and Congratulations!!













Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Road trip to NYC, Atlantic City and Gettysburg, 2009

Fri July 24, 2009
Fri we left Green Bay at 8 am and went 850 miles with a small arsenal of technology. Between 3 people we carry an iphone, a Blackberry, a smartphone, an ipod, 2 ipod nanos, a laptop computer, Garmin GPS, 2 digital cameras, a camcorder, a receiver to run the ipods through the car radio and all the cords, batteries, chargers and memory cards to make it all work. The audiobook "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" held our attention for a good portion of the afternoon and evening. Not only was the story pretty eccentric, but the voiceovers were entertaining.


Stopped at a Big Boy near Cleveland OH to reminisce and get some dinner in the evening. About half the menu is the same as it was 20 years ago. Traffic, weather and construction wasn't an issue at all although it is getting more hot and humid the farthur east we go. Drove a few more hours until we found ourselves in Bloomsburg PA at 1 am with no hotel and finding that many in the area were booked. Lucked out (sarcastic!) and stayed at the Tenny Town Motel which was very clean but had the awful smell of urine...well, it was a perfect way to accustom us to the horrendous smells that waft through NYC, especially in the subway stations. We made it through 5 states today...WI, IL, IN, OH and PA. I have discovered that wi-fi, whether advertised or not, is generally available at hotels and resorts just for looking. Stealing? Hardly! Although is still amazes me how the cheap hotels will have it for free, yet the pricier ones will charge you a fine penny...per day!

Sat July 25
Sat we started out about 10 am and drove 150 miles through New Jersey into Midtown Manhattan through the Lincoln Tunnel and found our hotel almost immediately. The traffic was stop-and-go for a few miles heading into the tunnel where it filters into 2 lanes and goes about a mile underneath the Hudson River. Hotel was 100 times better than expected. What a great location! We are on 42nd St between 10th and 11th Ave. The hotel has a large pool in a courtyard on 3rd floor and free parking in their secured garage which is only steps from our elevator. Just to have parking in Manhattan is becoming a rarity, much less to have it for free. We have a view of the Empire State Building from the room, NYPD Task Force building is right across the street but was surprisingly quiet and there is a small restaurant/deli attached to the hotel. The neighborhood is called Hell's Kitchen and is near the Garment District.

After being able to check-in early, we immediately walked 2 blocks to the pier on the Hudson River and took a Circle Line 3 hour Cruise around the entire island at 4:30. Since it was 85 degrees and 70% humidity, the cruise was perfect. Cool views of the Statue of Liberty, Battery Park, Ellis Island, the Financial District, the Manhattan Skyline, Brooklyn Bridge among others, Roosevelt Island, old and new Yankee Stadium, Gracie Mansion, Jersey Palisades and the burroughs. The narrator was very knowledgable and interesting while talking most of the tour.

Times Square at night....unbelievable! Talk about sensory overload! We walked about 6 short blocks to the middle of the Square. It covers a larger area than I expected. Part of the Square is blocked off to traffic so there were tables, chairs, benches and a bleacher-type area for visitors to sit and take in the lights, video screens, street performers, people and signs. There was a police presence on nearly every corner, very clean, felt safe. Lots of restaurants, gift shops, electronics shops, etc. 2 blocks away is Rockefeller Center where they were setting up to film a movie the next morning at the Today Show site. The area where there is an ice rink in the winter is a restaurant/lounge this time of year.

All over the city, there are carts selling hot dogs, sodas, ice cream, breakfast foods in the am, fruit, middle-eastern fare (falafel, shish kabobs and such). Men are selling knock-off purses from carts on the streets and others ask for handouts or try to get you to buy things such as baseball caps in exchange for a donation to their cause. Back near Times Square we had some very large sandwiches as the Majestic Deli which had a great selection of sandwiches, burgers, paninis, cheesecakes, salads and fruit.

Sun July 26
Sun took subway to the WTC which took a matter of minutes to get to. The subway was clean but the stations have the worst smell ever....like stale beer combined with urine and rotting meat. The WTC site is mostly curtained and fenced off due to the fact that construction is going on 24/7 but there are some observation decks and the buildings surrounding the area have been rebuilt or refaced and are immaculate. We stopped at Century 21 which is a designer discount store and St Paul's Chapel.
The church became a command post in the 9-11 aftermath and contained some really moving memorials to the volunteers and victims of 9-11. It is crazy how the entire old church, courtyard, old trees and gravesites that surrounded it remained unharmed during the tragedy. It's also the church that President George Washington regularly attended. His pew has been turned into a memorial as was the pew frequented by George Clinton in the same era.

