Month: June 2023

The Last Leg – Aruba

Posted in TravelTagged , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The latter half of our Aruban vacation was very relaxed.

Let’s start with a review of the Holiday Inn Resort. It was nothing to write home about, as my dad would say. I chose it because I saw some impressive videos on TikTok of the facilities. Honestly the location is fantastic. It had the amenities we wanted. Beachfront, gym (for Ray’s lifting needs), decent sized room with a balcony. It hit those marks. But the slice of beach it was on was rather unimpressive compared to the other beaches we visited on this trip. The water was murky. The beach had debris. If you wanted any type of shade you had to rent one of those little beach huts for $30 a day. The one time we wanted to sit in the spa/jacuzzi it was full of debris. Either from the surrounding trees or someone who didn’t wash off from the beach. Overall disappointing compared to our experience at Renaissance.

This resort was family friendly. We as a child-free couple were definitely in the minority in that sense. Lots of groups of teenagers running around at night. And small children who’s parents were trying to get them to burn out their last bit of energy before bed.

One redeeming quality was the daily breakfast buffet. This resort is all inclusive so there were a plethora of eateries. We booked the stay that included breakfast. Every day we enjoyed made-to-order omelets, fresh fruit, waffles, french toast and local dishes like salt fish, croquettes, sweet plantain and Aruban sausage.

Our last few days were rather uneventful minus our anniversary, Sunday the 25th.

Saturday we spent exploring the shopping square just steps outside of our hotel. And we had a fantastic bolognese pizza at Amore Mio for dinner.

Amore Mio bolognese pizza

Sunday we had a slow morning which led us to our 1:00pm spa appoint at Spa Del Soul. As one can imagine there are many spas in Aruba. But through my research, this was the only one semi-outside on the beach.

Walkway to the spa

Located at Manchebo Beach Resort & Spa on Bucuti Beach, the view was breathtaking. The type of view you envision when you think of “paradise”.

Massage huts at the spa

We enjoyed a 50 minute aromatherapy couple’s massage that was transcendent. And then we relaxed in the spa/on the beach for another couple hours. I got in the water which was pretty calm and crystal clear. Ray stayed behind under the pavilion because he was still nursing a minor sunburn from the day prior.

We went back to our hotel and ordered some room service before a nap. The room service was trash. How do you mess up a cheeseburger and club sandwich?

We slowly got ready for our 9:00pm anniversary dinner at Gianni’s Italian Restaurant. Which we were about 40 minutes late for, but they still seated us quickly.

This place is know for their table side flaming Parmesan cheese wheel. So naturally we ordered the dish that came with the show. The food and presentation did not disappoint. The pasta was al dente and flavorful, even for it to just be spaghetti with tomato sauce. Ray ordered his with shrimp and I ordered mine with a meatball.

We ended the meal with my favorite, crème brûlée. And they surprised us with a complementary anniversary dessert. Two small sponge cakes covered in a mango glaze and topped with whipped cream. So good!

We twice, on two separate nights, ran into that couple from Flamingo Beach who were also celebrating their first wedding anniversary. This time we did get their names. And as I suspected from the first time we met, I confirmed the wife was Nigerian like Ray. They were now staying at the Hyatt. I think that’s where we’ll stay if we come back.

I have to stop taking pictures after we eat.

Monday we spent buying all our souvenirs. And then had a very brief swim at the disappointing beach. We had another pizza for dinner. This time at Pizza Napoli which was just across the street from our hotel. Ray liked this pizza better than Amore Mio’s, but I disagreed.

Pizza Napoli’s meat lover’s pie

We ended our last night doing something a little different and fun to cap off our trip. We went shooting at a little airsoft range in the shopping plaza. 50 rounds for $10. Ray never shot any type of firearm before. So the owner spent several minutes instructing Ray on how to stand and aim. He did a fantastic job after that. I didn’t do so bad either.

And that was our first Aruba trip. Sun, sand, water, adventure and love.

The people were so nice. The beaches were amazing. Our overall experience was unforgettable. We do in fact plan to return. Maybe for a babymoon, when the time comes.

Until our next trip, cheers!

