Saturday, Day 126 - May 12 - 7 to 5, Oranjestad, Aruba

Aruba is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Together with Bonaire and Curacao, Aruba forms a group of islands called the ABC Islands or the Dutch Caribbean. The Dutch began fortifying the islands in1796 to defend against pirates and other enemies. The island is 20 miles long and 18 miles from Venezuela.

Oranjestad, the capital, exhibits beautiful examples of both Dutch and Spanish architecture. It is now a Dutch city, taking its name from the Dutch royal house of Orange. When not heading for the famed beaches, the first spot most visitors enjoy is Wilhelmina Park, a lovely tropical garden by the waterfront, great for catching the Caribbean breezes. From here, travel on to the Archaeological Museum of Aruba or the Numismatic Museum of Aruba. The first offers a historical perspective; the latter, a fascinating display of coins from over 400 countries. Fort Zoutman (1796) is the oldest example of Dutch architecture on the island. In 1867, Willem III tower was added. Not only an excellent vantage point for photos, the fort also hosts music festivals and craft fairs. We have been here many times starting with our first Canal cruise in the 1980's. The most recent visit was in 2011. In the past we did the wreck dive and rented a car to drive around the island.

We are docked port side to when we open our curtains. That gives us a look at the Caribbean’s blue/green water in the sheltered channel. Today we planned on doing a half day free ship’s tour to see a private island tourist development just for the fun of seeing it, “Passport to Paradise - De Palm Island” at 8:30am for 4-1/2 hours. Again, it is very windy and the water is rough so we decide to skip the tour in favor of another free day. Later we learn that many of the passengers did do this tour and really loved it with all the beach and water activities, many which were included along with food in the tour .

It has been along time since we spent any time checking out downtown so that is what we do. After a leisurely breakfast, we make a last minute decision to get a map and information from the destinations desk and just go into town.

We walk off the ship and look for the pickup point for the (relatively) new, downtown street car. It is electric, runs on rails and takes about 45 minutes to make a round trip. We wait about 20+ minutes for it to come, nearly full of people just riding it for fun. It is a double-decker in good condition and we find seats in the front row downstairs. It proceeds at a stately pace (no worries, island time) and we are then delayed by a car that has parked with its front tire at an angle that blocks the rail. The driver/conductor is in no hurry and takes it in stride. He goes into a few of the nearby stores and soon returns with the offending driver.  He backs up a bit so she can pull out and then we are off again.

We do not see anything on the outbound leg but a nicely cleaned up shopping street...more for the locals than the tourist. But the return trip gives us a view of part of a different street and we get off and go into the Royal Plaza complex. What do you know, there are jewelry stores in here!!! Carolyn shops!

After several jewelry stores and only one small purchase, Dick returns to the ship and leaves Carolyn loose with an active credit card. He must not have been thinking clearly.
Upon her return to the ship we go up to the pool deck for a lite late lunch and then spend the afternoon blogging, reading and playing computer games. We sail at 5PM and Dick is on deck to take photos. The wind is really blowing off the land so we are away from the dock as soon as the ropes are free. Aruba is a very pretty port, especially for the Caribbean, and there is lots of new construction around the harbor.

We head up to the Galileo Lounge for cocktails and some snacks before heading to Sette Mari for dinner. We both have a head of roasted garlic, Caesar salad and a small serving of veal with lemon sauce. It has been another nice, low-key day.

We turn the clocks back an hour tonight and will be back on Central Daylight Time; the same as at home.