Wall Street was 2 blocks away where we saw the NY Stock Exchange, the building where Washington worked when he was President and gave his Presidential Address, sculptures and other financial district landmarks. The street was alot narrower than I expected and in an almost constant state of shade due to the height of the skyscrapers.

Six blocks northeast was Canal St in Chinatown where we found ourselves mid-day for a great Chinese meal at local restaurant of Chicken and Chinese Vegetables, beef and broccoli and sesame chicken with sticky rice. Their "tea" was a can of Lipton...definitely disappointing but the food itself was tasty. I experienced the smallest bathroom in the history of the world inside the place...LOL! The busy streets were lined with flower shops, fruit stands, fish monger shops, restaurants and souvenir stores. Locals approach you with little cards with pictures on them of designer purses they are selling. We walked 3 blocks out of the way with a little chinese man to be escorted into a storefront that was manned by a woman who unlocked it, then led us through a hidden door in the back to a room full of handbags. They had quite a selection but we finally settled on Gucci bags after talking the saleman down a bit. They then unlocked the door and led us back into the street with our black garbage bag filled with the goods:) The quality of them was not too terrible and it's all in good fun. Besides, would you rather I buy a purse for the same price in a local department store that's ugly, or purchase one of these cute bags with the designers name on it, giving the designer a little free advertising?! Sellling a bag for $3,000 is insane anyhow! Amanda noticed there was a majority of women walking around with the same black bags, packed to overflow with handbags. Kevin just rolled his eyes. LOL!

We wandered into the Little Italy neighborhood that was loaded with Italian Restaurants one after another with outdoor seating (it was sweltering hot outside) and maitre d's coming out constantly to try to get you to go to their restaurant. Walked a bit through SoHo (artsy area that stands for "South of Houston" street) and TriBeCa (stands for "Triangle Below Canal" street) where there was a nice park-like courtyard.
Took the subway back and stopped at the hotel to drop off our purchases. A thunderstorm hit so waited it out then walked through the Theater District to Top of the Rock at 30 Rockefeller Center, home to NBC. It appeared to be clear skies when we went up to the 67th floor, found out that was not the case when we got to the top. Still got to watch part of a great orange sunset and saw a second distant thunderstorm start to roll in even though they did not close the observation deck regardless of the wind. We stayed up there for quite awhile as there was no time-limit to get great shots of NYC before and after the lights came on. The view from the top really shows just how developed the city is. Made it past Times Square before the storm hit so ducked into Monetti's Pizza 2 blocks from the hotel for excellent NYC style slices.

Monday July 27
We got an early start and grabbed breakfast from a street vendor...huge bagels, strawberry brioche, donuts and super hot coffee, like "burn the roof of your mouth for 2 days hot". Darted our way through the commuters on their way to work. It felt like from a movie, everyone wearing dark colors, ipod buds in the ears, rushing to work.

Our little group made it to the Today Show in Rockefeller Center but Meredith, Al and Ann were on location for “Today takes a Vacation” and Matt left for his segment of it shortly before we got there. The plaza was huge, much bigger than it appears on TV. Instead of there just being one area, there is a whole square measuring about 30 ft by 60 feet. Probably 200 people there, many with signs. We hung out for about a half hour but since the 4 anchors were gone, they weren’t showing the crowd much.
Walked up 5th Avenue past Trump Tower, Tiffany’s, Gucci (a fabric keychain was $150!), etc to Central Park. It was only about 9 am so the stores weren’t open and 5th Ave was pretty quiet on the Upper East Side. The famous Plaza Hotel on Central Park West is alot more run-down than it appears to be in movies. Wandered through the southern half of Central Park. It was a lot rockier than I thought it would be, very pretty, tons of shade and very, very clean and quiet.
Visited Strawberry Fields and outside the Dakota where John Lennon was shot. Strawberry Fields has a pretty arboretum and memorial to Lennon with a large, circular "Imagine"-themed mosaic we some great pics on. Saw Tavern on the Green Restaurant before they'd opened for the day. It appears a little cheesy with chinese paper lanterns hanging from the trees and bushes shaped like animals but I guess they were going for a whimsy theme.
Walked Kevin up to the American Museum of Natural History where he spent the next few hours while we crossed the park to get to the Metropolitan Museum of Art which we then found was closed on Mondays! It was now 2 miles back to the hotel so we strolled 5th Avenue along the park and enjoyed the sunny morning. Stopped at some of the high-end shops along the way including Tiffany’s which had 6 stories of very sparkly jewels and the Trump Plaza, a masterpiece of marble and glass. Went to Dallas BBQ in Times Square for a lunch of rotisserie chicken and awesome sauce plus sweet tea so now I'm addicted to that!

