Barb, Allie and I returned to Aruba for a few days of sun. We made the arrangements months ahead, but happened to travel just as the corona virus pandemic started to really impact Europe and the US. It didn’t change our trip very much, but raised the level of anxiety and made it hard for Barb, in particular, to relax. I’ve decided to keep most of the corona virus news out of this post to focus on our Aruba travel. I’ll document our corona virus experience, wherever it leads, elsewhere.
Continuing our tradition of finding a place for Barb to get a winter tan and unwind for a few days, we decided to return to Aruba this year. I made it a Christmas present for the girls, and for simplicity elected to pretty much replicate the trip to Aruba we all enjoyed in 2018. We again booked a package through Southwest that included flights and four nights at the Hilton Aruba Caribbean. The last time, we enjoyed the hotel’s mix of beach, pools and palapas, and being within walking distance of a number of restaurants. It made for an easy, mindless winter break. This time, I knew to book our palapa well in advance and asked the hotel to help with dinner reservations at two of the restaurants we wanted to try, Wacky Wahoo’s and the Bavaria Restaurant. For this type of vacation, Barb likes to know pretty much exactly what’s going to be in store for each day.
Allie flew down to Baltimore early in the morning on Monday, March 9, and worked from our home for the day. We enjoyed dinner together at Hot Pot Hero, maybe our last for a while, as it turns out.
Tuesday, March 10
Waiting to board at BWI
We got up by 5:15am and were out of the house before 6am to be at the airport in plenty of time for our 8:30am flight. Corona virus fears had started to slow the volume of passengers a little, but all flights and airport operations were more or less normal.
We had a smooth flight to Aruba and an easy $30 cab ride to the Hilton hotel where we arrived by 2pm. Our room was ready when we checked in, but first I stopped at the concierge to check our dinner reservations. There was some confusion over whether Wacky Wahoo’s was at 8:30 or 7:30 on Thursday but the concierge called and clarified our 7:30 choice. All set.
After unpacking, we reacquainted ourselves with the hotel layout and had lunch at Bugaloe Beach. Allie and I tried empanadas and little Dutch meatballs, bitterballen. Barb had a grouper sandwich. All was decent and enough to tide us over until dinner.
For the afternoon, the girls tried out the beach for a bit while I stayed in the room, read my book about Napoleon and rested. When they came back about 5pm, I sat on the porch but was bothered a bit by the music from the pool, and later by mosquitoes near dusk. I hardly remember mosquitoes in Aruba but I think the deal is they tend to come out at dusk when the wind dies down. It was too cloudy for a good sunset so I retreated inside.
In the evening we went to the Bavaria restaurant for schnitzel. We had an excellent evening, ordering German escargot (weinbergschnecken) which turned out very good, with a fresh pretzel for sopping up the garlic sauce. For entrees, Barb got Wiener schnitzel (with real veal to her satisfaction), I got schnitzel a la holstein (pork schnitzel with eggs, anchovies and capers), and Allie got a version of mine without the anchovies and capers. All were quite excellent, as was the spaetzle.
Kwak and glass
The restaurant has an astonishingly extensive selection of beers. I tried a German eisbock, Arktik Ale, which was so-so, followed by a lager, DAB Original Dortmunder which was much better and frosty cold. Allie got a Belgian ale, Pauwel-Kwak, which came in a cool Kwak-glass and holder. According to Wikipedia, “[the glass] is held upright in a wooden stand; the brewery claims the glass was designed by the innkeeper Pauwel Kwak in the early 19th century for coachmen who would stop at his coaching tavern and brewery named “De Hoorn”, though the beer and the glass were not launched until the 1980s. Allie enjoyed both the glass and the beer.
We got Barb a McDonald’s sundae on the way home. We also made a stop at Gianni’s, the big Italian restaurant we ate in last time and made a 7pm reservation for the next night. We were back in the room by 9pm or so. I went back on the porch where the music from the bar was even louder than before but the mosquitoes were gone. I put my headphones on and listened to a couple of Steve Earle Hardcore Troubadour shows on Sirius/XM before calling it a night.
