Ok, so where was I?...

I've been away from the computer for a while, I know. Partly because I'm still trying to get back on my shift schedule, partly from computer problems, and partly because with my rekindled interest in hunting and the outdoors, I've spent my time on the computer mostly on hunting sites and perusing the Cabela's catalog online. I SOOOOO can't wait until I can get back out in the woods with a loaded weapon. Right now in Georgia it's turkey season. One of my favorites but unfortunately, my shotgun is resting comfortably in North Carolina and I'm in Bakersfield, CA. Meaning that even if I was home I couldn't go hunting. Ah well, the anxious anticipation is just as titillating as sitting with my back to a tree in the woods at dawn awaiting the soft crunch of leaves somewhere close by.

As for the cruise, I was on day 5 I believe. I awoke about 5:30 a.m and looked out our balcony door to take in the shining jewel of Aruba. Oranjestad to be precise. The cruise ship was not farther than a quarter mile from the main drag. In fact, the only thing between the ship and shopping was a local marina. Beth and I got up, dressed and headed for breakfast. The stewards usually leave some information about the next port of call the night before you get there so you have a chance to familiarize yourself a little. I prefer to do this over breakfast. It's fresher on the mind that way and it also avoids that awkward eye contact thing from the people at the next table. After breakfast, we headed back to the room to gather our excursion gear. We decided to take our own snorkel gear and man was that a blessing! We disembarked and caught a local bus to Malmok beach on the other side of the island. We spent most of the morning there in the water and walking around the quaint neighborhood. By noon though, we were both getting hungry so we caught the nearest local back to town. Roundtrip...$2. We found a great local hangout downtown called Iguana Joe's and had a wonderful lunch. These Caribbean towns are known for their duty free shopping so we had to do a little of that too. We bought some local artwork, a wedding band for me, and I bought 3 cubano cigaros.(a Monte Cristo #2, a Cohiba, and a Romeo y Juleitta). It was getting late and while Aruba is also known for its nightlife, we on the other hand are not. We headed back to the ship with our booty and after dinner sat out on our balcony for a while to watch the partiers head for town. It was another early-to-bed night but that was OK because day 6 was the one I was waiting on...

Willemstad, Curacao. From the pictures we saw before the trip, the storefronts on Handelskade look very much like the colorful Rainbow Row of Charleston, SC. While it was similar, it was very obvious we were worlds away from the low country. We had a paid for excursion here so we met our transportation and headed off to the snorkelling hole. Our guide took us and 3 other couples on a speedy tour through the city and over the bridge towering above the waterway. We were the only excursion going out that far but it was well worth it. Our first dive was a good introduction for the other couples, but evidently Beth and I won the confidence of the guide because she said, " we're heading over there to that pylon so if you want to go on ahead, we'll meet you over there." We did and enjoyed all the wonderful coral formations and tropical fish and the rest of the group wasn't that far behind us anyway. One drawback, however, was that Beth and I were the youngest in the group and while we could have stayed out there all day, we didn't want to be the ones everyone was waiting on so we all stayed and played together. On the way to the next spot, we stopped at a hospital that was used in the 1800's as a quarantine hospital and later during WWII as an allied hospital for wounded military personnel. Then we were taken to the fort that was built back in the 1700's and which most of is still standing and in fairly decent shape. I commented on the odd yellow bricks used in some of the buildings and the guide said that they were all imported from Denmark (it is the Dutch Antilles after all) and that at the time the fort was the most expensive of its kind in the New World. Our second dive spot was also spectacular and with the bonus of a sunken tugboat to dive. I believe I was the only one not staying on the surface and it was getting pretty crowded by that time because there were other excursion boats gathered around. We got back into town a little before 1:00PM and asked our guide for the best local lunch fare. After she dropped us off, we made our way to La Gouverneur and had a great lunch over looking the waterway and on the other side, the colorful Handelskade. An interesting note: Willemstad is on the waterway between an oil refinery and open water so a couple of times during lunch, there were HUGE tanker ships heading out to sea and looming so big and so close that we couldn't even see the tops of them from our seats without craning our necks down. After lunch we hit the markets and walked across the foot bridge to traipse across Handelskade. There were some local crafts people set up and we bought a couple pieces of local handicrafts then walked through the more commercial shopping area behind Handelskade. The ship was leaving at 5:00PM so we hurried back to the boat. Beth was tired and stayed in the stateroom but I went up and out on deck 12 to watch the whole operation of un-mooring and leaving the dock. From where I stood, I could see officers up on the flying bridge and the tenders down below. Very neat operation that. I would have loved to stay there a little longer but there's always the next cruise. After dinner, we met some friends and played some pool on the auto stabilizing tables. You'd be surprised, but on tables like these, it's actually EASIER to hit the ball after having a few drinks. Hey, tomorrow's another sea day, I can sleep late..