Relaxed back at our hotel for a few hours then walked to Madison Square Garden for the Green Day concert! The place is huge. We were on the upper left side but it was still a great view. Kaiser Chiefs, an indie/rock band from the UK opened. GD started with "21 Guns", played for 2.75 hrs straight and finally did "American Idiot" during the encore which was as long as some bands entire show. Woot-woot!! Pyrotechnics, calling fans up on stage, lots of crazy antics. Billie Joe mooned the entire crowd, all 15,000 (?) of us. One guy stage dived and the crowd DIDN'T catch him...so funny! He happened to be wearing a helmet (no idea why). One of the best shows I’ve ever been too. Amanda and Kevin did not sit down the entire time! They played a great combo of old and new songs, told stories and were just alot of fun; worth every dime!! Had White Castle burgers on the way back at midnight. It was not very good food but really cheap. The place was so dirty and creepy but the experience was something you just have to try.

Tuesday July 28
Walked to Tim Horton’s (a Canadian coffee-house chain just opening in NYC) for bagels and iced capps on the other side of Times Square. Went up Broadway in the Theater District and took pics of the Ed Sullivan Theater where Letterman films. Strolled through Grand Central Station which is very busy and full of restaurants. Amanda and I went to Macy’s (Largest Dept store) where she found great unique Chucks and I did not find a simple pair of black sandals after looking at literally hundreds of shoes. After also sifting through what felt like a million summer tops, I victoriously walked out with one lonely shirt. Kevin went on a little walking tour of the Flatiron Bldg, Madison Square Park and the Chrysler Bldg. He got asked for directions by tourists multiple times so he must be blending in! I even heard him say "I could live here" at one point. That a boy!

Went to a little authentic Mexican place, La Paloma on W 45th St for enchiladas for dinner near our hotel located in an area full of residential apartments and local eateries. When I say restaurants in this area, I am literally talking about places not much bigger than my kitchen and that's the entire place including seating and kitchen area. Some were simply walk-up windows. Locals seem to generally get take-out. Service is very fast. Back in the Times Square area, we picked up the standard souvenirs and just relaxed and enjoyed the craziness.

Wednesday July 29
Ate breakfast at the diner attached to the hotel, Broadway Deli and Diner. Cheap and fast! I drove out of the city with no problem by noon as Lincoln Tunnel was literally blocks from our hotel. Traffic jam to get there, but it was short. Took the New Jersey Turnpike to Garden State Parkway to Atlantic City, about 2 hour drive.
Checked into Taj Mahal at 2pm. Very comfortable hotel for the price, the room is beautiful and sort of has ocean view from the 14th floor. The casino is one of the largest in the world and there is so much marble in the building that when they ordered it, the order took up the entire output from the Italian quarries for 2 full years. There are chandeliers that cost millions of dollars, and if that isn't enough gleem for you, the 9 stone elephants in front of the Taj weigh over 2 tons each. Decent soaps and mouthwash in the rooms were cute little touches. Its about 90 degrees and very humid here with threats of rain.
Walked up the boardwalk towards the very quiet north end, walked on beach a bit, then headed back to the area near the Taj where Steel Pier is located, amusement park area with rides and such. The boardwalk is 4 miles long and about 100 feet wide, shops, eateries, games and hotels line one side and in some areas they line both sides. There is a second pier that holds a very nice, designer mall. Saw Nock family show....Ball of Death (he drives motorcycle around inside a huge steel ball, then does it with wife standing inside. They also do a highwire motorcycle act. There are seagulls all over the place and they are not scared of anything. One got a huge hot dog and was flying overhead with it, when it dropped the damn thing right on my shoulder. Gross! We weren't even there a half hour and there I stood with a big pinkish stain on my shoulder from this random bombing.

