Last full day

Always hate this final day.

We spent some roaming time up at the lighthouse, then some cash at the Marriott casino, then some calories at our room for lunch.

The Manager's party was today. We sat with a couple who have been coming to the Manchebo for 25 consecutive years. They stay for the entire month of November. The new manager, Edgar, had no idea who they were. *heavy sigh* Things just ain't what they used to be.

Back in the Ike Cohen days Ike had the regulars up to his house for a meal. He provided a car for the day and it could be used the next day as well.

Dinner was at Tulip. We hadn't made a reservation and the place was packed. But the hostess scratched her brain a bit, took two unneeded chairs from one table and moved them inside to a small round table - voila! There we were.

And there also was Diego, the bartender from the BB party, who gave us a big hello. He would let us take his pic only if he could hold the duck - once again proving that it's Sassy who is the Grande Dame.

The meal was wonderful. Hank had an excellent filet and I fell in love with the grouper and it's sauce. We shared a dessert. Total bill with tip - 40 USD.

We came home and started the packing exercise while watching that annoying family finally get eliminated on AR.

Since we'll be traveling tomorrow this will probably be the last post for this trip. There are a few more pics at http://auntiemame.photosite.com/ArubaOne/

Thanks for reading.

(Remember, don't feed the wild donkeys - and keep your ducks in a row)

NANO

Not that being in Aruba isn't reason enough to balk at novel writing, but I've found that the real glitch was that I was trying to write in third person, whilst Ian was tring to tell his tale in first. I have given in. The story now begins:

     September at Bromley is a bustle of activity: new students arrive, second years hassle the newcomers in the name of tradition, books are bought and traded, courses changed, old friends reacquainted. But before all this frenetic activity there is a quiet time. The faculty and staff meet at the President’s house for Headmaster's Tea. Cocktail dresses or tuxedos are worn. Smiles are pasted in place. All applicable amenities are observed. Every sort of beverage is served with the notable exception of tea.
     It was at this very bland and proper event that my two precariously balanced worlds finally collided.
     It started with the rustle of silk and the scent of gardenias. I’d been checking the angle of my bow tie in a gold framed mirror when the wearer of the perfume breezed past. I turned, out of what I must consider to be normal male curiosity. As soon as I saw her face I knew my fate was sealed.

Full frontal nudity

Public nudity is against the law in Aruba, but that didn't stop one chap running all around the beach completely naked and totally unabashed.

We at the AMBR beach bar were amused by his antics. At one point he stood on the benches meant for people waiting for the bus and did a little dance.

If he keeps up this behavior he'll never reach the age of three!

Monday

This morning was beach time - vegging out under a palapa.  The ocean has been a bit rough but today it was calmer.


I walked across to Bob's and picked up a pizza while Hank got some beer.  Bob's pizza has a very thin crust.  It was spicier than I like but was otherwise quite good.  The trouble is we finished the dang thing.  Ate too much. Oy!


Made it to the BB party.  Hooked up with a couple of folks from NYC.  Bought each other rounds of drinks.  Hassled Diego to keep changing the music every time we didn't like a song. (Do we even CARE who let the dogs out??)  Ate up nearly the whole platter of Marc's munchies - which were delicious.  All in all had a great time though we were only four.


Needless to say we didn't need dinner.  We went up to the Marriott and did a bit of gambling - with no luck.

Crustaceans and Steaks

The Manchebo thew us a curve - they no longer do the Sunday BBQ at Pega Pega. So we decided to try someting off-list.  (That'll larn 'em)





The new kid in town is Crustaceans and Steaks.   It's located on Irausquin Blvd next to La Quinta.

C&S has been open for three weeks (a soft opening.)  They expect their "official" Grand opening to be sometime around the 18th of November.

The building is large, with both indoor and outdoor seating.  Indoors has a sort of warehouse feel.  The decor doesn't seem to have a theme.  Ornate wrought iron, modern sculpture, traditional drapes, and some pieces with an Art Nouveau feel give a hodgepodge look.  It made me want to ask the designer what s/he'd had in mind.

The menu features seafood and steak - as anticipated.  We ordered the filet and the catch of the day, which was wahoo.  Hank was served, not the filet, but the surf and turf.   The waitress (a lovely young woman named Jenny) was dismayed and consulted the kitchen.   She offered to correct the situation but Hank said he'd keep what he'd gotten.

The filet was delicious.   The caribbean lobster was much more tender than we've had before.   I enjoyed the seasoning on it.  The surf and turf came with an excellent potato.   My wahoo (a fish I've never had before and liked quite well) came with a risotto that was was perfect.

We shared a dessert of baked pear with chocolate and whipped cream that was divine.

The wait staff was attentive and very pleasant and the chef clearly is a winner.

We had no appetizer nor salad.   The bill (including 2 glasses of wine and tip) was 115 USD.

Pillow Talk

After our visit last year, we tried without success to reproduce the way that housekeeping tucks the pillow case ends in so that the pillow is totally wrapped up.

This year we got a private lesson in pillow wrapping from Louisa.   It was a real lesson, too.   Louisa gave us each a pillow and we duplicated her movements.   At breakfast I wrote down the steps and afterwards Hank did the pillow thing while I took a pic at each step.   Now we reckon we have half a shot at being able to do it at home.

The final step is shown here.