Wednesday, March 11
Our day started with Diana’s Pancakes Place, the Dutch pancake place we enjoyed the last time we were in Aruba. It was very pleasant once again, with good service and a selection of sweet or savory pancakes that are really closer to crepes. I had ham and cheese, Barb had bacon and cheese, Allie had cinnamon apple, I think. All very tasty.
We were on the beach around 10:30am, installed in our reserved palapa, #80, best in the house since I reserved it very early. I stayed under the palapa until 3:30pm which is a long time for me. The girls were in the sun for the morning, then moved under the shade for the afternoon.
Our family at the beach 
Allie getting sun
I settled on the balcony after 4pm and the music from the pool was less obtrusive. Barb got back to check emails; Allie stayed out a bit longer. Oops, I spoke too soon about the music; it started cranking up at 4:30pm with “You’re Gonna Miss My Loving”, lite disco from Lou Rawls (“You’ll never find…”), followed by Barry White. Headphones needed after all. Thank goodness for good wifi so I could listen to my own music…except the mosquitoes started again as well so I moved inside.
After a dose of MASH and Andy Griffith episodes on TV (to avoid anything like news), we went across the street to the Italian place, Gianni’s. This is a very big operation, with a large outdoor patio dwarfing the number of indoor seats. We shared calamari and caprese salad appetizers, both only so-so at best, though the mozzarella on the caprese was good. For entrees, Barb had vongole, Allie had linguini with mussels in a red sauce, and I had orecchiette pesto. Each was good but nowhere near worth the $30 price tags. Our total meal came to nearly $150. We had the same experience the last time we ate there: the food is decent but very overpriced. But the service was good and the show of watching waiters prepare flambeed spaghetti tableside in big Parmesan cheese wheels was entertaining.
In the evening, I encouraged Allie to look through my Billzpage 1998 posts and pictures. She enjoyed going through it and Barb actually joined in. A first! It warmed my heart to see them both sharing memories over the photos. I also asked Allie to look at Billzdaze, currently in its draft phase. She generally approves, which is also some good validation. I like to think I’m on the right track.
Thursday, March 12
We had breakfast again at Diana’s. Barb and I stayed with our respective choices while Allie went for the Farmers pancake which included mushrooms, onions, ham and cheese. She liked it but would go back to fruit toppings the rest of the way.
Another day at the beach
We skipped lunch again which proved to be a problem because we each got a bit testy by late afternoon. The girls got lots of sun. I stayed in the room for the morning and got some writing done, then went to the palapa for the afternoon.
There were lots more corona virus cancellations in the news this day, including the NCAA basketball tournament, major league baseball spring training and the first weeks of the season, and Broadway shows for a month. Allie was at the pool in the afternoon when the NCAA cancellation made the rounds to collective cries of “Nooooo!” from the many American sports bros lounging around. Things are starting to get real.
Otherwise, in Aruba, we skated along with no real impacts. The folks at the Hilton were more assiduously cleaning and wiping things down, which was reassuring even if it was mostly a show.
The corona virus spread helped make up my mind to not get on a bus to explore the island. I feel guilty for not having seen much of Aruba the two recent times I’ve been there, but I admit I got lazy and a bit virus-adverse so opted to stay at the beach once again.
Allie and I wanted to see the sunset, so we started with a drink at the hotel bar (only $30…oy…but they gave us two helpings of snack mix as well, so can I really complain?) before heading down to the beach. It was a pretty evening with no clouds though it was a bit fuzzy at the horizon. I refrained from taking pictures though lots of couples were taking selfies.
We walked to the Wacky Wahoo’s at 7:30 and found that they still thought our reservation was at 8:30, even though we confirmed it through the hotel concierge when we checked in. The restaurant is well rated, #1 on this end of the island, even though it’s a bit of a hole-in-the-wall next to a sex shop. We had tried to get in the last time we were in Aruba but there was no way — reservations were filled weeks in advance. We were disappointed at having to wait but weren’t going anywhere else this evening, so waited a while and they finally seated us around 8pm. Not too bad.
