Aruba: One Happy Island: Days 3 & 4

And we're back!

Just where we left off yesterday...

Not only are the days amazing in Aruba, but so are the sunsets.

Night three's dinner was at the Sunset Grille, which is the "fancy" restaurant at our hotel, the Radisson. We tried to sit outside, but it was very windy and the bugs were very bad, so we moved inside.

On the menu that night:

John:
Appetizer: Escargots
Entree: Baked Stuffed Shrimp
Side Dish: Scalloped Potatoes au Gratin (John said that they should put this on the menu as an entree, it was that good. (I had to double up on the Lactaid pills before even taking one bite.)

Katie:
Appetizer: Grilled Diver Scallops
Entree: Grilled Salmon

We both had wine.

We both shared Tiramisu for dessert.

Another great day and night with the love of my life!

Day four. More of the same? Shocking, but yes.

This may come across as "stalker-ish"but there was a couple staying at the Radisson that we saw at Gilligans' while eating lunch, on the beach, and around the high-rise area and we kept saying that the guy looked like Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston Red Sox player who just happened to be out the disabled list for a broken foot (or a similiar injury.) We joked that he really hadn't broken his foot but was faking it and was in Aruba getting some rest.

photo credit

More friends.

We liked Salt & Pepper so much that we decided to mix things up and go there for lunch. We actually sat inside this time and were able to check out all of the salt & pepper shakers. 

If you bring a salt & pepper shaker set they don't have [not sure how you'd know that], you get a free glass of sangria. Had we known this, we might've done it. However, we probably would've brought these and wouldn't have been eligible.

Day four was the first day I decided to start spending some time in the pool in the afternoon. Part of it was strategic and part of it was just plain self-indulgent.

Strategy: You can reserve a palapa on the Radisson beach as early as 4PM the day before. We learned that people start LINING UP at 3:30PM. The Radisson actually puts folding chairs out in a row outside of the towel hut for people to sit in while they wait until the clock strikes 4. (Crazy, huh?) The pool is within eyeshot of the towel hut and the line of chairs, so I figured I'd lounge in the pool and keep an eye out for when the chairs were set out and get us a prime spot.

Self-indulgent: No words needed.

The view from my seat (in the pool):

Dinner on the fourth night was at Smokey Joe's. We had walked by it a few times and I'd seen something about the best ribs in Aruba (John LOVES ribs), so we decided to give it a shot. It was GREAT!

On the menu that night:

For an appetizer, we shared West Indian patties (pastechies). They're very similar to empanadas. We had one beef, one chicken, and one cheese (Gouda, which is big in Aruba due to to the Dutch connection.) They were so good!

John: Half-rack ribs.

Katie: Honey-Hoisin Chicken. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Highly recommend it.

For drinks:

John had sangria and I had a pink iguana. It was pretty good but VERY sweet.

As I mentioned, Arubans are big on the Red Sox due to their "native son" Xander Bogaerts being on the club. Smokey Joe's had a Bogaerts shirt behind their bar. I went to take a picture of it and the bartender convinced us to take the picture with us in it.

After eating we took our "usual" tour of the high rise casinos. While walking back to the hotel down the main road, we hear someone yelling, "JOHN, JOHN!!!" We both look at each other like, "Ummm...who would be yelling for you by name in Aruba?" Turned out it was our waiter Celvin. He'd given us the wrong check! We thought it seemed kind of cheap, but didn't question it. He told us that any open checks that didn't get paid by the customer, the waiter had to pay for himself! We quickly rectified that.

Still One Happy Island!