Aruba, Ooo I Wanna Take Ya..

View of the Ocean from the room

Doug & I jumped at the chance to tag along with friends Trisha & Justin when they vacationed at their timeshare in Aruba. Justin & Doug are both 3rd year residents, so we all enjoyed the break from Durham.

Monday

Lazy River view from the room

Dinner at Smoky Joe's

In front of Soprano's Piano Bar

Justin & Trisha left on Saturday, but Doug & I didn't leave for Aruba until early Monday morning. When we arrived at the beautiful Marriott around 2:00 PM. We met Trisha's siblings Wade & Sara and got settled in. Our first order of business was going to the store to pick up food & drinks for the week. Since the suite had a full kitchen, we made many of our meals to cut down on costs of eating out. Back at the hotel, we spent the afternoon in the pool (mostly the lazy river) and played volleyball. We went out to dinner at Smokey Joe's and the Sopranos Piano Bar for drinks and entertainment. We walked back to the hotel on the beach - not bad for our first day!

Tuesday

Sunset on the balcony

Bartenders and Mojitos

Hot tub with the whole group

We spent the day at the pool - even partaking in some poolside bingo. We grilled a very late lunch which lead straight into happy hour in the room. One of Justin's brother's - Marcus- flew in and joined the party. We played card games on the balcony until deciding to head back to the pool for some late night hot tub and lazy river. We later had a very casual dinner to finish off our first full day in Aruba.

Wednesday

Beautiful Baby Beach

Doug with the big catch

The fishermen
Trisha and me at the bar


Trisha, me and Doug

We woke up early to take the four guys to meet their fishing charter. While the three girls hit the beach. We drove south to check out Baby Beach. It was a gorgeous cove beach - that made for a beautiful day of swimming. On the way back, we picked up the guys just in time to see their haul which included an impressive Wahoo. The boat captain gave us a portion of fish to take back, which we enjoyed for dinner that evening. The guys finished up their manly days by having a cigar then we all headed to the fancy bar at the Marriott hotel for a drink then on to the casino for a little gambling. It was a late night - but such a great day.

Thursday

California lighthouse

Arashi Beach

At the Bushiribana Ruins

Doug on Natural Bridge Doug & me at Madame Janette's

Cheers - me & Trisha

The five remaining vacationers drove around the island on Thursday. Seeing some of Aruba's sights. We started out with the California Lighthouse on the northern tip of the Island. Nearby, we stopped at Arashi Beach and enjoyed the wonderful snorkeling available right along the shore. Then we drove the east side of the island. We saw the Bushiribana Ruins, Natural Bridge & Natural Pool. It was nice to drive around the small island and see the local sites. That night we splurged and went out to a nice dinner at Madame Janette's. A small outdoor restaurant that had wonderful live music. Dinner followed by late night hot tubs - made for a perfect evening.

Friday

One of the many iguanas by the pool

Karaoke at Champions

Our last full day on the island, we started by doing a little shopping and then headed to the pool for the afternoon. We celebrated happy hour at the swim up bar (yum, Pina Coladas!) We also ventured to the resort beach and found a local man to take us all tubing. A few injuries aside, we had a great time riding the waves on the ocean. For dinner we grilled steaks and had a wonderful dinner in the room. Then we headed to Champions Sports Bar for Karaoke night and eventually found ourselves at the casino playing blackjack. This was my first time playing blackjack and it was a lot of fun -sitting at a table with all our friends.

Saturday

Goodbye Aruba!

We packed up & left the resort -stopping at some local vendors for souvenirs on our way to the airport. After long day of traveling, we picked up Willie and we were home in our own bed by midnight.

We had a wonderful time with new and old friends. Cheers to Aruba!