Barb ordered a fried shrimp appetizer (she liked the shrimp and mango sauce; Allie ate the salad) and I got what turned out to be a large bowl of hearty black bean soup. For entrees, Barb got pan fried grouper while Allie and I got barracuda based on the waitress’s recommendation. In all of Dad’s fishing days I don’t think he ever kept and cooked barracuda; he always said it was too oily. Evidently not in Aruba. Allie had it au gratin with gouda; I had it pan fried on garlic pasta. Everything was good, but when Barb gave me a bite of her grouper I thought she made the best choice.The grouper was a tad lighter and sweeter than the barracuda. The restaurant service was nice and very hard working. We were entertained by several of the other guests putting spoons on their noses, starting with a nearby table of four older folks. Two kids at the next table noticed and put down their phones long enough to try doing it themselves. Eventually they got the hang of it, as did another older lady at another table. We refrained from trying ourselves. Gotta love tourists.
Back at the hotel, we settled in to watch Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse, recommended by Allie and Larry, which we found on HBO. It was OK, with some good animation and voice work, but it was still very much (maybe moreso) a comic book. I’m still not a fan.
We caught a few minutes of Stephen Colbert’s first Late Show without an audience. He was having a very tough time making it work. It will be interesting to see how the different late night shows re-tool the format in the coming weeks. I think it may reset into some sort of dialog with two or more people, and they should take the opportunity to add women and more diversity. [The real answer: the next day they canceled production and went to reruns.]
Friday, March 13
We woke up a bit earlier and were at Diana’s by 9am or so. On the way over, I mentioned that since we were eating breakfast early we should plan on having lunch today. Barb asked where and I suggested Scott’s Brats. This made Barb very happy which is always fun to see. She was very excited and walked with a spring in her step all morning.
Bessie, the cow, at Diana’s
At Diana’s, we switched up our orders a bit: Allie tried strawberries with whipped cream while I got brie, walnuts and honey. Allie shared hers with Barb and her cheese and bacon pancake. Everyone left happy.
We were all at the palapa by 11am. I read more of Napoleon in the shade and listened to the subtle music of Brazilian guitarist Guinja, whom I’m very happy to have found. Allie and Barb read in the full sun, getting browner by the minute and happily not too red.
By 1pm we were getting hungry and headed down the beach to Scott’s. Barb got a standard brat, I had a spicy sausage with onions and peppers, Allie had a ham and cheese wrap. Another guilty indulgence. Are we not Ugly Americans, especially as we were seated among a crowd of New Yorkers? I mean, they were uglier, but we were right next to them.
In the afternoon, we took some pictures with Allie at the jetty down the beach. She staged a little Instagram post of her running away on the jetty with the tag, “Social distancing in Aruba”.
Greetings from Aruba!
I headed back to the room for a shower and was soon followed by Barb (now thoroughly toasted) and then Allie. I have to give Allie credit for also getting in a run at the gym on several of the afternoons.
We met my friend, Jenny and her husband Yonie for dinner that evening. It so happened that they were starting their annual week in Aruba just as we were leaving. Jenny recommended we meet at the Tulip Restaurant, next door to the condo they rent each year.
We got a cab in time to see the sunset from Eagle Beach. The lowrise section of condos and expansive Eagle Beach have a very different feel than our hotel row area in Palm Beach. I can see why Jenny and Yonie like it, but I also think that Barb and Allie prefer where we are at the Hilton. It’s tackier and more built-up, but we like being able to walk to a variety of restaurants. And I like being able to reserve a palapa, even if it is a little exorbitant.
The sunset at Eagle Beach was pretty and I got a good pose from Allie.
Eagle Beach sunset 
Dinner with Jenny and Yonie was nice but a little anxiety laden. The Tulip Restaurant was fine. We shared an appetizer of escargot, quite like the ones we had a the Bavaria two nights before. Barb had a burger while Allie and I shared dishes of macadamia crusted grouper and snapper creole. Once again, the grouper was the best. The dinner conversation centered on corona virus discussions, even though each of us tried to steer it elsewhere.
Saturday, March 14 (Pi Day!)
The Allie
We had one final breakfast at Diana’s. Allie ordered a special pancake of bananas and strawberries with whipped cream. We’ll call it “The Allie”. We also learned our favorite waitresses name, Nina, whose mission is to hydrate. All the ladies at Diana’s were quite nice.
We got a slightly later check out time of 1pm and the girls got one last hour at the pool while I packed and showered. We learned that Aruba announced its first two confirmed cases of corona virus. In the US, Trump announced a surprise travel ban on Europeans starting today.
We got to the airport a bit before 1pm for our 5pm flight. We checked ourselves and two bags into our flight fine, then got in a long line, first for Aruba customs, then security. The customs line was mostly outside, under shaded covers but warm enough that I started sweating quite a bit. I tried to keep cool and calm as much as possible so it wouldn’t look like I was feverish or have an elevated temperature if they measured. Fortunately, they didn’t.
That cycle took more than an hour but at least got us inside to a duty free zone. We bought some liquor as gifts and some scotch for me, which made me feel a little more secure. Then we entered the line for US Customs and Border Control. We had a long wait for another security check, then were routed to a baggage claim area where we had to find our two bags again, then got into another long line for an immigration check. After we were in it for about 10 minutes we snaked by a sign that said “Global Entry”. Barb asked a passing agent and he said, “Oh, right this way” and we zipped to the Global Entry machines, bypassing at least another 30-45 minutes in lines. At the final CBP check, the person ahead of us evidently failed to answer the questions properly and was shunted off through a set of doors. I wonder what happened to him. Fortunately, we three breezed through, dropped our two bags off once again, and headed to the gates. Total processing time for us was more than two hours. We later found out that international airports in the States had lines of 6 hours or more as the Customs agents and health screeners struggled to implement Trump’s overnight travel restrictions.
At the gates, with an extra 90 minutes to kill, we got some food. Allie and I had a halfway decent wrap and bowl from Freshii. Barb opted for a hot dog from Nathan’s. Allie downloaded the Star Wars Newcomers podcast series for me which I listened to on the plane. I got through two episodes and will be walking to the rest. Our plane loaded up right on time and the flight was reasonably uneventful. We landed before 10pm and were home a bit after 11.
An update via Jenny: Two days after we left, Aruba announced a ban on incoming tourists through at least the end of the month. Jenny and Yonie cut short their vacation and got on a flight after Southwest flew an empty plane down to get Americans out. Jenny always has more interesting stories. As of March 18, Aruba has four confirmed cases including one tourist and 100+ people under quarantine.
I don’t have anything profound to say about the corona virus or traveling under a pandemic. I will say that the circumstances compound my preexisting sense that these winter vacations of ours are guilty indulgences. We persist in taking them because Barb (usually) enjoys them and desperately wants a tan and a break in the winter. I understand that and support her wishes. It’s also a great chance to see Allie and I like making it a treat for both of them. I enjoy the chance to veg out for a few days and spend some low-pressure time with the girls. But the days are not all that different from my retirement routine, and a lot more expensive. I came closer to actually getting out and exploring Aruba this time, but my laziness and virus fears won out. I’m torn between whether this is the worst kind of vacation or the best. It’s a bit of both. Ultimately, I’m glad we did it and got home before the worst arrived. I look forward to the opportunity to take such trips again before too long. We have plans for the All The Best Festival in Punta Cana in November. Here’s hoping all is reasonably well by then.
Here’s an article I came across describing a number of local specialty foods and restaurants in Aruba. Who knew? I hope we get a chance to try them sooner than later.
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