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Feb 26th - Mar 5th , 2005 BigPapas trip report part 3
Tuesday:1st. Of March-2005 - Day 4
I think it’s between 4am and 6am but my eyes wont focus , the clock is blurry. I lay back in bed and try to remember what happen last night. Today does not feel like Im in paradise and some how my heart has moved to my head because it is pounding like crazy. I look over and Georgene is sleeping with a pillow over her head. No she doesn’t normally sleep that way. She does wear ear plugs cause I snore, but once in a great while if by accident I may have had to much to drink ‘I kick it up a notch’. Well my eyes are focused now and its NOT between 4 and 6am, it’s 1am and if I know me I am up for the rest of the day. I go into the bath room and the light seems a little brighter than normal. I look in the mirror and you would swear I have been hit by a truck.
I crawl in to the shower and Im in there for like a half hour and this Aruban water must have healing powers because I feel a lot better. I get dressed and I take the pillow off of Georgenes head and she stirs and mumbles are you ok, and I say yea just go back to sleep. I right a note and head out to the blue pool area and the blue bar is still in swing. I make it almost all the way to the far hall and I hear “Big Papa I feel lucky”. Yea that’s my bartender so I turn around and head over there and every time I see this guy he’s got a smile on his face. He says the bar is closing down but what do I need. I said you don’t have any coffee do you and he says no but hold on and gets on the phone and says there is some on the way. Now get a visual of this. Here he is standing there - with a smile on his face - swaying back and forth and he looks like my favorite dog who wants his ears scratched . So I pull out my wallet and I don’t have any $5s so I pull out a ten and his eyes get as big as saucers. I don’t have the heart to ask for change so we play the game and he takes what feels like a half an hour and he wins and I’m happy. You know it’s not the money but the moment in time- the memories that we have. The money is made and spent but it’s the moments in time that I value the most. I don’t know if I will make it back to this beautiful island but if I do I will stop by here and hope to see him again.
11am - Papa Wito should be here anytime and he is bringing a lady with him that he calls an expert with plants -‘the plant lady’. George is getting around and says “well you had one heck of night and I said yea the Long Island Iced Tea’s were good - I just didn’t need to drink 8 cups in an hour. We meet Wito out by the Blue bar and he introduces us to a lady named Olinda Rasmijn and she is a retired teacher of biology and religion and organizes nature walks through Aruba’s hills -wetlands and deserts. Well it doesn’t take long before you realize that this woman has more energy than a 13 year old girl. We make plans for Olinda to pick us up tomorrow around 11:30 and go to a school to help plant a tree and then have lunch there. I’m starting to realize that Aruban people have a way of making you feel close to them right away. These are my kind of People.
We change into our swim wear and head out to the island and get some thing to eat and just veg out for the rest of the day. This weather is nothing short of Fantastic - every day.
3:30pm - We head back from the island because we have a 4:30 time set for a sunset sail on the Octopus sail boat. This boat sails from the beach at the Holiday Inn and Jethro is the owner. He says that 20 people have set this time, but there are only 11 of us. He shuttles us out in a little motor boat and we board the sail boat. We have never been on a sail boat before and I can tell you that you just float across the water. There is something about being on the water that awakens all your senses. Jethro is a tall thin man with wild long blonde hair and has been offering tours for 19 years. He offered us drinks and cheese and answered all questions. We covered the waters on the south side of the island, all the way to the golf course. If you want to see a sunset this is one heck of a way to do it. Georgene and I just laid back and took it all in. Unbelievable is how this feels - the wind in your hair -floating across the water and my girl by my side. I have to pinch my self just to make sure that I’m not dreaming. In Georgene’s face I can see what I feel - She’s a good looking woman but with a tan she is gorgeous. As we hold hands - we watch the sunset on another day in paradise. Right at this time I’m exactly where I want to be and with the woman I want to be with. The sail lasted about 2 hrs. and I told Jethro I wasn’t getting off. It was $25.00 per person and the best value we found. We will do this again and would hope everyone can feel what we felt.
