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La Cabana Resort, 2001
By Stacy
Let me just preface this by saying that my heart goes out to those who lost loved ones in the tragic events of 9-11-01.
My wonderful 3-week vacation to Aruba was split into 2 parts - pre and post 9-11-01. It definitely made a divisive line for everyone. My thought and observations are at the end of this report.
GETTING TO ARUBA - 8-26-01
Flew USAir from Philly to Aruba. The flight was on time and we had no problems. Cleared immigration quickly and got our bags. Cleared customs with no problem.
CAR RENTAL
Rented a Toyota Tercel for 3 weeks from Jansen Car Rental at the airport. Got a great rate over the Internet and the car was waiting for us. I'd highly recommend them.
HOTEL
Stayed at the Bucuti Beach Resort in the low-rise section of the hotels. Stayed here numerous times before and still love the place. The Bucuti is a lovely hotel with just 3 floors. Great views from all of the rooms. The service is wonderful and the staff is very accommodating and helpful. The hotel is directly on the most beautiful stretch of beach. There were always plenty of huts on the beach for shade. There is beach service, too, for drinks and lunch. The Pirate's Nest Restaurant is located at the Bucuti right on the beach. They serve a great breakfast buffet, lunch, and dinner. Also at the restaurant is the Sand Bar. This is a great outdoors beach bar. Happy Hour is from 4 to 6 daily - drinks are ½ price with the exception of beer, wine, and soft drinks. They also have snacks during Happy Hour. If you want seclusion and relaxation, this IS the hotel for you.
ACTIVITIES
Tried a massage, facial, manicure and pedicure at the Intermezzo Day Spa at La Cabana. (They also have other locations.) The massage and facial were a first for me. I didn't consider the massage anything to write home about, but the facial was WONDERFUL! I had considered going back for another before I left, but circumstances didn't allow it. The manicure and pedicure weren't great either. I had to go back to have my fingernail polish redone the following day. I wouldn't recommend them, as there are many other spas on the island and in the bigger hotels.
Went to visit the Donkey Sanctuary. I'm glad I went! Those guys are so cute! There are about 30 wild donkeys living there now. Some had been hurt and were brought to the sanctuary and some were rounded up to be taken care of before they got hurt. There were 2 babies there at the time. Cute! The donkeys are taken care of by volunteers. They take care of their ears, give then vitamins and medicines, and take care of any medical problems they have. They also have them fixed so that there is no inbreeding. They are opening another sanctuary near San Nicolas because they are running out of room. To hear the stories of some of the conditions in which they receive these donkeys is heartbreaking. What people do to animals is unbelievable. The sanctuary is open to the public on the last Sunday of each month. There is a Jeep tour that goes there too. You can feed the donkeys carrots and make your donation to help save them. You wouldn't believe how expensive hay is on the island.
Went horseback riding at my favorite ranch, Rancho Notorious. Barb, the owner, just had a baby! Congrats, Barb!! The ranch is clean and well maintained. They have quite a selection of horses and all are taken care of very, very well. All of the employees of the ranch are extremely nice and helpful, even if you've never been on a horse. They take their time and make you feel comfortable and secure. I would highly, highly recommend them for a nice scenic ride through the Aruba cunucu. Wear sunscreen, long pants and sneakers. There's many a cactus out there!
Visited the Butterfly Farm for the first time in my 21 years of visiting the island and I'm very happy that I did. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Marco, our guide, went through everything you would ever want to know about butterflies! From caterpillar to death. There are many examples of different species of butterflies and moths from around the world. There are also examples of caterpillars and cocoons. They have cabinets where they store the butterflies that are just about to be born and those that were just born and are drying out their wings in preparation for their first flight. Once you pay your $10 fee and take a tour, you can come back and visit as many times as you like during your stay on the island. They have a cute gift shop, also. And remember, if a butterfly lands on you - make a wish!!
I really relaxed this time, so that's all the activities!!
RESTAURANTS
Here goes!
Salt-n-Pepper - near the hi-rises, specializing in tapas… like appetizers as meals. You can order as few or as many as you like and try a sampling of many different dishes. Great for sharing. Good service. Bill came to $42.50 for 2 people with out a service charge. 4 Amstel Brights @ $5 a piece (yikes!), glass of wine, 4 tapas, 1 big salad, and cappuccino.