Halfway Mark – Aruba

Posted in TravelTagged , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Well we officially reached the halfway mark of the trip.

Not much at all to share, yesterday was pretty low key. We really only had one thing on our agenda and that was switching from Renaissance Resort to the Holiday Inn Resort on the northern part of the island. We had some friends suggest we do this. And I’m so glad we took heed to the advice.

Our first resort was in Oranjestad and our second is in Noord, about a 15 minute drive. This is actually where we caught our sunset cruise from on Wednesday evening.

Noord

Noord is a much more lively side of the island. More shops and restaurants and resorts. And naturally more people.

Renaissance Resort is definitely on the more expensive side of the spectrum. So switching it up and staying at a less expensive place for the second half of the trip is nice.

We started our morning around 9:00am. The plan was to get dressed, pack up our luggage, checkout of the hotel, grab breakfast and head to Flamingo Island for the last time. And then lastly checking in to Holiday Inn. So our morning was a little more on the hectic side. But we made good time.

We did get to go to The Dutch Pancake House for breakfast. Had I known how good the food was, we would’ve been there every day. There was a long line again. But we apparently had very good timing and several parties left within 5 minutes.

10/10 would recommend eating here for breakfast. The service was fast. The food was so good!

Next we caught the boat to Flamingo Island for our last time this trip. We arrived by noon, just like on Wednesday. This time we checked out the adults only side of the island. There really was no difference from the family friendly side.

While enjoying the beach, this time, we connected with two different couples.

As antisocial as I can be at times, I do enjoy making “vacation friends”. One of the couples whose names we never caught were also celebrating their one year anniversary. The other couple, Adriane and Darius from Houston, were celebrating their 30th birthdays. We probably spent the most amount of time talking with Adriane in the water. She was so funny and we loved her vibes. We shared a bit of our backgrounds, connected on being young believers, and young married couples.

We spent about three hours on the island this time. And no exaggeration, two of those hours we spent swimming. Y’all I got so tan, my foundation is two shades too light. I haven’t been this tan since I was a kid in summer camp. Ray also got a little bit of color and a little sunburn. Yes even Nigerians can burn in this intense Aruban heat.

We went back to the hotel, grabbed our bags from the holding area and headed to Holiday Inn for the 4:00 PM check in. The drive was quick and only cost $13.

This resort is pretty massive. There are three towers, several pools, a gym, spa, gift shops, convenience stores, many restaurants, a salon, a jewelry store, and a casino. And the property is beachfront so we will be taking advantage of this beautiful slice of beach.

Once we were checked in we set down our bags, took showers and took a much-needed nap. we got up around 8:00PM to head to dinner.

Since I chose our dinner restaurant last night, I asked Ray what kind of food he would like to eat this evening and I would find a place that served whatever he was in the mood for. One thing about my husband is that he is very health conscious, and rarely, if ever indulges in sweets or junk food. But tonight he was in the mood for a burger.

I pulled up TikTok to try to find the best burgers on this side of the island. Smokey Joe’s Island Grill popped up. Now this place is known for their ribs, but instead we ordered a burger and shrimp platter with a side of rice and beans and coleslaw. Now I feel like rice and beans are pretty easy dishes to mess up. But when I tell you every morsel of bean and every grain of rice was seasoned to perfection, you know the main food also had to be amazing. We also ordered the fried mac & cheese balls as a starter. Ray told me specifically, “write about how good this food is “. It was the best dinner we’ve had here so far.

Right as we were finishing our last bites, we noticed it started to sprinkle. Which is no big deal, that happens from time to time. But within two minutes it became a torrential downpour and we had to go under the pavilion or shelter. All the staff was telling us how rare rain is here. All I could think about was my grandma saying this was God putting his seal on our trip.

We were absolutely stuffed at this point. And about this time everything was shutting down in the area. So we just headed back to our room and called it a night. I will say it was a little difficult to find sleep, because there is a very booming restaurant within earshot of our room on the beach side. And they were going up all night. That DJ was putting his soul into that music.

Cheers!

Our Busiest Day in Aruba

Posted in TravelTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Thursday was definitely our busiest day of the whole trip. But I planned it that way.

