Honeymoon in Aruba: Day 6

Saturday morning was somewhat gloomy. Not because of the weather. It was actually bright and sunny outside. It was gloomy knowing this was our last day and we did NOT want to leave! Believe it or not we actually looked in to living in Aruba. It would not work for many reasons though. :(

Ryan and I decided to spend our last day exploring the island. We took off in our jeep and drove all over the island. We went to the Natural Bridge ruins, Bushirbana Ruins, and Baby Beach, one of the most beautiful beaches in Aruba.




After an afternoon of exploring we headed back to the villa to make a few drinks and relax on the beach.


Next on the agenda was dinner at a restaurant in the Marriott. It was an all you can eat seafood buffet. Oh my goodness I was in HEAVEN! Seafood is my favorite and this buffet was just ridiculous! All the lobster, shrimp, crab you could eat. There were all kinds of sides and other foods as well. Needless to say, ryan and i were STUFFED after this dinner so nothing else was on the agenda for the evening other than putting on our elastic waist shorts,baggy tshirts, and watching TV in the Villa. :)

The next morning we got all of our stuff together and headed to the airport. Traveling back home went smoothly, but we were definitely sad to be leaving.

I hope one day we can visit Aruba again. It was truly an amazing experience.

Honeymoon in Aruba: Day 5

We woke up on Friday morning to cloudy skies. Fortunately, it did not stay that way for long. I love the weather in Aruba. It is just perfect! :)

Our 5th day of the honeymoon was somewhat of a free day for us. We did not have any excursions planned. So, we decided to go into the city Oranjestad to do some shopping and people watching. The traffic was NUTS and the parking was even worse. However, after driving for what seemed like eternity we found a parking spot. We walked up and down the streets mainly looking at the small booths that held souvenirs such as jewelry, hats, and picture frames. I REALLY wanted to find a fun bracelet and sure enough I found one!


After looking at all the different things they had for sale, we went and had split an appetizer at Iguana Joe's. We got to sit on the patio/balcony high above the street, watching as people went in and out of stores and booths.


After our day of shopping and being in the city it was time to get ready and then drive to the other side of the island for dinner. We went to The Flying Fishbone, a restaurant that people rave about. This setup was similar to Simply Fish except many of the tables were actually in the water, not just the sand. Ryan and I had a table not quite in the water but it was still so pretty. The sunset was BEAUTIFUL. We enjoyed calamari and lobster bisque before the entrees arrived. We did not take pictures of our food this time, therefore I do not remember what we had. I know I had lobster but I have no idea what the hubby ate. ;) It was really tasty, and that is the most important thing to remember.

Honeymoon in Aruba: Day 4

Thursday was a very exciting day. This was the day that I got to parasail for the first time in my life! I was extremely nervous to do this. I have never had a horrible fear of heights, but I don't necessarily like heights either! There were about 8 of us on the boat and most of us parasailed one at a time. Ryan was first up in the air! I trusted him to take our new video camera with him and he never once dropped it in the water! I was up after Ryan and I was SCARED! Taking off was a bit scary but once I was up in the air everything was all good. I had the occasional freak out when the wind would blow really hard, causing my harness and me to shake all over the place. But, for the most part, it was really fun and looking at the ocean and island from all the way up there was SO beautiful! I was not brave like Ryan so I did not take my camera or the video camera with me.




After parasailing we went to the beach and then the pool to relax. We had a few drinks at the swim up bar for happy hour and then retreated back to the villa to get ready for our next adventure.

The Tattoo Party Boat was our next destination. We walked along the beach to get to one of the docs over by a different hotel. We took a small boat taxi over to the big Tattoo Boat, a three-level boat with loud music and bright lights all over the place.

As soon as we stepped onto the boat we were greeted by the friendly waitstaff and got our first drinks of the night. After exploring the boat for a bit we came across a couple from Oklahoma! This was a big shock to us considering all of the other couples/tourists we met were from the East Coast. The Oklahoma couple became our hangout buddies the rest of the night. While we sipped on our cocktails we enjoyed the music as well as several performers and dancers. They even had a Michael Jackson impersonator on the boat!



