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 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!