Welcome to the Aruba Forum

Dennis · Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2013 8:24 am Post subject:

I got a massage only once... I just can't believe I spent that much money for someone to "beat me up". I was sore and my back hurt all day. They are not for me.

explorer21 · Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2013 10:41 am Post subject:

It all depends on what kind of massage you get.

Dennis · Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2013 10:56 am Post subject:

It was in Mexico, head to toe, $125 and every major bone cracked, muscles tweeked, and I was sore because those muscles were not used. I am an older person, so exercise is not my thing.

My wife and friends loved it and the hot stones. Just not my thing.

explorer21 · Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2013 8:37 pm Post subject:

Sun 10/27...No I will not let the Red Sox ruin my vacation! Got up this morning at 7 and the four of us(yes my BIL too)went for a walk up the beach to check out the Ritz. I still can't figure out what they're going to do with the beach area. They brought in a huge amount of sand but there is still so much green out front. I don't know if they are allowed to take it out and what are they going to do with the boat loading area. Beautiful morning but by the time we had a breakfast sandwich and got to the beach the weather started to turn. For the first time on our vacation we had some rain. Started raining about 11:30 and lasted about an hour. It looked like it was going to be hit and miss rain for awhile so my wife and I thought we'd take off and do some shopping. Of course, it has to rain on the day most stores are closed. It was really kind of a wasted day because we didn't get much accomplished. Went back to the beach about 4 to take in some peace and quiet before getting ready to eat. We had a couple friends come it today so we'll probably start eating at some really good places. Not that we haven't already. Tonight we went simple and ate at one of our favorites. Smokey Joe's it is! DW, SIL both got pork bbq sandwiches, BIL got chicken bbq sandwich, and I got the dry rub ribs. I'm not much for bbq sauce but I love the dry rubbed. Got some ice cream at Baskin Robbins and came back to catch the game. This sure isn't the same Red Sox team I watched all year. Looking forward to my Linda's crepe tomorrow morning. It's been two days without! Hope your work week goes fast while my weeks crawls along. Good night!

~Amy~® · Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 3:23 pm Post subject:

I still remember getting my husband a masssage for Valentine's Day one year. I didn't really know the difference between places or massages at that time and he ended up with one that was more for heavy duty sports people. He said he felt like he was run over with a truck! LOL! (Well, it's funny now...)

But we both enjoyed the ones we've had at Spa del Sol. We might give Nafanny a try on this trip. Thanks for the info!

Hope you got another Dutch pancake this morning! Wink

explorer21 · Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 9:57 pm Post subject:

Of course I did Amy. Although I am already here, I envy your countdown. Yes, I know, I greedy.

explorer21 · Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 9:58 pm Post subject:

Mon 10/28...Red Sox win, Linda's dutch pancake, in ARUBA. What a great way to start a beautiful morning. Strawberries were my extra add on. You're probably getting tired of hearing it but it's ridiculous how much I look forward to my crepe. Three more before I leave the island. Today may have been the nicest day yet. Beautiful blue skies with a medium Aruba breeze. Spent all day on the beach(water). Another couple from home came in yesterday that are staying at the Bucuti so they will be joining most nights for dinner. I made some resv for the week. Chalet Suisse tonight, Madame Janette Wed, Pincho Fri, Screaming Eagle Sat, Daniels Sunday, and fill in from there. Look like a great lineup? Picked up our friends for our 6:30 resv at Chalet Suisse. This was our second visit there in the last 3 years. First visit was good but not great. Very nice ambiance and well run place. Wife had her first lobster tail on the island which was excellent. Very big piece of meat with great taste. SIL had crab stuffed grouper that was good, not great, BIL plain chicken...blah blah blah, he said was his best so far. Visiting couple had red snapper and sea bass. Both were also good, not great. I ordered for the first time ever, Duck. It was good but I was expecting something as good as my SIL had at Gianni's. Not close. I know a lot of people love this place but I thought it was just a little above average. I would go back again but feel no need to rush. Maybe every couple years for us. Back to catch the game. I'm nervous! Have a good Tuesday! Good night!

