October 29-November 19

[huffdaddy]

Another great trip to Aruba. Our 16th year and still loving it!

10/29- Travel day was smooth. Car rental at Aruba Royal was perfect as usual. Check in at the Renaissance was smooth as silk. Enjoyed Cilo and Angelo Koolman on guitar and vocals. Great way to ease into our three week stay.

10/30- Gorgeous first full day. Breakfast at the Pancake house. Groceries at Ling's and off the the Renaissance private island for some sun and catch up with our friends. Que Pasa for dinner. If you haven't tried Que Pasa for a while, DO IT! They are back with a great menu and the best service. Ard Slot is the new chef and takes his craft very seriously. Stopped by Cuba's Cookin' for a Mojito and some latin sounds.

10/31- Another beautiful day of sun and fun. Then to Driftwood for blackened sea bass. Always good. If you don't come downtown to the restaurants there, you are missing some of the best Aruba has to offer.

11-/1- Yet another perfect weather day. Been lucky so far. To Marandi for sunset and the "grouper marandi". Wow, what a treat. Grouper stuffed with boursin cheese wrapped around a scallop mousse. a must every trip!

11/2- Woke to rain. That's OK, we will use this day to explore and see all that Aruba has to offer. Checked out the new Barefoot restaurant, Nikky beach, Alto Vista Chapel, Tierra del Sol, the highrises, low rises and most of the cunucu. Had a Bingo Burger! For dinner, simple four cheese pizza at Casa Tua downtown. Very tasty. All I could handle after that "Bingo Burger".

11/3- Another perfect Aruba weather day! Lots of sun. To Yemanja wood fired grille for dinner. Another outstanding downtown restaurant that should not be missed. By the way, the gambling on this trip has been shockingly good. We are NOT losing. Makes the trip all that much better.

11/4- Week one comes to a close. Great first week. Walked all of downtown. Marina, shops, straw market, up town, checked out the new 5 story condo complex with Christian, one of the contractors. Cool place. a bit out of my price range at $2,000,000 plus per unit. To Papiamento for another fantastic dining experience. Eduardo Ellis has a jewel of a restaurant and great staff. From Looi and Jennifer to the brilliant musician playing guitar and singing on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, this place is a must at least three times per visit!

11/5- Tropical storm Tomas reared his ugly head today. Wind is all wrong and waves are tearing everything up from here to the lighthouse. Bugaloe bar for lunch on the pier. Picked up more groceries and back for some pool time in the rain. Ate at Cilo again and enjoyed Angelo and his guitar.

11/6- The weather is still shaky at best. several of our friends arrived on the island today. Lots to catch up on with them. Simple Caprese salad and pizza at Casa Tua tonight.

11/7- The weather is really bazaar! Drove to the blowholes past the lighthouse. Malmok beach was roaring with 6-8 foot waves crashing and spraying up to the road! Haven't seen this since the "hundred year" storm. Wow! Lunch at Tierra del Sol and saw Alice, formerly of the Waterfront Crab House. Enjoyable setting and awesome crab soup in the bread bowl! To Rembrandt's for dinner. It was good, but, not off the charts. Good prices for what you get for sure. went to bugaloe to see the "Untouchables" band, but, the pier was closed due to wave damage. Took out about 10 feet of the pier!

11/8- The day started rainy. Checked out the catches at the marina. Lot of wahoo, cuda and a huge squid. The sun came back out! To the private island for sun and lunch at Papagayo. Another great dinner at Driftwood.

11/9- weather is better today. Private island, pool and our friends from Cincinnati arrived at 5:00pm. A little reception, sunset from our balcony and to Cilo for a light bite. Gambling update through 10 days....PLUS $228! Amazing.

11/10- Pancake house for breakfast, took a walk, rain started again. Driftwood for more sea bass. Casino for more winning! All in all, a pretty good day.

11/11- Happy Veteran's Day! Breakfast in the room and to the private island, pool time, quick nap, sunset and to Que Pasa for another fabulous meal. Shrimp in a Blue cheese and shitake mushroom sauce. Oh yeah!

