Sea Legs and Celebrations: Aruba Week 2

The second week started off with a little bit of rain — but if you know Aruba, you know that's no cause for alarm. Twenty minutes later, blue skies. That's just how the island works. 🌦️☀️

With it being a Sunday, we headed back into Oranjestad to explore, keeping in mind that most things would be closed (no cruise ship in port = quiet town). One of the few spots open was King Fish, and honestly? A great find. Everything we ordered was delicious — no complaints there.

After lunch, we made our way over to Paseo Herencia, a cute indoor/outdoor mall that's great for some leisurely browsing and shopping. I had a specific mission: tracking down pieces from Gaby, a local glass artist I follow on Instagram. I bought a necklace from her last year and wanted to grab a few of her pieces as a special gift. Mission accomplished! That evening, we crossed the street and took in the moonlit waves on the beach — the perfect low-key ending to a Sunday.

Day 2 of Week 2 was a highlight of the entire trip for me: a sunset catamaran cruise. Now, I'll be the first to admit — I am not a boat person. Motion sickness is very real for me. But as they say, when in Rome! And I am so glad I pushed past my hesitation because it ended up being one of my favorite moments of the whole trip. Incredible views, an amazing crew, and the whole family had an absolute blast. Highly, highly recommend.

Day 3? Yep, another boat. At this point I think I'm officially getting my sea legs. 😂 This time we did the Seaworld Explorer, a floating submarine experience. We did an actual submarine last year (check out that post for all the details!), so we wanted to try something a little different. We didn't go nearly as deep this time around, but it was still a super fun and unique experience — the underwater views alone are worth it.

Post-adventure, we were ready for lunch and stumbled upon Amore Mio, an Italian restaurant that had been recommended to us the evening before. Now, I know what you're thinking — Italian food for a lactose intolerant girl? I had the same thought, believe me! But they offered a customizable pizza with a no-cheese option, and wow, it easily made my top 3 best pizzas ever. The waitstaff was wonderful too. Would 100% go back.

We headed home for a siesta after lunch — and a well-deserved one, because we had plans that evening. We'd been seeing fliers all over town for the Suarez Brothers Circus, and we finally decided we had to check it out before they left. I hadn't been to a circus since I was a kid, let alone one in a foreign country, so I wasn't sure what to expect. The show opened and closed with traditional Mexican dancing, and in between there were acts like high wire, axe throwing, trapeze, and — the wildest thing I've ever seen — motorcycles racing inside a metal sphere. A METAL SPHERE. The clown in between acts kept the audience laughing and even pulled some folks up for interactive skits. Overall, a really fun way to spend a family evening! Not as elaborate as some US shows, but charming in its own right. 🎪

A couple days later brought the whole reason we made this trip happen: my uncle's 70th birthday. 🎉 The night before, after he went to bed, we snuck around setting up all the 70-themed decorations I had hauled from home. The look on his face the next morning when he walked in? Priceless. He loved it.

After gifts and some chill time at home, we ventured out to a craft fair at the Divi Beach Resort — where, wouldn't you know it, I found Gaby again! Then we circled back to Amore Mio (yes, again — no shame) for some birthday drinks and light bites before heading home for the real celebration.

And by real celebration, I mean a full Surinamese feast. Dad and I had ordered ahead from Indo restaurant: pom, baka bana, roasted chicken, pastei, kouseband... everything was incredible as always. Surinamese food just hits differently when you're surrounded by family. 🇸🇷

After dinner, we needed to walk off all that food, so we headed back to Paseo Herencia for some nighttime strolling. Even though we'd just eaten, we may or may not have stopped for dessert (dairy-free sorbet for me, obviously). We spotted what looked like a stage, asked around, and found out a show was starting at 8pm — so of course we grabbed seats. It turned out to be a group of performers dressed as pirates doing acrobatics, pyrotechnics, and dancing. Totally unexpected and really entertaining!

But wait — the night still wasn't over. We wandered outside the mall and found a cute little outdoor bar where my uncle wanted one more birthday drink. We obliged. 😄 Turns out, the bartender was Surinamese! Safe to say we got the full VIP treatment — including a free round for the birthday boy. We sat, listened to music, enjoyed the warm night air, and soaked it all in. (I stuck to non-alcoholic drinks since I was the driver — safety first, always)

The next evening we had dinner reservations at Driftwood, a beloved spot in downtown Oranjestad. Heads up: parking downtown can be a bit of a headache, so plan extra time for that. Our only gripe was being seated at a table for four with five people, which left my dad awkwardly stationed in a busy walkway for most of the meal — not ideal. But the food was delicious and the service was solid, so overall a really nice belated birthday dinner with the fam. We wrapped up the evening with an after-dinner stroll along the water at the Renaissance Marketplace — it's basically become our thing at this point. 😄

The last few days of the Aruba leg were beautifully uneventful. Pool time. Last-minute souvenir shopping. And one very chaotic Sunday in Oranjestad when a cruise ship happened to be docked — wow. I've never been on a cruise, so seeing just how massive those ships are up close was wild. The town goes from sleepy to absolutely buzzing when one of those pulls in.

Aruba, week two: more memories than we could have planned for, more laughs than we can count, and a 70th birthday celebrated exactly the way it deserved to be. But the trip wasn't over just yet — next up, the motherland. Suriname, here we come! 🇸🇷✨