Oct 15 - Oct 23

[gretch]

First of all, I can’t believe we are back. All these months of planning and 2 weeks flew by!

We had a fabulous time. I cannot wait to go back.

My 7 year old daughter and I flew out of Boston on October 15th on the nonstop flight. Uneventful flight, thank God, and on time. Landed in Aruba around 11:30am. After we got our luggage I needed to buy a sim card which I probably won’t do again. I think I’ll rent from Aruba discount cell again. I went to the Digicell counter and for $20 she said I would get 84 mins. At least that’s what I thought she said. I would have to say the mins ran out after about 20 and then I had to purchase more minutes which involved me finding a place that sold the flex cards. Anyhow, by the time I was done with that, Hans from Tropic was waiting for me. I have never used Tropic before and I have to say that Hans was wonderful. Very nice man. Even when I told him I forgot all the paper work I was supposed to have filled out and signed because he is not allowed to process paper work at the airport. I get so flustered and anxious the day I fly I literally cannot think straight, so I left the paper work on the kitchen table. We worked it out but I did feel really bad about it.

Off we went to La Cabana. I really love it there. Although it’s the only place I’ve stayed on the island so that could be why. We were staying for 2 weeks and 1 day so I had to rent a studio for the first night. Our room was located half way back to Boston, that part was ok, but we had the most rowdiest neighbors. They were a bunch of kids (teenagers) and they blasted the TV until at least 2:00am. That’s when I finally fell asleep. They were watching some horror slasher movie. It was so loud I felt like the TV was in my room. I figured I could deal with it for one night.

The next day we moved into our rented unit…320A and it was perfect! From then on we did NOTHING, except the beach and pool. My husband and other daughter (11) arrived on Thursday, Oct. 20. I picked them up at the airport and we continued relaxing. Bingo every day at 2:00 pm pool side. We won twice which was nice.

The only day of not-so-nice weather was Friday, Oct. 21st. Lots and lots of rain. We went to the beach in the morning and the waves were huge. I’ve never seen waves so enormous in Aruba. It was like being at home. At one point the waves were getting a bit violent so we got out of the water and then within minutes it started to down pour but it didn’t let up. We decided to go to Hooters for lunch. We usually go there for lunch at least once per trip so it worked out. Had the yummiest parmesan and garlic chicken wings. Amazing! And a couple of Brights. We had dinner reservations that night at Barefoot and we requested a table on the beach. We were hesitant about going but we did but had to sit inside which was just as nice. Very pretty but we went back another night so we could experience the beach. I’ll post a dining review too.

The waves remained quite massive for the next few days and then one morning they completely disappeared and the water was back to normal and crystal clear.

On the 23rd we moved into our unit…416C and we picked some friends up from the airport.

Let’s see, I think those Brights are magical because they make me do things I normally would not do. Like sing karaoke! Now I can’t sing but that night I was convinced I could. I sang, with my friend, the last song of the night. I’ll never do it again but we had a lot of fun. It was ok because we did not know anyone there. I would never do it at home and it was fun stepping out of my comfort zone. Actually, I stepped out of my comfort zone twice. We met a nice couple from Michigan and they were participating in a game for newlyweds at the Pata Pata bar. Well, they were the only couple participating so they asked my husband if we would compete too. My husband said of course. Now this was for honeymooners but the first couple were dating and we’ve been married 9 years but no one else volunteered so they let us play. Anyhow, I was not happy because I didn’t know what we had to do. Turned out there were 4 competitions. Dancing on a towel until the music stopped but you couldn’t fall off or you were out (each time the music stopped you would fold the towel in half and repeat). We won that round. Then musical chairs, we won that too. Dancing with an orange between our foreheads…we lost and the last was just for the guys and they had to repeat a silly dance move…we lost. It ended up being tied so the tie breaker was swimming from one end of the pool to the other (just guys) and we lost. But we did it and it’s another thing I will never do again. I don’t enjoy being the center of attention at all. But I have to say it was fun.

Did Jolly Pirates, the kids LOVED it. I’ll try and post a video. The captain let my 7 year old be the first to do the rope swing and everyone on the boat was so encouraging and telling her she could do it which made her feel so good.

Since I’m babbling on and on I’ll end it here but I will post my dining too.

Oh, our flight home on Oct. 30 was delayed 4 hrs. A long day at the airport but once we took off the flight was perfect. No bumps.

I've attached a few pics of the new lobby too for those who are interested. And the beach eroded. I tried to capture the waved but had my cell on the wrong setting.

I miss Aruba!

[Andrea J.]

excellent report thanks!


did you notice if the lobby had much art work?

in august, we saw the lobby, completed but there were no accessories....
no wall art etc. they said before christmas it would be complete.

[crimms]

Wow sounds like you guys had a ton of fun! You made us laugh reading your trip report. We cant wait to go in december and relax like you guys did!
Thanks sean and susan

[gretch]

I didn’t notice any art work but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t there. To tell you the truth I’m not crazy about the new lobby, but that’s just me. I love the old staircase, I thought it was beautiful. I would have much rather have seen them fix the balcony banisters first, or even paint or fix the roof but it is what it is. The casino work is in full swing, I think. I heard the equipment but never actually saw any workers .

Oh, and hats off to Abraham! He saved a man’s life while we were there. There was a man having a heart attack and Abraham did CPR and brought him back…I didn’t see it happen but was there when his daughter was thanking him profusely for saving her father’s life that day. Amazing!

[Andrea J.]

re: abraham
the man is wonderful.
he is a hero!!!

years ago he tended to my 2 broken toes and gashes on my foot.
long story which i won't get into............ but suffice it to say,
he saved me a trip to the hospital, a few $$, and a hassle.

his medic skills rival an ER physician.

sadly, he is one of the few remaining old timer security/first aid folks remaining at lacabana.

lacabana has hired a lot of "rent a cops/security" and some of them are incompetent.

[gretch]

I’ve noticed that too. A LOT of rent-a-cops. 2 men I did not see this time were Michael and Ishmael, from Security. These 2 men were so wonderful to me 2 years ago when I had that tubing accident. “Wonderful” does not even cut it. They both helped me in such a “spiritual” way, it would blow your mind. They had such beautiful hearts and were so full of peace. Long story that I won’t get into but to think they were replaced by the clowns walking around the pool is very saddening to me. (I should note they are not all clowns, just some of them )