Pirate's Nest (Bucuti) - Breakfast Buffet $12.95 per person - $29.78for 2 with service charge. Eggs and omelets made to order, bacon, sausage, ham, fruits, breads, cheeses, cereals, coffee, juice, and Champagne. You really fill yourself up!
Eetcafe the Paddock - this is the restaurant downtown with the cow, VW and dinosaur on the roof. Good food and good service, fun place. Had lunch - 2 Amstel Brights @ $2.50 a piece (MUCH cheaper!), ice tea, tuna salad plate, order of fries, sandwich - $16.50 without service charge.
Marina Pirata - WONDERFUL restaurant! Quite a drive past the airport, but well worth it. This was the only restaurant we went to twice. You sit on a deck on the water and can watch the sunset if you go early enough, which I never did… Great service, very friendly. Bottle of wine, escargot (the BEST I have ever had in my whole life!!), shrimp cocktail, broiled lobster tail (they throw the shell into the water and you can watch the fish eat!), conch with oyster sauce, cappuccino - $79 without service charge. I would highly recommend this restaurant. The second time, I had the chef's special - fish (I had barracuda) with shrimp on top and gouda cheese melted on it with a Creole sauce - DELICIOUS!!!
Papiamento Restaurant - The atmosphere here is great - outside seating (or indoor) next to a pool (the pool was quite clean…). Service was great and the food was too. Bottle of wine, 2 pea soups, lamb chops, seafood pasta, cappuccino, and 2 desserts - $118 with service charge. Delicious meal.
Gilligan's (Radisson beach bar) - Had lunch - Amstel Bright ($4). Diet Coke, ice tea, chicken sandwich, fish sandwich - $31 with service charge.
Avallones - GREAT restaurant (the only reason why we didn't go twice is because they closed a few weeks for holiday). 2 glasses of wine, stuffed artichokes, Caesar salad, penne pasta and spaghetti (which my mother brought with her due to a wheat allergy) - $46 with out service charge. Tom, the owner and chef, was kind enough to prepare my mother's rice pasta for her in one of his delicious sauces. I'd highly recommend this restaurant!!
The Patio Café - Located at the Seaport Mall at the end where the tiger habitat is - had lunch - salmon salad plate, crab salad sandwich… and I forgot the rest - $21 with service charge, I think. Great place for lunch while you're shopping.
French Steak House (Manchebo) - The old stand-by… bottle of Asti, escargot, stuffed mushroom caps, chicken cordon bleu, filet mignon, cappuchino - $89 with service charge.
Le Dome - Disappointing. Nice atmosphere and great service, but too expensive for the food you got. Bottle of wine, 2 Belgian onion soup (prefer French onion), Caesar salad (split), duck a l'orange (chewy), lobster salad ß supposed to be a big salad, but was just a few chunks of lobster with a leafy decoration, cappuccino, 2 desserts - $92 without service charge. Totally expensive with small portions. The lobster salad was $19 as an appetizer or as an entrée. It was worth like $7 - you'd get more meat in a shrimp cocktail. First time trying this restaurant and probably the last. They closed for a few weeks for holiday.
Balashi Pool Bar (Hyatt) - Lunch - drinks, grilled salmon salad, grilled panini sandwich - $36 with service charge. Good food, but expensive! Hey, it's the Hyatt, what'd you expect?
Tabaskos Restaurant (Bushiri Hotel) - GREAT, GREAT new restaurant!!! Outdoor dining either under the canopy or out on the lawn. You really don't hear the traffic. Very, very quaint and charming. Great food and great service. Had some beers, glass of wine, French onion soup, pork tenderloin, shrimp scampi risotto and maybe cappuccino… - $58 with out service charge. The portions are big and this place is well worth the money. Would have gone back, but ran out of time. Wanted to try the Sangria that is served in little tin pails!!
Pega Pega Bar Sunday BBQ (Manchebo) - This BBQ is served each Sunday from like 11am to 5pm, I believe, or close to those hours. It costs $6.95 per person (a steal) and you get chicken, ribs, rice, beans, corn on the cob, roll, and coleslaw. Great BBQ!! Great deal!! It gets busy and a lot of locals come to this BBQ because it is such a deal.