We take the cab and head back to the Ren. And we didn’t get enough water because we get into our swim wear and jump into the Blue pool. I’m sure people thought we were crazy but I can tell you we just acted like 2 little kids. George would spread her legs apart and I would swim between them and try not to touch her. This game wasn’t very fair because I’m 3 times the size as her. We took turns seeing how long we could hold our breath. This is what Aruba can do to you - bring out the kid inside you. I played these games in the water when I was 10years old, and I bet I haven’t had this felling in 35 years.
It’s 8:00pm and I am showered and dressed and George is still working on it. We haven’t made plans for dinner, so I go out to the front desk area and get directions for a place called ElGaucho. I have heard that they have great steaks -Argentine Beef. It sounds like it’s not very far from the Ren. maybe a 10 min. walk. I have never had argentine beef before but I have heard it is good. George is ready and looking like a million bucks and we take off walking. We are taking the back streets and the lights are a little dimmer than were we have had to walk before. We walk past the police station and there is a note in the window that says it is closed. How could a police station be closed? George kind of freaks and puts a death grip on my arm. She says “That’s ok - I have got my man with me” and I guess it was my rural up bringing talking because I said “That’s right - They’ll have to go thru the barn to get to the cow” and she looks at me like I just called her a cow and I said”no Dear I said I was so hungry I could eat a cow. Well I was hungry- there is something about being around and swimming in water that makes you hungry. We walk in to ElGaucho and there is about 4 couples waiting to check in. It’s 9pm on a Tuesday night and this placed is packed. I hear the lady tell the older couple in front of us that it’s going to be a bout an hours wait and that if they want they can go next door and have a drink and she would buzz then when a seat was ready. They give you a little buzzer thing that will start buzzing when they are ready.. The older lady turns around and says to me “it’s worth the wait” so we grab our buzzer and go across the street to Garufa. It’s kind a like a piano bar and is owned by ElGaucho, and this place is packed to We are looking for a spot to sit and I see the older couple from the restaurant and they motion for us to come sit with them. So we sit with them and make small talk and they say they have been coming to Aruba for 25 years and come to ElGaucho every trip. There seems to be a lot of people that have come to Aruba 10 - 15 - 25 years in a row and I am beginning to understand why. They get buzzed and with in minuets ours goes off and we head back over and get seated. George orders the ribeye and I order a shrimp cocktail and the Gaucho steak. Where holding hands and she’s got a smile on her face, and I realize that I don’t think I have ever seen her smile this much - this often ever This is also what Aruba can do for you - put a smile on your face. Our waiter comes out and says “sorry sir we our out of the Gaucho steak. So I check the menu again and I see Porterhouse -market price. I have never see a steak that said market price, I have seen Lobster or King Crab legs say that. Well that excites me and the waiter says - It’s $40.00 and it’s 35oz. Oh my - It’s calling my name, so I order that and Georgene says are going to be able to eat all of that and I say- that if I’m going to pay that kind of money I might even eat the bone. Well our food comes rather quick and this Porterhouse could have a zip code, it’s huge. I ordered it medium and it’s perfect. Georgene’s ribeye looks good to. 5 bites into my steak and I know that I will destroy this thing. Now I have had A LOT of good steak in my life and I can tell you this goes down in the record books. No sauce -no nothing -just the steak and half way thru the steak and George says that I am ‘humming’ as I eat. She says her steak is the best she has ever had. We both give this place high marks, it’s not fancy like L.G. Smith’s but this food rules. Yes I ended up chewing on bone , I’m kinda like a big old dog - Scratch my ear and feed me and where friends for life. We waddle back to the hotel and just die. Another fantastic day has come to an end, and tomorrow is the big day. I don’t tell George but my mind is already trying to figure how we can come back to this island.
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