I promised Ray I wouldn’t over plan our trip. But I’m big on having some type of itinerary for all my travels. That way when we wake up in the morning we don’t waste any time trying to figure out what we can do for the day. And even though our overall goal of the trip was definitely to relax. I didn’t want us to miss out on any of the unique experiences Aruba has to offer.

It was an early start to the day because we had a photoshoot booked for 9:30am.

Personally, I am not a fan of taking photos. I have very low patience for that type of thing. And I don’t find myself to be the most photogenic. But I married someone who not only loves to be in front of the camera, but looks very good doing so. As an anniversary gift, I decided to book a photo shoot with a local photographer. I came across Jeroen Lucas through a simple google search. His packages were pricey, but no more pricey than other photographers I came across. I happened to like his portfolio, and he seemed to include the most for the price.

I chose to do the 90 minute downtown package. He had several beach packages. But personally, I feel like a photo shoot on the beach could be a photo shoot on any beach. Downtowns tend to look very unique and usually make for unique shots. And this was absolutely the case for downtown Aruba. We spent a good amount of time posing in front of very vibrantly painted buildings. And then we did end the session at a cute little beach that had a pier. Jeroen was fantastic to work with. Very kind, very patient and very talented. Highly communicative beforehand as well.

He dropped us off at our hotel by 11:00am. Naturally by then we were pretty hungry. On this side of the island I learned one of the more popular eateries is this place called The Dutch Pancake House. It’s conveniently located right across the street from our hotel so we headed over there. But we encountered quite a long line that wasn’t moving as fast as I would’ve liked. I was so hungry and thirsty. At that point I told Ray we should just pick another spot and try back again tomorrow. So we ended up at Kalin’s Mexican Food. The food was pretty good, fairly priced and they gave good portions.

After lunch, we headed back to our hotel for a quick nap and change of clothes before heading out to our next excursion, which began at 2:00pm. I booked us a half-day Jeep tour of the island.

Now in my research, I learned that a very popular excursion here are UTV tours. And as fun as those seem, I know Ray and I would feel more comfortable with someone else doing the driving.

We were picked up by their bus. And it was a quick drive to their office, where we signed waivers, were introduced to our tour guide, and jumped on the Jeep. I don’t remember our tour guide’s name, but he was a native guy who couldn’t have been older than 30. Nice guy who very much enjoyed every aspect of the tour with us.

He was friends with all the other guides and park staff we encountered. The way he’d joke around with them all day just showed why he loves his job.

What I didn’t realize when booking this was the tour takes place at Aruba’s national park. If you come here, you absolutely have to go to the national Park. The terrain is rough, hence needing the Jeep. But the views are absolutely breathtaking and unforgettable.

The national park is filled with cactus, wildlife, caves, and beaches. Our first stops were to two different caves. And yes, there were bats flying around. But they were no bother to us. And our last few stops were to coves and beaches. I don’t know that I can write a description that will really capture how beautiful this place was. You really have to come here yourself. But I will insert some pictures and videos so you can get an idea.

My only complaint was that the ride was very rough. I was being jostled around and ended up nauseous and with a headache. This is not something you want to do on a full stomach or if you’re already feeling sick. We were in a Safari type jeep. One that had two benches parallel to the doors. I would’ve preferred to be in more of a bus style jeep, if that makes sense. Or just a traditional private passenger jeep. Once we got in the water, I felt so much better. We went to a cove, called Conchi and went to Baby Beach, which is one of the most famous beaches here.

Baby Beach

I really couldn’t record while we were driving around in the park. It was so rough and bumpy and I was holding on for dear life at some points! Ray did lose his phone at one point. Our guide has to pull over and grab it from underneath the flooring.

On the way back to our hotel our guide drove us, pass some other landmarks on the Saint Nicholas side of the island. This included the now shut down oil refinery, a couple other beaches, the prison, the military base, and the Spanish Lagoon. We also encountered a lot of dogs. I couldn’t quite make out the breeds. They were all mutts, but they all seem very laid-back and friendly. It made me miss my pup.

