One Happy Island
Aruba, November 2-6, 2001
My wife Cathy and her friend Chris, born on the same day, were due this year to celebrate a milestone birthday. Cathy, Chris, Chris' husband Jim, and I decided to journey to a warm climate to help the women over this psychological hurdle. As we planned, we decided that we needed to avoid the rain and hurricanes that can plague the Caribbean area this time of year. We decided that Aruba was the ideal place for us to visit and it turned out that we were correct. I was very empathetic with the women's state of mind since I had passed this way in my own life over a year ago. The following is an account of the trip.11/01/2001
I awoke at 6:00 AM with Cathy. It was a nice day so I went out and ran for 6 miles to the Cape May Canal and back. I also finished packing and got the house ready for our days away. Cathy came home from school at about 4:30 PM, later than I thought she would. We got going about 4:45 PM, heading for our daughter Alex and her husband Phil's house. We called Alex when we were on the Commodore Barry Bridge at about 6:00 PM. When we arrived, our other daughter Katie and husband Tom were already there. We all went out to dinner at the brew pub in Media. Our granddaughter Erin spent most of the dinner under the table. When we got home, Alex and Cathy opened birthday gifts. Then we all went downstairs and enjoyed my present to Cathy on Phil's high-speed DSL. Our son Bill was on the speaker phone from Indianapolis as Cathy read and viewed photographs. Everyone got a big kick out of the tribute. We went to bed about 11:00 PM for a short night.
11/02/2001
We awoke at 3:30 AM, even poor Phil, our driver. We left at about 4:00 AM for the Philadelphia Airport. There was a longish line at the American Airlines counter and then a huge line waiting to get through the security checkpoint just before 5:00 AM. When we finally got through, we had bagels and coffee for breakfast. We had a short wait at the gate before boarding our 737. Our flight to Miami left on time at about 7:00 AM. Cathy and I did a crossword puzzle on the flight of about two hours. At Miami, we just had time for lunch (bagels) before we had to board the flight to Aruba. We did another crossword puzzle on the flight. We arrived on time at about 3:20 PM. We got a cab to the Marriott which cost $18 for about twenty minutes in the cab. The temperature was around 88 and it was humid, but no complaints. We checked in easily and were in room 754 with a lovely view up the beach toward the California Lighthouse. We changed and took a walk on the beach after not finding Jim and Chris, who had arrived the previous day. When we came back from the walk, we found Jim and Chris at the bar, enjoying Happy Hour. We enjoyed the beautiful sunset over the water accompanied by a live band on the beach. We decided to eat in the outdoor restaurant at the hotel, "Simply Fish". The fish we ordered was overcooked with a lack of what we think of as Caribbean flavors. It was great to eat on the beach, but the food wasn't up to par. We headed up to bed after dinner and went to sleep early.
11/03/2001
I awoke at 6:08 AM and headed out for a run. I intended to run for an hour, but the California Lighthouse was a definite target. The sun wasn't up yet, but it was warm and humid. I did three sun salutations to warm up and then ran toward the lighthouse on the road. I made it to the lighthouse in about 27 minutes and enjoyed the beauty of the vista. In the vicinity of the lighthouse, I spotted a couple of Caracaras; I found out later that this species of buzzard is the national bird of Mexico. I headed back and got to the hotel after 56 minutes. I quit running and didn't do the hour - oh well, it's the tropics. I went for a dip in the Caribbean, very warm and very salty. Then I took a shower and we went to breakfast at the hotel restaurant and had the "healthy start" buffet. After breakfast, we discovered the iguana that populate the rocks behind the hotel. We met Jim and Chris at the rental desk and arranged for an open Suzuki Samurai with a stick shift for a day of fun in the back country of Aruba. We drove along the coast on some rough coral trails. We enjoyed some beautiful scenery along the way: rock outcroppings, "wishing stones" piled by visitors, tall stands of cactus, Alta Vista chapel, a small natural bridge, and the "official" natural bridge. We were lucky to miss a nasty thunderstorm that moved along the coast, just offshore. We only had a few drops of rain a few times all day. We ate lunch at the "Turtle's Nest" in one of the other resorts in the low-rise hotel district. Then we drove down to "Baby Beach" at the opposite end of the island from California Lighthouse. We dipped in the water to cool off and then investigated the desert terrain a bit (pics: 1, 2). We stopped by a store on the way back to the hotel to get wine, water, and rice cakes; Jim and I shopped while Cathy and Chris lounged in the car. We got back to the hotel during the late afternoon. We enjoyed another happy hour (I swam). After showering and changing, we drove to a seafood restaurant, "E Piscadore", in the Cabanas. The seafood was overcooked and disappointing again, but we had fun anyway. We turned in somewhat early again.