11/12- Third and final week begins. The usual daytime activities followed by a killer dinner at Marandi. Marandi salad, beef carpaccio, and golden snapper in a creole sauce. Coupled with a fine chardonnay, you have a meal to remember! Knock on wood, we are still winning at the casinos!

11/13- Weather was shaky, early, so, another day to explore the island. Hey, it is only 20 miles from stem to stern, so no big deal. another Bingo burger, more groceries and a simple Casa Tua dinner of pizza and salad.

11/14- Hit with a bit of a sinus condition. Enough said. Spent the day watching football and breaking even on my picks. Relaxing day. to Pinchos for another really great dinner. DW had the grouper and I did the Chicken sate with peanut sauce. Best I have ever had! Pleasantly surprised!

11/15- Not a good day. Weather sucks, played cards with friends indoors, boo! oh well, remember, we are in Aruba. Can't be too bad. Light dinner at Cilo and to the Seaport casino for another good night. So many good friends work so hard to make our stays so enjoyable. Thanks to all of you, our Aruban friends, for all you do for us!

11/16- Still ugly out, but, we are off to Baby Beach anyway. Glad we did. we got a 2 1/2 hour window for snorkeling and eating our Subways. Back for no sunset and watching the cruise ships depart. To Matthews for all you can eat ribs night. Oh my, that is a night that you cannot miss. The ribs fall off the bone and the sauce is perfect. Had three slabs by myself and proffiteroles for dessert. Just stupid good!

11/17- Another good weather day! Off to Baby Beach, again! Never get tired of that setting. Great snorkeling, great day, with great friends! Back to the Renaissance for sunset, cruise ships, happy hour and to Papiamento for a memorable dinner by the pool. Good night at the casino, again. For three weeks we are plus $437. Unheard of!

11/18- Pancake house for poffertijs and a day to start packing. weather is back to ugly at best. Laying around the pool. Taking it all in. Trying to capture some final rays. To El Faro Blanco for a beautiful sunset. Where did that come from?!?! We are glad we got to see that from the Tratorria setting. Just beautiful. Good way to finish the trip.

11/19- Travelling home with a lot of great memories. Weather could have been better, but, you make the best of it. The casinos treated us very well. Thank you! The food and service were among the best in recent memory. I only gained 2 pounds, even with all you can eat rib night! It pays to share meals and walk a lot! Thanks to all our local friends for making Aruba "one happy island". We really appreciate you! And, thanks to all our "timeshare" friends for all the great memories every year. Looking forward to our seventeenth year with all of you next year, same time, same place! God Bless you all.

Hope this was not too long, or boring. We just love Aruba!

[DANNYO]

Nice...sounds like another great Aruba vacation

[a1patti]

Huffdaddy, Thanks for a great trip report! Thanks for the delicious mouth watering entrees and restaurant picks, even though I have to wait until July!!

[Andrea J.]

in spite of the rain...it was great!
thank you for sharing.

[Windy]

Thanks for posting such a great report! (made me very hungry!) Sorry you didn't have better weather, but guess you take what you get! We also enjoy Papiamento's and go at least twice when we're there! and Mirandi's is a favorite too. You've mentioned some new spots that we'll have to try out next time!

[lindon]

Thanks for the trip report. It makes me feel like I am there. Can't wait to take my trip in July!

[qlaval]

Hey Gary nice report, indeed lots of rain compare to previous years still lots of fun.
Didn't have the chance to say a proper goodbye to you and your lovely wife Vicky as we left.
It was a PLEASURE meeting you both one more time.

Here's a small souvenir for you Gary...

[qlaval]

Originally Posted by huffdaddy

11/7- The weather is really bazaar! Drove to the blowholes past the lighthouse. Malmok beach was roaring with 6-8 foot waves crashing and spraying up to the road! Haven't seen this since the "hundred year" storm. Wow!

Saw a few of those on the coastline between the high and low rise...
Even the students weren't bothered by the rain...

[alelinda27]

Hello from Honduras , my fianze and I are planning to go to Aruba for our pre honey this weekend , BUT WE ARE A LITTLE BIT CONCERN about weather ,cause we are tanning lovers jeje, we are would to love to enjoy of som e sun ,,,can you please help me with this doubt ,,thnx,,,waiting for good news

[Terry Joz]

Great report, wish I were going soon