Aruba in January (Journal included)

We woke up around 8 a.m. and had a leisurely morning. We walked to the Ruinas Del Mar  in the Hyatt Regency, where we had reservations for brunch at 10:30 a.m. There is a paved walkway on the beach-side for almost the entire distance between the Marriott and the Hyatt. We arrived 20 minutes early, so we walked around and looked at the pet birds they had around their swimming pool. We also looked in a gift shop for a couple of minutes, then it was time to eat. The buffet is quite decadent and fancy and all the champagne you care to drink is included in the price. I started by eating some white pineapple, honeydew, beet salad, crab cole slaw, a couple of pieces of California roll sushi, and a bite of grouper in red pepper coulis. Next, I ate one eggs Benedict. My husband sampled most of the seafood offerings, then had some chocolate covered fruit.  

We waddled back to the hotel, rested for a while, and then went swimming. We swam at the hotel pool, then in the sea. I sat in the sun while my husband swam in the pool again for a few minutes. We returned to our room and I showered while my husband walked around to take some photographs. Then, we drove to Oranjestad. It was Sunday at 3 p.m. and everything on Main St. was closed. We were panhandled where we parked (Note: It turns out that was the one and only time we were panhandled on the whole trip.). The street was so oddly quiet that we walked around the block and right back to the car. We were going to go back to the flea market we had seen in Eagle Beach, but we started to go down the Yacht Basin road and pulled in to a parking lot across the street from the Eet Café (also known as The Paddock). We went in for a beer, and so we could use the restroom! (The secret is that the restrooms are outside, in the back. They are unlocked, so we could have just gone around and used them, w/o purchasing anything.) The café is right on the water and you are looking right at the dock for the gigantic cruise ships. My husband took several pictures of the Royal Caribbean cruise ship there. It started to rain as soon as we got back in the car.

We were still thinking about going to the flea market on Rt. 1, but we decided it probably closed at 5 p.m., so we drove to Salt & Pepper, which is a tapas restaurant in Palm Beach. We arrived around 5 p.m. We got escargot, shrimp, lumpia, and bruschetta, plus glasses of the house merlot. We walked around the block, scoped out Amazonia (a Brazilian b-b-que place we were planning to eat at later in the week), and went back to the hotel. My husband wrote postcards. I went to the gym. Also, we watched the NE Patriots vs.  San Diego Chargers football game.