explorer21 · Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2013 11:04 pm Post subject:

Tues 10/29...Sox have won over 100 games this year, I'm only asking for one more win. That's not asking for too much is it? Opened my eyes to look at the beautiful blue waters but it was still dark so I rolled over to see what time it was and no power. Rolled out of bed about 7 and called front desk. They said most of the high rise area was down and since no one could make their coffee or breakfast they gave us all free passes to our big breakfast buffet at our restaurant, Pure Ocean. This is our newly remodeled restaurant and they did a very nice job. Beautiful open air beach side setting. We haven't tried the dinner yet, but breakfast was real good. Another great day at the beach. Had about 2 mins of light rain, the rest mostly sunny, nice breeze. Took our time coming off the beach since we didn't have a resv anywhere. Ended up picking our friends up at 7:15 because I couldn't pull myself away from the balcony. What a ridiculous sunset! I got some of the best pictures and video ever of Aruba sunsets. I wish I could share these pics with you, better yet, I wish you all were here to see it. I know most of you understand and share the same thoughts as I, but, I LOVE this island. I can't tell you the warm fuzzy feeling I get when I'm sitting on the beach or in the water and look around at where I am. What really amazes me is, this feeling is getting stronger each year! I don't take one second for granted. Anyway, we decided to lighten it up a little tonight and went to Mulligans at the Divi Golf. The group ordered 2 grouper sandwiches, 2 pizzas, a crab wrap, and a chicken sandwich(guess who). All dishes were great! I love their pizza and the comfortable feeling we get there. We walked upstairs to Windows and decided we were going to put that on our list for this year instead of waiting for next year. None of us have eaten there but were very impressed with the look and friends around the Divi were really talking it up this year. Unfortunately, we had to take one off the list and chose Screaming Eagle. We loved it there last year but it got the last minute bump. It'll be first on our list for next year. Went up to the mall and got some ice cream and Starbucks for dessert. Sat around talking and watching the interesting people walk by then called it a night. Need to get my sleep for some Linda's in the morning. Wishing everybody a happy "HUMP DAAAYY, YEAH!!!" Good night!

explorer21 · Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2013 11:39 pm Post subject:

Wed 10/30...This just in "SOX WIN...SOX WIN...SOX WIN!!! I'm allowed to talk about baseball on this forum because Xander Bogaerts plays for the Red Sox. What a big time player he will be. Anyway, back to the day. Yep it's Wednesday, crepe hump day. Added apples to the usual suspects. Good stuff! While at Linda's it dumped rain for about 15 mins which flooded some streets out front. By the time we were done eating the sun was out bright and stayed out the rest of the day. We stopped at Lings to pick up a few things then to the Alhambra shops. Wife likes one of the clothes stores there. On the beach by 11. Love the golden tan we get here. Different color than any other place we go. Picking our friends up at 6:45 to try and enjoy Madame Janette's before the game. Ok, of all nights to take, what seemed to be hours, to get our food, it was tonight. I was doing a lot of watch watching, but our waitress did give me the Wi-Fi password so I could keep track of the game on my phone. On to the food. My wife got the schnitzel, huge piece of meat and very tender and tasty. SIL got Mahi Mahi special, very good in a spicy sauce. Our friends got Snapper and Sea Bass that they both loved. I was hungry for a steak tonight so I got a filet mignon. It was very good but I still think Daniel's steaks are better. I think if I wasn't so keyed up for the game I would have enjoyed my meal a lot more. And, I had to save this one for last. BIL has been talking about how he needs to eat so healthy that he wanted to try to eat fish. Had a taste of his wife's almond crusted grouper last week at MJ's so thought he'd try it. Ordered it without almond crust and no spices. The first time he EVER ordered any type of fish. He wouldn't admit it, but I could see it was a struggle to get the whole thing down. It was a beautiful night and as always, enjoyed our dining experience there. Rushed home to catch up with the game in the 4th inning. Did I happen to mention the SOX WIN!!! Gotta try to get some sleep once my heart slows down. We have a day of shopping ahead of us. Happy Thursday to all. Good night!

