Day 2 - June 15th
Ok, for some reason I woke up early. Granted, we did have a couple drinks on the balcony and went to bed a bit earlier than usual but still, for me to be awake before 6am is highly unusual unless I have a flight to catch or an early international conference call.
I left Deb in the bed, went down to the coffee shop here in the Hilton, it’s really good. Got me a large coffee and went to explore the Sunrise. It was overcast so no real sunrise, but it was so nice and cool. I walked down pass the Riu and to where the new building is being built. I think someone said it’s going to be another RIU property? It’s huge for sure. I found me a lounge chair and sat there and watched the Cruise ship Allure of the Sea come in. For those that don’t know, you can always check the schedules here: https://www.arubaports.com/main/cruiseship-schedules
Came back and brought more coffee for Deb, she got up and we shared that on the balcony, such a nice start to the day! We are off to Bugaloe for Breakfast, we love it there. The view in the morning, the fish in the water, and the food is very good. I had the American Breakfast, it has 2 eggs, bacon, sausage, a hashbrown patty, 2 small pancakes, 2 pieces of toast and a piece of watermelon! All for $14. Deb got the steak breakfast tacos which she said were amazing, two large tacos with a spicy sauce for $12. Mimosa and coffee and we were out for about $34 before tip. We love the food and the vibe here so much we will most likely eat breakfast and lunch here till we move to the Marriott!
We had our Palapa and were on the beach by 8:30am. Fairly busy day when the cruisers rolled up from the Allure of the Seas. Security was really good about keeping them out of the Hilton’s Palapas. Most of them settled in the area right beside Bugaloe, no big deal.
Much time spent in sea of valium, palapa was in the back so I could conveniently pop back and forth to the pool that I love to do. The Hilton’s pools are all zero entry and just really nicely done and well kept.
Back to Bugaloe for lunch. It’s so convenient to the Hilton, we can almost keep an eye on the palapa while we are there and its only a 2 min walk nextdoor. Lunch was busier that normal due to many cruise folks there. Had to wait a bit but got a good table near the waters edge so we could watch all the boats come back and forth. I had my fish basket again; Deb got the Grouper Ceviche appetizer and the Calamari appetizer. We shared the Calamari and she ate the salad out of my fish basket..lol Food consistently good, a few Amstel Brights and Vodka Cranberries and we were on our way back to the palapa. Such a nice long afternoon in the sun, surf and pool.
As some of you may remember, this time at the Hilton is what I have referred to for years as “Pre-Vacation”. These are the days before we actually check in for our week at the Ocean Club timeshare. Pre-vacation is a critical element of vacation preparation. It allows one to get “wound down” before hitting your vacation week. For me it’s a psychological thing, Deb says I’m just using it as an excuse to add more days..lol
After having a drink on the balcony, we walked over to Casa Tua. This is one of our favorites. It looks like they have expanded their seating area. I am not sure if that was due to covid or if maybe they get busier during the high season times and needed the space. Once again, they proved to be consistently very good. Service was excellent, Deb had a glass of wine, I had a Bacardi with a splash of diet coke. We decided to go with just appetizers since we were at the Hilton, managing leftovers is not easy. We went with the Beef Carpaccio ( Deb’s favorite), Escargot for me, and we shared the Calamari. All were perfect! There was a gentle breeze and temps have only been in the low/mid 80’s this trip so very nice to sit there and not sweat!
So, I will end the Day 2 report with an interesting dilemma I encountered. I am a creature of habit when it comes to my cocktail of choice. I love the plain Bacardi white Superior with a “splash” of Diet Coke. That is my go to drink. I even bring a couple of the plastic bottle fifths with me in the suitcase. I keep them in gallon zip lock bags which then get reused during the trip ( pro tip ) . Now the dilemma, when I went into the Hilton’s market thingy, the only thing any of them had was regular Coke and Coke Zero Sugar, NO Diet Coke. Now, before you say I am being picky, trust me, Coke No Sugar, is NOT Diet Coke, no way, not in this world/planet. So this morning I walked out of the Hilton in search of Diet Coke. Now, I actually googled it and found some disturbing information. Some of them even said that Aruba was only going to be selling regular coke and Coke No Sugar, hmmmm. Still I ventured out. 1st minimarket near Hilton, no go, then I went to the minimarket down across from the Holiday Inn that I have gone to for probably 15+years, walked in and she had it ! Canned “Normal” Diet Coke. I told her she made my day.
Now, at this point your probably saying, “Brad has a real problem with soft drinks”. No, I can assure you its under complete control. In reality, I probably only drink about a third of a can when I am having a few drinks on the weekend. Anyway, problem resolved. I am sure Superfood most likely has it as well, we just haven’t ventured there yet. Thanks for letting me share, I really do feel better now.