We drove through a lot of residential areas. Which made me think of my experience in St. Thomas for our honeymoon last year. I believe I mentioned in that post, once you leave the resort areas, you can really see the poverty in St. Thomas. A lot of shacks, and huts and homes falling apart. And I know that has a lot to do with how often and harshly that country is hit with hurricanes. But still it is very jarring to see. That is not the case here most of the homes we drove by, even these humble little houses, I could see myself living in.

We were back in our room around 7 PM. We were trying to decide where to head for dinner. Personally, I’ve been really wanting to try this restaurant right across from the gym here called Aquarius. And that’s exactly where we went. We thoroughly enjoyed the dinner seafood buffet where they had a nice spread of hot food. Lamb and chicken and beef, tenderloin, veggies, quiche, sushi salads, soup. But the highlight was the made to order seafood. We helped ourselves to a couple rounds of lobster, muscles, shrimp, and fish.

That was basically it for us. We ended the night watching some Netflix on this nice 65 inch TV in our room and fell asleep.

First Two Days in Aruba

Posted in TravelTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

We made it!

Tuesday – Travel Day

What a long day. We both were going off about an hour of sleep. Between my last few pre-vacation appointments, tying up some things at work and finishing packing, there wasn’t much sleep to be had on Juneteenth.

Nonetheless we were out the door by 5:00am. My dad, who’s always my ride to the airport, scooped us up to head to New York. I really have to shoutout my dad. It doesn’t matter what time of day or if I’m flying from New York, New Jersey or Boston. This man always gets me there on time!

Terminal 5 at JFK was not too crowded for a Tuesday morning. We thankfully breezed through security and had a solid couple hours before boarding our flight. I told Ray, mentally I don’t get excited for my trips until I clear TSA, if you know you know.

The flight wasn’t long. A little under 4.5 hours. Naturally Ray just being his humble relatable self, made friends with our flight attendant José and he gave us a bunch of free stuff. Being that Ray works on trains he often connects with other transportation people.

Customs in Aruba was quick and easy. Ray got his first passport stamp. We grabbed our luggage and went outside where the humid Aruba air hit us like a warm hug.

We were easily able to grab a taxi. And it was a very brief 10 minute drive to our hotel, Renaissance Wind Creek Resort. I knew beforehand to bring cash and USD is accepted everywhere here. $25 for that 10 minute drive up the road!

King room

We checked in, dropped our bags off in the room, changed clothes and went to search for something to eat.

We explored the hotel a bit. This resort has two sides, adults only and a family friendly side. We’re on the adults only side which has a pool, gym, restaurants, casino and high end retailers. Gucci, Prada, Cartier, Dolce Gabanna, etc. Ray insisted on scoping out the gym. Even on vacation this guy is keeping up on his workout schedule.

Gym

Right across the street from the casino is a lively waterside restaurant called Lucy’s Retired Surfers Bar and Restaurant. We could smell the food as soon as we walked outside. So we decided to eat there.

Lucy’s

We were famished at this point so we ordered quite a bit. Queso and chips, various tacos (from their taco Tuesday menu), and a burger and fries. It was all delicious.

By then it was about 7:00pm and we were exhausted. We decided to take a nap. Four hours later we woke up refreshed and ready for a little snack. Thankfully our hotel has a late night eatery, The Lounge, open until 5:00am. We changed and headed downstairs. We ordered some fried shrimp and calamari, which was a bit pricey but the two cheapest items on the small menu. We sat, ate and talked for hours. Just excited to be on vacation, together and celebrating our first year of marriage.

Wednesday – Our First Full Day

Wednesday we slept in. We started our a day a little later than I would’ve wanted. But we were up and out by about 11:30am. I had two things planned, lay out on the beach and a sunset cruise.

When I first began researching places to stay in Aruba, it was important to find somewhere that had beach access. But not just any beach, the flamingo beach. So that’s how we ended up booking this first hotel. It’s the only one that has access to the private flamingo island. You may think it was a stretch to book a hotel just to have access to a certain beach. But this beach is special because it’s the only one that has flamingos walking around.

