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explorer21 · Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2012 10:03 pm Post subject: Divi Phoenix...10/20 - 11/6

Sat 10/20...Instead of a post travel trip report I'm going to try to keep up with a boring daily report. A little about my gang, we are from the Hershey, PA area and and this is our 5th straight year to Aruba I travel with my wife, her sister and husband. My SIL won't be able to make it till the second week this year, so it's just the 3 of us for now. We are all in our mid 50's. We bought a 2 bdrm, 2 story penthouse unit at the Divi Phoenix during pre-constuction and think we are at the best place on the island. We stay 2 weeks at the end of Oct every year and love this time of year because it is far less crowded and delays our hatred for the cold weather for a little while. We are here for 2 reasons, lay in the sun and eat(need to throw in some shopping too). We've done most of the island touring so its mostly beach time. We took our flight from Harrisburg to Philly then to Aruba yesterday morning getting here at off we went to our customary first meal at Mulligans. DW had club sandwich, BIL but thought hamburger(you will see this alot), and me a brick oven pizza. They never dissapoint and it's such a welcome home feeling when we look out over the golf course and feel the warm Aruba breezes. The weather is mostly cloudy with spotty showers. We heard it hasn't been very good weather the last week. Since we got in so early we decided to get our grocery shopping done before the other flights got here. Do most of our shopping at Lings then drove up to see the progress of the Ritz before checking in. Go settled in and just decided to hit Smokey Joes for a quick bite before calling it a night. DW and BIL both had pork BBQ and me a burger. We were all tired from getting up at 3 that morning so watched a little TV and off to bed.

Sun 10/21...Got up at 7, looked out the window and saw dark clouds and layed back down. Didn't wake up until 10 to more ugly skies but thought we'd still hit the beach just in case. Good thing we did because although the skies never fully cleared we were still able to see the sun and get some tan. Turned out to be a much better day than I thought it might be. We ate at Pure Beach for lunch. DW had chicken fingers while I had chicken ceasar wrap. Food was ok but nothing to write home about(just the forum). Stayed on the beach till 5 then got ready to eat. Had dinner at Matthews. DW had a chicken skewer, BIL a burger, me a prociutto wrapped chicken breast. Very good meal and best of all the setting. Sometimes we don't have the best meal there(although usually very good) but always enjoy the experience. Best profiteroles on the island. Sometimes we'll just go there for dessert. Got home to watch some football and baseball and call it a night. Looking forward to my first dutch pancake of the year at Linda's. This is one of my favorite meals of the trip. You will be hearing the name a lot in the next 17 days.

~Amy~® · Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 7:18 am Post subject:

Love the daily reports! Cool

costumer · Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 10:57 am Post subject:

Love daily reports...makes us feel we are there with you!

Susan

dutchdushi · Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 1:52 pm Post subject:

Yeah...daily reports. They are the best. Enjoy!

Glenn · Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:25 pm Post subject:

[quote="costumer"]Love daily reports...makes us feel we are there with you!

Susan[/quote]

Hi there Explorer21,

I love the daily reports as well. Makes us all feel like we are right with you. How about we all join you for drinks? I'm still a Heineken guy.

Here's a suggestion and a plug. During your vacation, for lunch, give Scott's Brats a try. A fellow from Wisconsin opened a food place selling, well, bratwurst, etc. Directions? Well you got me there but Arubanista Amy (Amy, I just dreamed that up) has been there and she can tell you where it is and what it's like. I think Scott's is into year 2.

Looking forward to more daily reports.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday.

Glenn

~Amy~® · Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 5:57 pm Post subject:

Oh yeah....Scott's Brats - good casual food. Located in front of the Playa Linda (beach side) and only open for breakfast and lunch. Also has a "make your own" bloody mary bar.

ARUBAISLANDGIRL · Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 8:49 pm Post subject:

Thank you for sharing your daily activities with all of us.. OMG I'm gonna have to check out the make your own bloody Mary's. That's my FAVORITE drink! I only have 17 days left.

explorer21 · Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 9:41 pm Post subject:

