27th Trip to Aruba - Amsterdam Manor Beach Resort

September 20-30, 2006 by Stacy

Another wonderful trip to Aruba and another wonderful stay at the Amsterdam Manor.

Jet Blue

It is SO nice to fly Jet Blue to Aruba! No problems at all even with our flight being one of the ones in their first week of flying to Aruba.

Jansen Rental Car

Friendly service! They delivered our car to our hotel as our vehicle wasn't ready upon our arrival. We got chauffeured to the hotel with a quick stop at the store for some Amstel Brights. Our car was delivered later that night.

Amsterdam Manor Beach Resort

Ah, it's good to be home! Where everyone knows your name! My friend, Kimmy, and I were greeted with a welcome back as soon as we set foot in the lobby. It was Kimmy's first time and she was in awe!

We went to our second floor suite to be greeted by ArubaAmy and her husband, Mike, with ice cold Brights in hand! The 2 bedroom/2 bathroom suite was just like I had remembered. The kitchen and living room and balcony terrace were just as wonderful as last year.

New cushy lounges at the pool - NICE! Still have the 2-for-1 Happy Hours at both bars. Employees are still very friendly and helpful, even when you break a beer bottle at the Manager's Cocktail party! What a cast of characters we have each year! And we keep adding more characters - everyone is so friendly and sociable, and from all over the world!

Bulletin Board Party

at Amsterdam Manor’s beach bar and dinner on the beach at Passions - what FUN!!

Beach is white, clean, and not crowded. Water is beautiful! It's easy to just relax on the floats and forget your worries...and get sunburned!

Food at the Amsterdam Manor is great, whether you eat at the restaurant(s) or order room service. Lunch delivered to you on the beach is the way to go!!

Rancho Notorious

Kimmy and I did the Beach Tour. Wonderful tour right along the water's edge.

Donkey Sanctuary

This is always a fun time! Bring a couple bags of carrots - they LOVE them!

Charlie's Bar

Always a must do!

Black Hog Saloon

We went there for the BBQ and the show. We ran late, so we just got the BBQ as the show was over half done, which was a good thing. The BBQ was great and cheap. The show was OK...IF you're on your honeymoon or celebrating an anniversary - it's a couple's thing - with goofy games and lots of cups of (warm) beer. We had a blast eating at the bar and watching everyone make goofs outta themselves (passing a balloon to each other without using hands, drinking a shot out of your partner's lap, answering questions like 'where was the weirdest place you've ever done it'...that sort of thing).

They had barstool races. We wanted to try this, too. No, it's just for the 2 guys that work there that race around and race each other on motorized bar stools. Like they had lawnmower engines attached to the stools. Now, if they'd let some of the drunk honeymoon guys try it, it woulda been much more fun to watch!

Then came the Harleys. They ride right up into the bar area and around a 'Harley Coaster', kinda like a spiral ramp, in the back of the bar area. It's basically a Harley show where you can check out the bikes, chat with the owners, get your picture taken. And, I believe this is how it worked, if you had purchased tickets to 'the show' you could pay extra to get a ride on a Harley. The guests had different colored wrist bands and only one color got to ride, so I'm thinking they paid extra.

The Black Hog Saloon was my 'new thing' this year. Otherwise it is the same great stuff year after year! Seeing old friends, making new ones, breaking stuff, drinking too much, getting sunburned, eating too much, losing at the casinos, missing my turn to go to a restaurant, drinking too much, breaking stuff, and backing someone's car into something.

Seeing everything thru my friend Kimmy's virgin-Aruba-eyes was a blast! It was fun to 'show her my old stomping ground'!! LOL! She's addicted. Of course. Once you've experienced Aruba with ArubaStacy and ArubaAmy and SueW, there's no turning back!!