Friday, April 29, 2016

One Happy Island

We just returned from our second trip to Aruba, a small southern Caribbean island 15 miles off the coast of Venezuela.  We stayed at La Cabana Resort and Spa again.



Aruba has so much to offer.  The weather is fabulous with a year round average temperature of 82 degrees and constant trade winds to keep things comfortable. The beaches are some of the best in the world. English is spoken everywhere, US dollars are always welcome, people are friendly, crime rate is low and the island is outside the hurricane belt.  What more could you ask for?



Our first of several great dinners was enjoyed at Las Ramblas, one of our resort restaurants.  What a treat to have a terrific view of Eagle Beach, the beautiful sunset and live guitar music while we ate a delicious meal.  


I had a surf and turf plate with extra large bacon wrapped scallops, shrimp and a juicy cut of beef with chimichurri sauce. 

We also enjoyed Cuba's Cooking, Taste of Belgium, La Granga and lunch on the Mi Dushi snorkel cruise.  I loved that our resort was within walking distance of Super Foods, a superb market with an amazing selection of Dutch and American foods, a great bakery, deli and produce section.  One of the young workers in the produce department offered to cut up a minneola for me (a cross between a tangerine and grapefruit).  It was so yummy - hope they will be available at Publix.


     
If you love the beach, Aruba is a must.  Eagle Beach is rated by Porthole Cruise magazine and TripAdvisor as one of the world's most beautiful beaches.  Our hotel is shown in the background and our favorite palapa on the beach was in front, beside the volleyball net.  



Can you tell from my hair how windy it was on deck? Next time I'm packing a hat with a chin strap.  There is excellent snorkel and scuba diving here.  You can easily see many types of colorful fish, eels, starfish, etc., as well as some interesting shipwrecks.  The sunset cocktail cruise we did was fun too.



Are you convinced yet that this is indeed "One Happy Island" place to be?  I'll be making this a yearly trip, if I can convince hubby.  He says he likes to try new places each year.