Its nearly 3 am, and I am sitting in my recliner uploading photos from the most amazing vacation I have ever had:
Aruba is an absolute paradise! I can’t wait until I can go again. It is the perfect place for couples, honeymoons, and family vacations. Below is the rundown of my vacation:
Sunday, we ate at Tony Romos, which is a chain restaurant. I had their famous ribs, and boy were they good. I washed down the meal with a couple of Balashi beers. They are locally brewed and taste kinda like an Amstel mixed with a Heinekein. The bummer is they are only packaged in 7 oz bottles and cost five bucks a pop. By the way, all the drinks on the island are expensive.
Rod greated me at the airport with a case of them. They are awesome, except for the fact that they come in 7 oz bottles. They are 5 percent alcohol. Its funny seeing Bud Light listed as an import on all of the menus.
Monday, we ate at LG Smith Steakhouse. I had an awesome ribeye, but thought the filets from there and Tony Romos were not as good a what I get at work. The restaurant was decorated amazingly, and I plan on using those ideas at Oaksmith Grille.
Tuesday, we I took the car out and explored the island. I went to the uninhabited part of the island, saw the lighthouse, the cemetary which looks like New Orleans style, and went to the mall.
That night, we ate at La Petite Cafe. They bring your food on a hot stone and you cook it yourself. I had filet from Argentina and lobster from the warm waters of the Carribean. The chef told me the filet was seasoned with soy, garlic, and pepper. It was the best filet I have eaten! As well as the lobster.
Today, we went shopping. I had some balling Cuban coffee and cigars. The coffee will keep you up for days and I plan on buying some. I may start a cigar collection while I am here.
Some of the wine here sucks. Most of it is Food Lion grade stuff. However, they do have some great French wine at good prices.
The first two nights, we hit up the Sopranos piano bar. Its very similar to Rum Runners, except they have cigars. We had a great time there both nights. However, the bartender was trying to pad my bill with drinks for her friends. When I requested an itemized bill, she split off 2 jager bombs. The next night she remembered me, and when I asked for my bill, it was correct.
15 percent gratuity is built into all food bills and all servers share tips. Service is great, but often slow, as all restaurants on the island are understaffed.
Tonight, we are headed into town to Senior Froggs, which is a lame franchise club in Mexico, etc. We shall see…
Senior Frogs was a big dance club, with tons of young people running around. It seemed like any old dance club I remember from Greenville days, except no fights. I am really supprised no one has gotten in a fight while we were out.
Thursday night, we ate at Madame Joulettes. It is ranked world wide as a great place to dine, with a 2007 Wine Spectator award for their wine list. All of the dining is outdoors. On this particular night, it was so hot, I was honestly feeling a little nauseous. We ordered a great red from France, and I ordered a filet, stuffed with Gouda. It came out really tough, and I had to send it back. Fortunately, this was my gateway to meet the chef. The chef and I chatted for a few minutes about beef, and we headed back to the hotel. I was beat, so I crashed around 11 pm. The heat here got really intense on Thursday, and it began to beat on all of us. We also went jet skiing that day, which was pretty bad-ass.
Friday, Rod, Tonia, and I headed into town for some shopping. I bought a humidor. Tonight we ate at a sushi restaurant. I ordered my traditional spicy tuna, and eel rolls. They were not very good. I would not eat there again. I was so stuffed with rice at the end of the meal, I motivated myself to run at the gym for 30 minutes and lift some weights. Just enough to burn off the meal (hopefully) and wear myself out. We are waking early tomorrow to ride ATVs and explore the natural part of the island. This is what I have been waiting for all week!
In my downtime, I have been hanging by the pool. It has a swim up bar, which is awesome! Plus, all of the walkways and beach are made of crushed coral, so nothing gets hot like it does back home.