Paparazzi Restaurant (Seaport Mall near tiger) (there's also one near the hi-rises) - Carafe of wine, Hawaiian pizza, saltimbaca romana, cappuccino - $67 with service charge. THE best pizza!!!
Iguana Joes (Downtown) - Ice tea, 2 Corona ($4.00 each), Keshi Yena, burger - $30 without service charge. Great place to people watch.
House of Cheng (near the Mill restaurant) - New Chinese restaurant in the same building as the new driving range. 4 glasses of wine ($3.50 each), sliced beef appetizer, fried pork, crab with noodles, cappuccino, cheesecake - $59 with out service charge. The food was good, service good. I don't think this place has caught on yet, it was very deserted.
Amazonia (formerly Texas de Brazil) - $33.50 all-u-can-eat salad bar and meat selections carved tableside. Make sure you don't fill up on salad! There is like 12 or 13 different meat selections from Filet Mignon to Rack of Lamb, chicken, pork and sausage. Dinner is served with a few different side dishes and the most absolutely delicious cheese rolls. 2 dinners, pitcher of white sangria ($25), cappuccino, cheesecake - $117 with service charge (I believe). Great place if you are not a vegetarian. Sangria was great. Service was excellent and friendly. Go early so you get the freshest meat selections.
Que Pasa - A nice local out-of-the-way place kinda near El Gaucho. French onion soup, seafood salad, seafood pasta - $46 without service charge. Very inexpensive and quaint.
Le Petit Café (next to the Playa Linda) - Breakfast Buffet for $6.95. A nice little buffet at a great price, no service charge. There was scrambled eggs, French toast, sausage, bacon, toast, coffee and a few other things. Food was good and there wasn't a crowd. Good breakfast.
Gilligan's Thursday Night Seafood Buffet (Radisson) - This is a new buffet for Gilligan's. The buffet costs $29 plus service charge and you can add on an open bar for $7.75 plus service charge. The open bar is draft beer, wine, rum punch and some others. The seafood buffet was extensive. In addition to the seafood items, there were excellent grilled steaks! Plenty of food for $29. Service was excellent - I don't think my draft beer was empty once! They have a DJ that gets the crown going. A very nice dinner!
Buccaneer Restaurant - Great atmosphere with all the tableside fish tanks and the giant tank in the other room. 2 shrimp cocktails, chicken soup, seafood casserole, cheesecake, cappuccino, beer and wine - $53 with service charge. A very good restaurant.
King's Ribs - $16 for a King's Combo for lunch (for two of us). Pork ribs, beef ribs, BBQ chicken, corn, potato salad…. A great deal!! Plenty of food and we had leftovers. Great deals on BBQ! Excellent food!
El Gaucho - My all-time favorite restaurant! Large pitcher of white Sangria ($20), GAUCHO STEAK (EXCELLENT), Rib eye steak, cappuccino, cheesecake - $79 with service charge. Great food and great prices. We sat upstairs, and yes they do have stairs in case of emergency. Don't miss this restaurant.
La Dolce Vita - Bottle of wine, lasagna, spaghetti (mom's special pasta), cappuccino, 2 desserts - $75 without service charge. Great Italian food and wonderful desserts.
Madame Janettes - This place is always HOT, dress accordingly. Great atmosphere with the twinkling lights everywhere. Service is hit or miss, they always seem to be unorganized in the 3 times we've eaten there. Bottle of wine, soup, Chicken "Petit Sabine", rack of lamb, cappuccino, cheesecake - $68 without service charge.
Hooter's - Lunch consisted of beers, coffee, fries, hotdog, sampler platter, ice cream - $47 without service charge. A little steep, but, hey, you've gotta try Hooter's Aruba!
Chalet Suisse - Bottle of Asti, 2 pea soups, Caesar salad, escargot, chicken, cappuccino, Toblerone chocolate fondue for 2 - $88 with service charge (I think). The chocolate fondue is a MUST!!! Great food and great service.
Brisas Del Mar (out past the airport right on the water) - Pitcher of Sangria, onion soup, shrimp kabob, seafood special - $75 with a 10% service charge. Good food and good service. Worth the drive.
