Aruba

Today we arrived in Aruba. The last time I was here was about 39 years ago so there have been a few changes. I have only two clear memories of Aruba. One was how pretty and white the sand was on all the beaches. The second memory was about Michael, who was about a year old at the time. To this day, I still feel guilty when I think about how sunburned we let that kid get! We had him tucked under a little shady bush but I guess the reflection off the white sand got to him. In those days people didn’t use sunscreen, you actually worked on getting a tan. He was absolutely glowing by dinner time; I thought he might break into flames by bedtime. We covered him with some kind of medicated wet packs that I haven’t seen before or since and he was fine the next day.  He didn’t seem to mind; he was happy to be the center of attention (some things never change). Anyway, back to today - we had to set our clock ahead an hour last night (Atlantic Standard Time) and tomorrow night we set it back an hour again. I don’t get how all these various time zones work but I just do as instructed. Anyhow, Aruba this is a small island about 20 miles long and 6 miles wide (less than 75 sq. miles). We docked in the capital city of Oranjestad. The local language is Dutch. At one time they mined gold here but now I think oil is king, with a huge Valero oil refining plant. The island is the world’s leading aloe producer. (Hey, maybe those were aloe packs to soothe the burns – who ever heard of aloe 40 years ago?) I would have to guess tourism also ranks in there somewhere as a money maker for this island, based on the number of cruise ships in port. We didn’t take any organized tours. We just got on a local bus and headed out to the “hotel area” with all the pretty beaches.  There is one hotel after the other from the Hyatt to the “Club Med” all inclusive type hotels. We shopped at a little local open market as Jim needed a white shirt for his “singing debut” at the end of the first cruise segment. I can see we have two totally different “shopping” strategies. That is wrong right there – I “shop”, he “buys” without even asking the price.  While I was busy bargaining for a $6 hat, he is standing next to me paying full “sticker price” for his shirt. I can see that he will be no help on any of the shopping outings. Courtney and I have that “open market haggling” down to a high art!  We shove off at about 5pm tonight for Columbia. Provided the drug cartels aren’t acting up in Cartagena, we are scheduled to dock there tomorrow.