A different kind of view from the beach

Last night we had a thunderstorm and it was still raining this morning.  We were later than usual to breakfast.  Hank was annoyed during our meal by gnats.  The gnats like him.  The mosquitos like me.  My legs already look like I've been on Survivor Island.  I'm wearing Eau de Deep Woods OFF.

We decided to walk back to the room via the beach side.  We were just passing a neighbor's room when he drew open his drapes.  I bet he won't do that again until he puts some clothes on!

Who knew you could close drapes so fast?

Ostrich and donkeys and rain - Oh My!

Today started with a laundry-during- breakfast thing. Easy to do at Manchebo.

We set off for the Ostrich Farm and were lucky to have a very small group for the tour. Our guide, Don, was a real hoot. He had one of the birds "massage" (peck like mad at) his back and he asked if anyone else wanted to try.

I'm game for anything. The ostrich bangs your back and pulls at your blouse. Very odd feeling.

Don recognized a patsy when he saw one and beckoned me over to be the first feeder. That was great fun. I was game for sitting on the birds as well - though not for riding one. It rained like the dickens for about 6 minutes and we all got quite wet. Nobody cared a bit. All in all, we loved the experience and will probably go again next time.

Then we were off to the Donkey Sanctuary. Stupid here assumed that once we were in the gate the donkeys would still be separated by a fence. Not so. I was carrying some carrots and one of the gals noticed. So I finally got to feed a donkey.

But then the OTHER donkeys caught on and.... Well, lets just say I retreated to the rear of the building after the carrots ran out. I took refuge on the porch, but when the gate was opened for me one of the donkeys charged up the stairs and ran all over the place.

A beautiful lady - one of the folks who volunteer for the childrens' program at the Sanctuary - was kind enough to answer all my questions. An important thing I learned is that it's a very bad idea to feed wild donkeys. They get used to people as providers and approach cars. Bonaire is having a real problem with that. There have been a number of auto accidents. Another of the volunteers was celebrating his birthday and we were treated to a much appreciated ice cold soda before we left. The donkey farm will be another place on our visit list.

We then took the road down to San Nicolas and actually found The Promenade. We must have passed right by it at least four times last year. We had the lunch special for which we chose salad, mixed grill and ice cream. It was very good indeed.

We drove by Baby Beach which is coming back to it's own. Some of the huts have been rebuilt.

Happy hour at the Manchebo (and another load of laundry) followed by a little nap. Now it's about time for a sandwich for dinner.

I'll put more pics up tomorrow at http://auntiemame.photosite.com/

Reservation please

When answering the phone where the caller might be a foreigner I think you ought to say three things before you say the important thing that you want the caller to understand.  I don't know about you, but it takes me a while to get the hang of listening.

I dialed.  The phone rang.  A pleasant male voice said something unintelligible (to me).  I hesitated, trying to translate. "Chalet Suisse?" I asked.

"Yes, dear lady."

Geeze - it was Benny.  I briefly considered hanging up and calling back, this time without making an idiot of myself.  But I said "I'd like to make reservations for this evening, if I may."

"Of course, dear lady, how many?"

See, Benny was acting as though he were speaking to a normal person with a brain and everything.  That's class.

So he will be delighted to see us again at seven.   And he pronounces our name in the French fashion.

Mid-day Friday

Just stopped in from the beach for a bit of lunch.

It rained like the dickens for about 10 minutes. Some packed up. Some retreated to the bar, others to their palpas.

We stayed in the water. WHAM! A pelican did one of those nose dive fishing maneuvers about 8 feet from us.

How cool is that!!

Day Three -- "Here donkey, donkey."

The first days can be found on http://www.septemberhouse.net/journal/ but there is currently some sort of ftp problem there so here we are, on BLOGGER.

More pictures can be found at http://auntiemame.photosite.com/

Thursday was shooting day. We started out for Natural Bridge which we found without trouble. Despite the collapse, there were a zillion people there.

The attendant at the airport had told us that there are plans to repair the bridge. It certainly seems a daunting task.

Our favorite occupations - Hank with the camera and Lee examining purses. Here at the gift shop the attendants all looked like they had just smelled something foul. One was actually rude.

We then went to the donkey sanctuary with our carrots but arrived 8 minutes after it had closed. As always, we saw no donkeys - but heard them for sure.

Casibari rocks were next, We enjoyed some ice cream. Lee bought a purse and a postcard with a picture of a donkey to assure that we would indeed know one if we ever got to see one. Just as we left the gift shop to see the rocks, a bus unloaded. So we got to speak with some folks from the RCI ship that had docked for the day.

We went back to the hotel and decided to go out to Linda's (our first time) for lunch. That was a great choice. Despite the muggy heat and the fact that we were (at 2PM) the only customers in the place we were delighted with our choice of restaurant. Hank had a bacon pancake and Lee had a bacon and apple pancake. Both were delicious.

Back at the hotel, in the cool of our room, we discussed possibilities - pool, ocean, bar. But Hank played on the computer while Lee fell asleep. So ... diner was sandwiches in our room of the coldcuts we'd bought at Certified. We watched TV for a while. We cheered The Donald as he fired the right guy.

Tomorow a beach day is planned. (We all know what Bobby Burns said about plans.)


NANO
Not doing well here. Even though I had the afternoon free. Today is day three and I have only one day's worth of word count. (Heavy sigh)