Mon 10/22...Nice to get so much response. First, you may have figured out that I love Linda's Pancakes. Last year I ate there 6 times in 2 weeks and don't plan on slowing down. I always get my standard banana, walnut, whipped cream crepes and usually add on to that. Today I added mango. Oh, how I missed them. My DW just gets plain with strawberry jam and my SIL(who isn't here yet) loves the brie, walnut, and honey. My BIL didn't go because they don't serve hamburger crepes. Going to bed Sun night, the moon was out bright so I was looking forward to a great tanning day. I was so disappointed to see a sky full of dark clouds out our back window this morning. We decided to make this our shopping day so my DW and I went downtown to get the usual t-shirts, and knick knacks, and check out some nice watches and jewelry. Although still full from Linda's I had to check out the new little Italian shop, Pizza and More, on Main St. Just had a personal pizza and was very good and the owners were extremely friendly. We got back to the Phoenix about 3:30 and got our owners meeting in before we went down to the beach to sit and complain about the weather. It really didn't rain, just not a good sunny day that we're used to here. Things will start getting better tomorrow. We have our favorite restaurants we hit every year but try to mix in some new places. Tonight we were hungry for a good steak going on some good reviews we decided on Daniel's Steak and Chops. It sits behind Gianni's and Hard Rock. Well, I'm not a seafood person like my DW and SIL, and I know a good steak, that my friends, was one of the best filets I've had in quite some time. My BIL and I both got filets and my DW got the shrimp tempura. It was a very nice outing with great service and great food for all of us. We may just go back again when my SIL gets here next week even if she is the biggest seafood eater of us all. I know people will say, "what about El Gaucho?" We've eaten there 3 times and while I can say I've had 3 great steaks there, each year the atmosphere seems to go down. It has become so loud with the packed in crowd and singers begging for money. Mostly, it irritates me when the waiters hand you the check and give you a sob story how the 15% service charge is split up so many ways and they get very little so add more. I always give the extra 5% but will not go over the 20% I always give no matter how it's split up. Sorry, it just rubs me the wrong way so I won't be going back for a while. Got a little side tracked there. Stopped and grabbed some Dunkin coffee and headed home to catch the 7th game of the NLCS. Gonna hit the sack when the game is over so I can get up early to catch all the sun tomorrow. Fingers crossed! Wow, that went on forever. Goodnight!

I do have Scott Brats on my list for both breakfast sandwiches and lunch. I hang on Amy's every word. It's like my Aruba bible when she speaks. It's great to have someone share so much of their knowledge to us somewhat newbies.

~Amy~® · Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 10:48 am Post subject:

Linda's pancakes - yum!!! Very Happy

Looks like you have Tropical Storm Sandy hanging around the area. Hope she moves along so that the rest of your days are sunny ones! Cool

JohnT · Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 11:34 am Post subject:

We missed out on Linda's this year.
Thought we would go on Sunday after attending church at Santa Anna's in Noord.
Alas, Linda's is closed on Sundays.
So, we got the idea to try the Dutch Pancake House in the Seaport Casino/Renaissance Marketplace mall.
They were good and satisfied the immediate need, but to be honest, my vote goes to Linda's.

My Sandy is not too disturbed by having a named Tropical Storm. They say Florida will have some rain, high surf, some beach erosion and windy conditions. Hope no one is negatively affected and that she veers out to sea.

explorer21 · Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 1:41 pm Post subject:

thanks amy, im trying to think positive.

i def think lindas is better! and please tell you sandy to call this sandy up to fl with you. we've had enough

explorer21 · Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2012 9:25 pm Post subject:

Tues 10/23...Well, I was awoken at 8 by the pitter patter of rain on the metal roof outside my bedroom window. I just wanted to bury myself under the covers. It rained till about noon and never really cleared up. I hate to keep crying about my lack of tan but in the 5 years coming here I've never missed more than one day a year on the beach. Now it's been 2 in a row. I know everybody says a rainy day in Aruba is better than a sunny day working. I'll stand by that but feeling the heat of the bright sun would make a big difference in my mood. Sandy, please take your act up North. We ended up going shopping AGAIN, this time to Paseo Herencia and the Palm Beach Mall. A lot of places didn't open until 2 or 3. Stopped in for a bite of lunch at Le Bistro at Paseo Herencia where Taste of Belgium used to be. My DW and I split the grouper fingers and steak sandwich. They were both very good with the fingers having a crispy coating and tender steak on a french baguette. Oh and stopped for some peanut butter gelato across the street. I starved myself for 3 months before we came down so I can let loose for 17 days. I gain a good 10 lbs while here and takes months to get it off. Why does it come on so fast and stay so long. It is worth it though. Got our shopping done(is it ever done?) and went down to sit on the beach with my BIL. He sat through all the rain and afternoon clouds and haze.....We just got back from another first try restaurant. I'm really a meat and potatoes guy(not as bad as my BIL) but there are a couple asian meat dishes I can eat. We went to JH Yees Asian Bistro above Hard Rock. The service was fantastic and friendly. My DW had pan fried noodles with chicken and veggies, BIL wok chicken and broccoli, and I had Mongolian beef. All very good in a nice atmosphere. Good dining experience. I will add this to my "go again" list. Now I get to close my eyes and dream of my upcoming crepes. Goodnight!

~Amy~® · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 8:34 am Post subject:

Well, at least all of your shopping is done, right? Wink

I had lunch at Le Bistro, too - thought it was very good. Wanted to go back and try dinner there but just never had enough nights to squeeze it in again.

Haven't tried JH Yee's (it always seems to get good reviews) but did try the Indian restaurant next door, Tandoor, and really liked it alot. It's a nice change from the usual steak/fish restaurants in Aruba.

How was Linda's this morning?

explorer21 · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 9:21 am Post subject:

really amy, is the shopping ever done? you're right, there just never seems to be enough days to get all the restaurants in because you stick with your favorites and want to try new ones. also, right about a nice change from the meat/fish. not that i dont love them.

linda's was outstanding. we asked for them a little crispier and i added almonds to my usual walnuts, banana, whipped cream. made the nuts crunchy. cant wait for friday, not that im wishing my days away!

~Amy~® · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 9:43 am Post subject: