So we got back from the vacation we won to Aruba, last Tuesday, and we have been sharing our vacation with you. In case you have missed our prior postings read more here:
Part one – See how our flights went, with our first view of the island
Part two – Learn about the locals, driving, and our first tourist adventure
Part three – how did we win this? Check it out, and see how our first sailboat ride went…
Part Four – Grocery shopping with out coupons in Aruba
Part Five – Sarah’s first snorkeling adventure
Part Six– The windy north side
Part seven – The windy north shore and the waves
Well it’s our last full day (Sunday)in Aruba, and we are cramming things in. We drove out through the capital and on to the far eastern side of the island. In the museum the other day, we read there were wild goats on the island. We hadn’t seen any the whole trip. Till Sunday we were headed through town after Church, when guess what we saw? Sure enough there was a small little heard of goats being lead by the male goat. They just roamed down the road and go were they want. Kind of strange to see.
Once we got to a open area, I convinced Sarah to to hike out off the road to see the waves. From the car it looked like a normal little hike of maybe a few hundred yards. Once we got about 20-30 yards out the terrain switched to this totally rugged and jagged old coral and cactus.
Poor Sarah got poked a handful of times. She only had flip flops on that didn’t hold her feet still. So her feet kept sliding off and touched these little viney plants. She said at first it felt like a needle prick. Then this intense burning and heat sensation took over. It happened every so often and the pain continued to intensify.
I offered to carry her but she refused. We finally made it back to the car. She dealt with the pain that finally went away after a few hours.
We hit the beach one more time before the sun went down. It was fun until something kept hitting my back. At first I thought it was some debris in the water. I turned and nothing was there. So then I thought maybe it was the strings on my bathing suit floating around me in the small waves. Then I turned around again and noticed a small four inch fish swimming around me. He kept pecking on my side and just became so annoying. I got up and stood in the water and he kept pecking at me. So I got out of the water. Sarah thought I was being silly and didn’t believe I was being pecked on by a fish. So as she sat there in the water and all of a sudden – peck -peck… she was his next meal. So she jumped out too. And we decide to lay in the sun for one last time and enjoy the time together watching the sun set on our vacation.
Once the sun went down and the cool breeze set in we decided we better head in. It was so much fun there in Aruba and it was our last day in the warm sun!
There was one of those Japanese Steak house restaurants in the resort and we thought we would eat in a fancy place just one night. So we sat down in the restaurant and while we waiting for the chef to come out and put on the cooking show, we ordered some sushi. I had, had sushi back in Washington D.C. long before we were married. At some Japanese restaurant that spoke no English. Sarah though had never had any. Being a small town dairy farm girl she never had the gumption to go eat raw fish. I talked her into it and once they brought it out there were two pieces. One for me, and one for her. I dipped mine in the soy sauce and a dab of wasabi, and down the hatch. Sarah cut her’s into three pieces. She did the same dip process and after the first little bit, I was surprised that she actually finished the rest of it.
We ate Yellowtail sushi. For those of you who haven’t had it yet, it isn’t what you may think. Most fish actually do not smell. if your fish smells like fish or rotten fish then it isn’t fresh. Raw fish really melts in your mouth. If it’s a texture thing, then really the only texture you will taste is the rice. Raw fish truly melts in your mouth, the chewing is just for the sticky rice. So step out of your box and try some like Sarah did. For around $5-$8 you normally will get two pieces of sushi… try it and make a night to remember!
There are only about 2 more parts left to our story – More to come