Pega Pega pool bar (Manchebo) - 2 beers, ice tea, cheeseburger, ham and cheese sandwich, fries - $27 with service charge. Great place for a good lunch.
Sunset Grille (Radisson) - Bottle of wine, tenderloin, king crab, mashed potatoes, cappuccino, cheese cake - $130 with service charge. Expensive BUT great food, great atmosphere, great service. My 12oz tenderloin was $35 and the king crab was $40 and my side of mashed potatoes was $5. Yikes! The bread was excellent!
Hostaria Vittorio - Bottle of wine, baby octopus appetizer, salad, rack of lamb, fusili, cappuccino - $103 with service charge. Expensive AND bad service, food was OK, but not worth the $$$.
Waterfront Crabhouse (Seaport Mall near tiger) - This was our last lunch on the island… I can't remember what we had and I forgot to write it down. Food was good, though. Nice place.
GETTING HOME - 9-16-01
Obviously, we were on the island during the terrorist attacks on 9-11-01. There were no flights off the island (to the states) on that Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. Saturday the 16th was the first time there were flights to the states, as far as I know. We were scheduled to fly out on Sunday the 16th and we did. Amazingly, we had no problem with our USAir flight from Aruba to Philly. I don't know how we didn't get bumped. I saw a Delta release that gave their itinerary for getting those that were stranded off the island - the Saturday flight was for those that were originally scheduled for Saturday, and then came the Tues, Wed, Thurs, and Friday people in that order. So, it looked like if you were stranded from Friday, you'd have quite the wait to get home.
We were told to be at the airport 3 hours in advance. It was a madhouse, as expected. The lines were enormous. They were holding planes because there were still people waiting in lines. There was a notice in the Aruba paper before the attacks that stated all American Airlines passengers were to be at the airport 3 hours in advance and that if you showed up 45 minutes before your flight, you wouldn't be able to board. They would reschedule you on a later flight, if possible. Kind of interesting, but that all went to the wayside. I do have to say that the employees at the airport were very thorough and considerate. Everybody just wanted to get home. I've seen the airport crowded before, but never like this. We left Aruba on time and our flight out of Philly was on time, too. USAir did a great job and I'd definitely fly them again.
There are many shops now open at the airport and a couple of places to get a bite to eat before you clear immigration. It's actually looking like a "real" airport!
ARUBA'S REACTION TO THE ATTACKS
I woke up on the morning of Tuesday September 11th, 2001 in my hotel room and turned on the TV to catch the Today Show while I got ready to hit the beach. The first thing I saw was a smoking tower. My initial thought was that it must be in Beirut or somewhere like that. Then I heard NYC and the World Trade Center… You know the rest.
There were 4 TV stations in Aruba that carried the terrorist attacks (in English) and you bet that every TV on the island was tuned in to one of them, CNN being the most popular. You would walk down the hall and hear everyone's TV tuned to the same thing. Everything seemed to shut down. There was hardly anyone on the beach, on the road, in the shops, in the restaurants, or at the casinos that first day. The whole island was in shock, as was the rest of the world. The island took on a somber feel. It was no longer a vacation.
The Aruban people immediately took charge to help those affected. A crisis center was set up at the Sonesta Hotel for people needing to call home to check on loved ones, and those who needed help with their flights home. There were also crisis counselors for those needing help. All of this was free, of course, even the phone calls home. In the days that followed, there were many masses that were held and many candle light vigils, also. The Aruban people felt our pain.
The ATAHA also helped. Tuesday and Wednesday nights were free at all the hotels for those that were stranded. After that, the hotels were only allowed to charge up to $100 per night for those stranded. Many hotels set up special rooms with big screen TVs so that people could gather and watch the events unfold back home. Many, many people came together.
It was a totally different island after the 11th. The happy-go-lucky atmosphere was gone; people were in a daze, worried, frightened. Everyone was helping everyone. I was good to see the whole island come together, but I just wish it were under different circumstances.
I can only imagine the effect this is now having on the island of Aruba and it's economy. It must also be devastating. If I were going to Aruba in the near future, I would go. That's just my opinion. I realize that this is a difficult situation and that everyone is entitled to make their own choice, but I wouldn't let these terrorists get the better of me. I'd go without hesitation. Aruba is our home away from home and the people of Aruba are our family. Our family still needs us.
Stacy
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