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 28The 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!
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.
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.
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. 
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 1Our 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!!