Went halfway down the boardwalk (tons of knock-off purse shops) but rain was coming so we headed back to the hotel and ate the Sultan’s Feast Buffet inside our hotel. Crab Legs, boiled Shrimp, steak cooked to order, veal parmagiana, stroganoff, crab del ray, desserts, cappuccino, etc. The standard surf-and-turf buffet fare, nothing special but satisfying. The staff was polite and no one rushed us out of there.
Kev and I hit the casino around 9 pm. Got Trump One cards. Put 9 cents into the first machine and won $17.60 so played on that for a few hours. Had a few beers on the Donald, qualified for a free spin on the prize wheel on Thurs. I was down $20 and Kevin was down $27 after 3.5 hours of play. The casino is very quiet but it is a Wednesday.
Thursday July 30
Started out the day on the boardwalk for some typical "fair foods" for breakfast...cheesesteak, apple dumplings with ice cream and korean iced coffee. The way we've been walking lately, burning off the calories shouldn't be an issue. Went down and beachcombed since it was about 90 degrees and humid again. The sun and breeze felt great. Shells are HUGE, great souvenirs although the salty air has quite a fishy undertone. The water isn't that cold for the north Atlantic and the waves were decent enough that a few surfers hit the water. Walked south on the strip today all the way down to the Hilton. Went to the mall and AJ and I both finally found sandals after looking at tons of places...we ended up with the exact same black gladiators on sale at Steve Madden. I liked them so much I bought them in brown also. Took lots of pics, enjoyed fresh squeezed lemonade, stocked up on Coach keychains, campy postcards
Back at the casino, Kev and I qualified for a spin on the Millionaires Wheel since we joined the Trump One club and played a minimum of 35 minutes on slots. He won $20 towards any restaurant in the hotel and I won $10. Ate at the crab and steak buffet again with that prize. Walked off the food on the beach and boardwalk in the evening. Hit the casino where I went up and down and finally settled at $15 down, not bad for another 2 hours of fun.

Fri July 31
Headed towards Gettysburg around noon, drove for 6 hours through heat and humidity, then through a long downpour. Came through Lancaster, heart of Amish country, late afternoon and it was pouring so hard we didn't even stop anywhere. It did let up momentarily, just enough to see some Amish children on kick-scooters and a few horses pulling buggies through the middle of Lancaster. Got to Gettysburg PA and drove through the historic town on the way to the Gettysbury National Park Visitor Center and Museum to get hours and info for the morning.

Got a room at the Econo Lodge in Gettysburg then went to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner....very good food, fresh salad bar and Strawberry Mojitos for a chain! Def wish there was one closer to home! Strolled downtown; many very old buildings, placards explaining dates and info, statues, memorabilia shops, museums. I bought a set of 5 hand-painted Russian Nesting Dolls for the curio.

Saturday, Aug 1
Got to Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center at 9 am. Watched a very informative 10 minute film about the battle from the History Channel and viewed the Cyclorama which is a 300 foot circular painting of the Battle of Gettysburg as depicted on July 3, 1863 from a vantage point near the center of the main battlefield that we went to later. It’s set up in a circular room with a viewing platform in the center and is “blended” into the floor with sand, dirt and props to the point where it was hard to tell where the floor ended and painting started. A show is set to music with cannon blasts, lights on certain areas of the painting, narration, etc. The Cyclorama was restored within the past few years and is truly a unique experience. The museum was set up very well and had lots of artifacts and info to read. We then drove to a number of the memorials and battle areas to take pictures and walk among the grounds. You could spend days there.
It was sweltering hot degrees with no breeze but the majority of the memorials were alongside the road or within a short walk. There were also 2 fire tower observation decks.It was incredible how large the field is and how most everything, even buildings, have been maintained or restored. Every battallion from every state that participated in any way had a memorial set up, ranging from the most elaborate to a simple stone.

Left around 4pm and started the long drive home. Went about 300 miles and stopped in Middlesboro Heights OH (suburb of Cleveland) at the La Siesta Motel. It is still very warm outside, as it had been all week.Sunday Aug 2540 miles to get to Green Bay. We grabbed breakfast at Jennifer's in Middlesboro Heights as recommended by the owner of the hotel then started out at about 10 am EST for the final leg of the trip. Everything went as well as it did on the way out so we arrived in Green Bay by 6:30 pm.
The total miles was 2,200, about $50 spent on tolls, $150 for gas. We have over 1000 pictures and over an hour of video to view now not to mention a lifetime of memories to cherish!