The boat to the island comes every 15 minutes downstairs is our hotels lobby. So we grabbed some Starbucks and were on the boat by 11:45 AM. It only takes about 10 minutes to get to the island. We spent the next 3 1/2 hours laying in the sun swimming in the ocean and eating. Believe it or not, we bumped in to our friend José the flight attendant and the rest of the crew from our flight. They were very nice and explained everyone has been trying to grab these layovers in paradise. They were scheduled to head back to New York at 2:00pm.

So was it worth it to book a stay in this pricier hotel just to have access to the beach? Absolutely. They have the beach set up very nicely. And because the beach is exclusive to guests of the hotel, it wasn’t crowded at all. My only two complaints were the seaweed in the water which feels funny to walk on, and the food at the restaurant was not impressive. In fact, I sent my food back which I never do. I noticed most people were ordering pizzas so maybe I’ll give that a try when we go back on Friday. But Ray’s burger and my wrap and the wings were not the best.

Lunch spread

We left the island about 3:30 PM in order to prepare for our sunset cruise at 5:30 PM. Which was leaving from a pier about 15 minutes from our hotel. We showered and got ready and were in a taxi by 4:55 PM. Even though this taxi was taking us farther, it only cost $13.

A sunset cruise is an absolute staple for all my travels. It was such a great way to kick off our vacation. The staff was kind and funny. We met a nice family who was there to celebrate a graduation. They were originally from Bloomfield, Connecticut of all places. And the young man had just graduated from University of Massachusetts.

Ray and I danced and took pictures and had a blast. Before we knew it, it was 7:30pm and we were docking at the pier again. The cruise only offered a few small bites, so we decided to head back to Lucy’s for dinner. We made it there about an hour before they closed. As one can imagine, it wasn’t nearly as lively as before. Our server Dash was really great. She said she hopes we have twins when the time comes for us. I’m only mentioning this because she is the second person in this year of our marriage to say that to us. I would love that!

At the end of the night we hung out in the hotel’s lobby for a little bit. We met a nice couples from New Orleans and shared some pleasantries. And that was it, we called it an early night because we have a very early morning and a full day Thursday.

Until then, cheers from Aruba.

Aruba, here we come!

Posted in TravelTagged , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Wow, it’s been a solid year since I updated my blog. I can completely blame that on married life.

I’ve always heard the first year of marriage is the most challenging. Well, I am no relationship guru or marriage expert. But this first year of marriage has required humility, communication, patience, understanding and compromise. Two becoming one is a beautiful thing. But it takes work.

That being said, we are long overdue for a vacation! My husband received his first ever passport in the mail within 4 weeks of applying. I asked him where he wanted to go. Without hesitation he said Aruba, so I made Aruba happen.

We find ourselves calling this trip our “honeymoon”. Probably because our actual honeymoon last year was briefer than we would’ve liked. So this time we booked our trip for 7 days and 6 nights.

Some of my long time followers will recognize this trip is my longest one since I started this blog. In the past I was working with a more limited budget. I was the queen of the 4-day trip. Now that I’m a bit older and more established, I can afford to stay abroad for a full week.

We booked the flights 2 months ago. We paid under $400 each for roundtrip from JFK to AUA. Those 2 months flew by (no pun intended) and now our departure date is less than a week away. Lots of preparation in these last few days, hair, nails, clothes, travel supplies and of course packing. I got some new gadgets for this trip that I’m excited to test out. I will share my reviews in my coming posts.

Hubby is over the moon. Aruba has been on his travel wishlist for a long time. My followers would know I probably would’ve preferred to travel to Bali or Brazil for our 1 year anniversary. But we have to take baby steps as Ray hasn’t yet taken a flight longer than 6 hours. Speaking of babies, no little ones on the way yet. We want to get some more stamps in our passports before that season in our lives.

So that’s basically it. I will share we’re staying at 2 different resorts/hotels. Friends suggested we do this so we can experience the upper and lower parts of the island. And currently I’m very behind on booking excursions. I promised my husband I wouldn’t jam pack our itinerary each day like I’ve done in my past travels. So I think we’ll take the approach of one day with nothing planned then the next day with at least half the day planned.

Until next week, cheers.