~Amy~® · Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 7:27 am Post subject:

Another great day in Aruba...and another great crepe at Linda's! Cool

explorer21 · Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 7:59 am Post subject:

Amy, you bet! Safe travels to you and your husband tomorrow! Maybe I'll run in to you somewhere.

Dennis · Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 9:02 am Post subject:

Have another wonderful time. Will be thinking of you.

ArubaLisa · Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 10:15 am Post subject:

Explorer, Windows on Aruba is one of our favorites. Not inexpensive Crying or Very sad

, but fine dining. Wink

We've "dined" there about 4 times now and were never disappointed!

explorer21 · Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 9:50 pm Post subject:

Thur 10/31...Well, well, well, this happy camper woke up at 6 thinking about the game. eventually fell back to sleep until 7. Big day of shopping ahead. We always pick a day to go do our shopping downtown, usually waiting for a not so nice day. We are running out of time so decided to go today. Turns out this was the day to go since it started to rain while there. Bought the usual stuff, shirts, a little jewelry, and dreamed of some watches to wear while sitting in my 5 bdrm penthouse on the beach. Grabbed a bite to eat at Pizza and More and got to see the new trolley in action. What a nice setup. It's really nice what they're doing to the shopping area in back of the Renaissance. When we got back to the beach(cloudy), about 3, some friends told us they ate at the new Carpe Diem restaurant beside the Paddock. I haven't seen much written about the place but they loved it. Guess I'll put it on the list for next year. More rain about 4 that ran us off the beach. Hope this is a crazy front that will be short lived. We take and elderly couple we met at the Phoenix to Pizza Bob's each year and tonight was the night. It's such a simple pizza but we love the crispy crust and it's a break from some of the nicer places we go. Guess who got the pizza with only sauce on it. Might as well eat cardboard. We walked over to Baskin Robbins for some ice cream and called it an early night. I can hear Linda's calling me. It's starting to set in, we only have 3 full days left on the island. I am going to miss this place so much! Happy Friday everyone! Good night!

explorer21 · Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 10:58 pm Post subject:

Fri 11/1...Yes, I put the car on auto pilot and got to Linda's about 8:30. Added strawberries to the usual. It just doesn't get old to me. I could eat there everyday but I may not fit in my plane seat. Does that mean I would have to stay here? Not a very nice day until about 3:00. Not much more than sprinkles here and there but was very cloudy with threat of rain. We walked up the sidewalk to hit a few little shops along the way and stopped at Scot's Brats for a quick bite. They were out of brats so had a hot dog. Nice little place. By that time we could see the sun was breaking through so we headed back down to our beach and sucked in as much sun as we could before we had to get ready to make our 6:00 resv at Pinchos. We were debating all day whether to cancel since the weather was iffy. Glad we didn't because we had a beautiful sunset. This was our first time there and really like the setting. Seated right away, good service, nice views. SIL got grouper that she was very happy with. Came with rice and veggies. BIL(we shall call him Perdue) got CHICKEN. He wasn't too crazy about it because he asked for plain ol chicken but it was marinated before. The "other couple" got the special seafood mixed grill and twin lobster tails. She said it was her best meal so far this year and he said the lobster tails were very good. Both my wife and I got the skewer mixed grill. Steak, pork, chicken, chorizo, and shrimp. Although good, I could understand where my BIL was coming from. All the meat seemed to be marinated the same. It all tasted pretty much the same. I also had the Snickers pie which I liked very much. Overall, I'd go back there to eat, just order something else. Ended up going to the Paseo Harencia Mall to walk around a little then back to see our friend's penthouse at the Bucuti. Very nice, first class place! Came back to enjoy our last night in our penthouse since we have to change rooms tomorrow for the last couple of days on the island. Oh, I hate saying that, but reality is setting in that it's almost over for another 350 days. Everyone enjoy your weekend! I know I'm going to suck up every last happy moment I can while in my little paradise. Good night!