Around 6 we had a tasty dinner on the 3rd floor of the boat and then headed back down to the main level for more music and dancing. I finally got Ryan to dance with me for a just a little bit at the end of the night. Before our excursion was over we made sure to jump off the boat on the rope swing. Yes, I was in a dress, but hey, everyone else was doing it! So why not? :) We also purchased a few t-shirts on the boat so we can always remember how much fun we had.


When we got back to the villa we changed into our new attire and chilled at the casino a bit before calling it a night.

Honeymoon in Aruba: Day 3

Wednesday morning Ryan and I stopped by the casino for some free coffee (yes you just read that correctly, we are cheap, hahaha). Then we decided to go exploring for a bit in our jeep.

We drove over to an outside mall and walked around for awhile.

Then we stopped at a small cafe called "Amiche" and had lunch. I had the best salad with avocado and fresh crab meat and Ryan had some kind of sandwich (I cannot remember!). It was a very tasty lunch. Then we headed over to a small gelato shop. Ryan had gelato and I had the best cherry slush ever! :)


That evening we had a sunset and snorkel cruise on the ocean. There was a group of about 20 of us. They had rum drinks and snacks along the way. Ryan and I took lots of pictures of the beautiful water and sunset. We snorkeled in two different spots and saw all kinds of fish. Now THAT was exercise! When we weren't snorkeling we got to just sit back and relax on the boat. It was so quiet and peaceful, such a perfect way to start the evening. Our captain and his wife were awesome leaders and even took video of all of us. I will post the video in a separate blog post later on.




After the sunset cruise Ryan and I made our way over to Simply Fish, a seafood restaurant at the hotel. This place was so romantic! Our table was sitting directing on the beach, our feet in the sand while we dined. We enjoyed a few cocktails and the soft sound of the waves just a few feet in front of us.

Ryan ordered the lobster tail and I ordered a special platter that included a small lobster tail, mahi mahi, and swordfish. SO tasty! And of course, the waitstaff brought over a dessert on the house in honor of our honeymoon. This was the perfect ending to such a fun day.

Honeymoon in Aruba: Day 2

The second day of our Honeymoon in Aruba was on a Tuesday. Ryan and I slept in and woke up with coffee in our villa. Ryan surprised me (well, he told me right before we went on the honeymoon, haha) with a massage at the hotel spa! I have never had a professional massage and I was very interested to see how it would go. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT! It felt so amazing to just RELAX and have someone deeply massage the tense areas in my back and neck. I think it was the most relaxing 60 minutes of my life!

I came back to the villa and Ryan and I decided to go eat lunch at the poolside bar. We split quesadillas and enjoyed a cocktail. We soon became aware of some interesting animal life in Aruba: LIZARDS. At least, I think these things are lizards. Big lizards. Yuck. They completely freaked me out and I swear they were all over the place! They loved to jump right out in front of me, causing me to squeal like a little girl! I think Ryan found it to be quite amusing.

After our lunch we went to the beach for a bit and then to the pool to relax. Next thing you know it was time to get cleaned up and ready to go out! We had booked an interesting excursion: The Kookoo Kanuku Party Bus! This bright colored bus came to pick us up at our hotel around 6 in the evening. We joined several other tourists of all ages in this crazy adventure. They first took us to the California Lighthouse where we had a champagne toast.

Next we stopped by a small bar for a drink and time to mingle with the other passengers. Here we met more honeymooners!

The next stop was to this large house where we were served dinner. We also bought these red "water" bottles that would hold our drink of choice and could be refilled for just a few bucks at any of the other bars. BEST DEAL EVER. :) The good was pretty good and we sat with a really cool family from the east coast.

Then it was back on the bus for some loud crazy music, maraca shaking, and lots of laughter. Our first stop after dinner was to a club that had karaoke. Of course I had to get up there and sing "I Love Rock and Roll", why not right? We had a blast here and danced and sang and just let loose. The last stop was another club with lots more dancing. By this point my beverage in the bottle was pretty warm and diluted. I could only take so much!

The bus dropped us off at our hotel around midnight and we said goodnight to our new friends.