The fence posts around our house are topped by these massive shells

Last week was insane! I worked every day from 7am-10pm or later. This week is insane but for a different reason: I am in Aruba! That is insane because I am not a "man of means." Some dear friends invited my wife and I to join them and others at a beach house in Aruba. We used credit card points for the flights (thank you, Delta) and we are splitting the cost between 5 families. So this trip will cost about $1000 US.

The front garden

"Just in time" because the midwest was hit by a winter storm. We drove to Columbus, Ohio in a snow storm and flew out the next morning. Our flight was delayed over an hour for de-icing, but we made our connection in Atlanta. We left temperatures in the mid 20s F, -0C and landed in 85F which is very warm in Centigrade!

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For those of you interested in travel to Aruba, my hope is to keep a blog about the sights, activities, and travel in this beautiful Caribbean Island.

From Calm to Chaos Picture Series

Language: English, Dutch, and Spanish are the languages that I encounter most frequently.

Money: Prices are in dollars, but not US dollars. they are AWR and the exchange rate is currently $1 AWG = $.56 US.

The airport: Is small and easily navigated. They have an automated facial recognition system which is basically a self-serve entry process. We were told to arrive at the airport 3 hours before our departure because US customs is done at the airport. If you want to drink alcohol while you are here I strongly suggest that you purchase your alcohol in the duty free shop after you exit passport control and have your luggage. There is a small duty free shop and the prices are good, at least compared to what I see in the US. I regret not picking up some scotch. In the local groceries, alcohol is pretty much 50% more expensive. A cheap bottle of Merlot from Chile was about $7US. A 6 pack of beer is typically over $10 though the local beer is closer to $6 for a six pack. I didn't get a good look at the grocery prices as my wife handled that :) she tells me that the prices seemed a bit high.

Garden Guest

We rented our car from Ace. It is a mid size Hyundai and fit four of us comfortably as well as 3 bags of luggage and carry-ons. Ace is not at the airport. You take a shuttle for the short ride to their lot. The attendants were very nice and helpful. The car was ready to go. It was a bit banged up with scuffs etc, but it drives just fine. If you are thinking about a budget car rental I can say that my experience with them was positive - so far - and I don't think they are a company to "fear."

Getting around can be tricky. There are numerous traffic circles and the roads are not well marked so do pay attention. I ended up going the wrong way on a one-way street as we tried to locate a restaurant for a quick bite near the airport! Fortunately, it was short street.

After all that travel yesterday we are pretty tired and not being very active. My WednesdayWalk is pretty much limited to our beach house, though I did do a 7-mile long 4-mile run this morning. I intended to do 4-4.5 but missed my landmark and overshot my goal. By the time I got home I had covered 7 miles! I did discover many small shops and restaurants between the Ritz-Carlton and Eagle Beach. TGIFridays, Hooters, Taste of Belgium, Diana's Pancake House, A couple German restaurants, Italian restaurants, and a lot of Asian restaurants. Stay tuned...