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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2011 8:21 am
by sherban
Aruba 2007...a really nice place to visit and as others have said...the water was beautiful...I was hooked at first sight!
This is what you see as you fly in...
Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2011 8:31 am
by snorkles
Wow, that is beautiful. I have always wanted to go to Aruba but haven't made it yet. I know it would be a long trip. I've been to Grenada and it was wonderful but the trip time left me exausted. First day there was spent in bed.
Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2011 9:09 pm
by sherban
Aruba isn't much farther than STJ...it is about 30 mins more from the East Coast.
CLT to STT is about 3.5 hours
CLT to Aruba is about 4 hours
Aruba and STJ are totally different..both are great IMO
Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2011 9:49 pm
by lprof
sherban wrote:Aruba isn't much farther than STJ...it is about 30 mins more from the East.
Aruba and STJ are totally different..both are great IMO
Good to "see" you again Sherban! Hope all is well with you and yours.
We are considering a trip to Aruba in February... I now remember your great pics and descriptions and will have to take a look back at them!.
This is a great thread... thanks for sharing your stories.
Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2011 10:18 pm
by jimg20
I don't need to tell any of you about the clear water, soft sand, and laid-back attitude. You already know that. If not you probably would not be here reading this.
I was sent to PR for a business trip in 1996. That was followed with several more trips. I was able to arrange those trips so that my wife could come with me and we could stretch it out over a weekend. We enjoyed our visits to PR, but we determined that we had done all we wanted to do there. Our travel agent (remember travel agents?) suggested STT. She told us about the island and what we could do there. She also said we must take the ferry over to STJ while we were there.
The first trip to STT was 3 days after spending 3 days on PR. We arrived at mid day and headed downtown. Later that day, we called our offices and told them we were calling in quit. We instantly knew we would never go back to PR. We also went to STJ and spent the day at Trunk. It was good as soon as we got there. It was better after the cruisers left around 2 pm. It was on that beach that day when we began thinking about how we could move to STJ permanently.
We found this forum in 2007 and began to realize how easy and economically we could stay on STJ instead of STT. We spent a week in 2008 and thought 7 nights was too short. We upped it to 9 nights in 2009. That was too short also. We stayed 11 nights in 2010 and 2011. That's about right.
We always enjoy the water and the beaches. What is just as important and memorable is the experience of meeting many of you. We have met many of you at the Beach Bar. We have gone on excursions with others. I have met some of you here in the States while on business trips. I have met your families and even eaten dinner in your homes. Those are indications of the kinds of people who visit STJ and this forum. The people of STJ and this forum are one of the highlights of our trips.
JIM
Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 9:13 am
by snorkles
Wow! Isn't life great?
Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:55 am
by sherban
Hello lprof- Just in case you're interested...I wanted to share my Goolgle map of Aruba with you...Cheers!
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=214 ... 1ca6&msa=0
lprof wrote:sherban wrote:Aruba isn't much farther than STJ...it is about 30 mins more from the East.
Aruba and STJ are totally different..both are great IMO
Good to "see" you again Sherban! Hope all is well with you and yours.
We are considering a trip to Aruba in February... I now remember your great pics and descriptions and will have to take a look back at them!.
This is a great thread... thanks for sharing your stories.
Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 11:27 am
by lprof
Thank you so much! I am interested!
Aruba would be a business trip
... usually this meeting is either in San Juan or Cancun, with Cancun's turn coming up next year, but the Cancun Hilton (where we always met) has become the Iberostar Cancun all-inclusive, often featured in the banner above. It is a beautiful property in Cancun, if anyone is considering jumping for the grand opening special.
My first Caribbean experience was in Cancun... October 14, 2001. Other than flying so soon after 9/11 it was simply a wonderful vacation. Since then there have been several returns to Cancun, Puerto Rico, St Croix, St John and Jost van Dyke. No special stories to share... just relaxing, interesting times!