Aruba-One Happy Island

Aruba-One Happy Island
Our first port was Oranjestad, Aruba on November 18th. It was the first sunny day we had since it has been rainy and cloudy since Wednesday.  We were in Aruba last April, so we decided not to do an excursion but rather to walk around the downtown area.  Oranjestad has a lot of Dutch influences, from currency, street names, type of government, and architecture to sculpture recognizing Dutch notables. We walked to Queen Wilhelmina Park and passed some interesting architecture as well as the Aruba Parliament on our way. In Queen Wilhelmina Park we saw a statue in memory of Anne Frank,  as well as a statue of Queen Wilhelmina. 

After visiting the park we headed back to the ship and stopped at a dockside bar called Lucy's for a cold local beer.  Lucy's bills itself as a retired surfer's bar and they challenge patrons to try the Scorpion Shot-a shot of tequila
with a live scorpion at the bottom of the shot glass. Dan and I weren't brave (or stupid)
enough to do this but a guy next to us did it. He successfully drank the shot and wasn't stung by the scorpion and earned a tee shirt for his efforts! Of course he had to pay $26 for the shot and scorpion!! It might have been cheaper to just buy a tee shirt. I honestly don't think the Scorpion had a stinger...it was probably removed...but it was definitely alive!
Dead Man's IPA and Balashi beer 
A view of the Oosterdam from Lucy's 
An interesting sight in Oranjestad is the Scientology ship Freewinds which is docked in the port on a fairly permanent basis. This ship is where the highest level of Scientology believers, called OT VIII, come for training. I've heard there's an actual office for L. Ron Hubbard if he should ever return!
Scientology ship Freewinds 

We got back to the ship around lunchtime and went to the pool, watched a film noir movie called Marlowe, tried a new cocktail called a Sunsicle, had a lovely dinner and went to a comedy show with Mike Robinson...very funny man! A busy, fun day...had 10,800 steps.  My new knee is holding up ok but I've been icing and elevating twice a day. Tomorrow is another sea day before we do the Panama Canal transit on Monday. 
Sunsicles on our verandah

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