11/04/2001
The big day (birthdays) had arrived at last. I awoke at 6:30 AM and went for my morning dip in the sea. We met Chris and Jim in the restaurant and had our usual buffet. When we returned to the room, I thought that our view was particularly beautiful this morning. Aruba is noted for its aloe. I had Cathy pose before some nice big plants in the front of the Marriott. Cathy dragged me downtown shopping for the morning. We took the bus ($2 roundtrip). While we were waiting for the bus, a herd of goats ran by on the road. After a bit of shopping, we ate lunch in an Italian bar/restaurant on the harbor. We enjoyed some pretty good pizzas. After lunch, as we were walking to the bus station, I spotted a rip-off "Paradise Found" shirt for $10. How did I know that it was a rip-off? The tag misspelled Hawaii (it only had one "i" and it seemed capitalized). Aruba is mostly a drink, eat, and lay in the sun type of place, but I found a spot on the beach where I could rent a small Hobie kayak for an hour. The air temperature was 92 and the water temperature was 82, so I applied the Coast Guard guidelines and found that the sum was over 100 and I didn't need a wetsuit. I used a big, clunky paddle to go with the small, clunky kayak and headed up the beach. It turns out that the only mariner's rule of the road is the closer to the beach, the faster you drive your boat, so I was dodging boats pulling skiers, tubers, and banana floats. Also, I tried to avoid the millions of jet skis. I finally worked my way far enough offshore to find some quiet space to paddle. I saw magnificent frigate birds, brown pelicans, sanderlings, ruddy turnstones, and royal terns as I did some birding from the kayak. The guy who rented me the kayak said I could have an extra half hour, so I took an extra 45 minutes and had a very rigorous paddle in some beautiful, but busy water. As I was landing on the beach, a guy taking off with some tubers hit me with his boat and knocked me right off of the kayak. I'm pretty hard-headed and I have a bit of a reputation of getting close to getting hit by boats. Anyway, I was OK and enjoyed the paddle. I swam for about an hour after the kayaking. We took the bus to a great Belgium restaurant, "Le Dome", where we enjoyed delicious meals in a nice environment. Cathy and Chris exchanged small gifts after dinner. Jim arranged for a flaming dessert with three sparklers on it after dinner to celebrate Cathy and Chris's birthdays. We luckily were able to board a bus back immediately after leaving the restaurant. We joined Jim and Chris for a minute in Champions Sports Bar and headed to bed. We didn't get to sleep until after midnight.
11/05/2001
I awoke at 6:08 AM and went out for a run to the lighthouse. When I got back I took a long swim. I went back to the room and woke Cathy and then we went to breakfast for our usual buffet. The four of us had signed up for a submarine trip so we went to the bus stop and were picked up by a cabby who wanted $1 per person to take us downtown. We all opted to take a senior citizen discount to get $6 off the $72 individual ticket. We waited on some benches in the loading area until the shuttle boat (pics: 1, 2) picked up some passengers at the daily cruise ship. We boarded the shuttle which motored for 1/2 hour (pics: 1, 2) to the Atlantus submarine (pics: 1, 2, 3) near the reef. The sub ride was an hour long and got as deep as 150'. It was an enjoyable experience and we saw divers and lots of coral and fish and two wrecks (pics: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). As the shuttle brought us back, we past the Aruba landfill and Queen Beatrice Airport. The harbor looked very pretty from the water (pics: 1, 2, 3, 4). We ate lunch at the same Italian restaurant on the harbor and I had another pizza. When we got back, I swam for about an hour while the others sat in the sun. We showered and changed and headed down the beach to the "Jolly Pirate" sunset sail. We spotted a noteworthy bather in a thong and a topless bather also in a thong; they are included here only for completeness. We loaded onto a shuttle to take us out to the sailboat (pics: 1, 2). The boat sailed (pics: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) up the coast toward the Marriott. We planned to eat dinner afterward on the way back, so I wore shorts and a knit top. When we sailed up near a wreck and anchored, the crew started "rope swinging" into the water. Chris egged me on, so I took off my shirt and swung out and into the water dressed in my shorts. The sun went down and we took a couple of sunset photos (pics: 1, 2). I was soaked, but very warm and comfortable. However, I knew that air conditioning would freeze me with those wet shorts, so we ate outside at the "Sunset Grill" and had another excellent meal, even better than the night before. Cathy and I had sushi grade tuna and stuffed shrimp after a great bowl of abalone bisque with caviar garnish. We had a longish walk back along the beach. It was beautiful and warm and a nice walk back. We turned in early.
11/06/2001
I awoke at 6:30 AM and took an hour’s walk on the beach. The waves were crashing into the beach and the local fishermen were pulling their boats out of the rough surf. The wind wasn’t worse than usual, but there were some dark clouds off toward the horizon as if a storm were lurking offshore. I went back to the room and then Cathy and I headed for breakfast to meet with Chris and Jim for our last breakfast buffet. We lingered over breakfast and then Cathy and checked out our four towels and set up four chairs on the beach. I took a walk to take some photos of the rough water and also to find a divi-divi tree to shoot. On the walk, I found a nice little conch shell and two lovely pieces of coral to bring home. When I rejoined the group, I went into the surf to play in the waves. I caught three waves which tumbled me onto the beach. It was a lot of fun to play in the warm, rough water. Soon it was 11:30 AM and time to shower and finish packing. We checked out via the T.V. set and left our room at noon. We carried our bags down to the lobby and joined Chris and Jim for our last minutes at the Marriott. The concierge told us to arrive at the airport three hours in advance of our flight. We left the hotel at 12:30 and caught a cab for the airport. Security at the airport was very intense! We had checkpoint after checkpoint, our bags were searched, and my camera was held until boarding time at the gate. I found a nice computer room while we waited at the gate and caught up with my journal and processed email. Chris and Jim sat with us until our plane loaded. The flight to Miami went without a hitch. Cathy and I completed another crossword puzzle during the flight. We grabbed a snack in Miami and then boarded our flight for Philadelphia. Once again, the flight went without a hitch, but American Airlines’ policy of no food on flights of under four hours cost us dinner. It was crystal clear all the way up the coast and the city lights were beautiful. Cathy and I did one last crossword puzzle on this leg of the trip which put us in Philadelphia at about 10:00 PM. Phil was waiting for us in the baggage claim area. The temperature was 47 degrees, so we were pretty chilly as we headed for Phil’s car. We stopped in to say hello to Alex before hitting the road for the long ride back home. We finally arrived around 12:30 AM. The west wind was howling to greet us as we arrived. We unpacked a few items and finally got to bed around 1:30 AM. What a great trip!
William G.McArthur
November 7, 2001
