We went back to the room, showered, napped, and planned on exploring the island on our lovely Hyundai XG300 rental. We set off towards the northwest tip of the island and California Lighthouse. The lighthouse was pretty nice and the scenery was beautiful but the lighthouse was locked tight so no fantastic vista from the top.
We continued going around the north side of the island towards the natural bridge. Along the way we noticed there are no street signs except for occasional sign saying Oranjestad (capital city) this way ----> We stopped for a few minutes at a local supermarket to get a snack or two (doritos, chips ahoy, pepsi, water). Then we continued around the narrow windy roads.
On the way to the natural bridge we found Aruba's ostrich farm. Unfortunately, their last tour was at 4 and it was about 4:30 so all we could do was buy a few t-shirts. We tried to get a closer look at the big birds but got yelled at. Then, about 200 yards down the road we found the Goldmine Ranch. At the ranch were dogs, cats, ducks, goats, chicks, and horses. We shook hands with the rancher and he said feel free to take as many pictures as we want.
Then we went towards the natural bridge and wow the scenery was unbelievable. There were all sorts of jagged rocks and the 30 mph winds were making huge waves and enormous splashes. I drove really carefully down the rocky dirt road because we had no spare tire (that i know of) and no working cell phone for outgoing calls.
We drove back towards Oranjestad to find a place to eat, but couldnt find anything that sounded great. The area around the parliament was packed and there were news trucks doing a live feed... no word on what was going on, but we had to turn around a few times to get around the roadblocks.
We decided to eat at Blossoms, the Japanese hibachi restaurant in the hotel. We sat next to a party of 13 from Caracas and a family from northern Virginia. The food was superbly delicious and we left feeling completely satisfied and full. After dinner, we decided to check out the casino, provided it wasnt too smoky which it wasnt. We started playing craps but well I dont know the game all that well and Sara had no idea how to play although she sort of knows the jist now. We ended up losing $17 in craps...crap. Then we tried our hand at roulette and made $52. Sara picked red/black correctly 9 times in a row! YEYAHHAYAYAH! We also played the inside (betting individual numbers) and hit the right number once.
Now we're in the room watching Fox 5 news and deciding what to do tomorrow. Probably more touring and laying on the beach. Pics below:
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