ARUBA, One Happy Island!

As we left the Queen Beatrice Airport Sue noticed that phrase on the local license plates, and Aruba is indeed One Happy Island! It is very friendly, very safe, and a lot of fun.   We took a half day coach tour of the Island to learn a bit about this Caribbean paradise. The De Palm Tours driver was very informative and friendly as well. That afternoon we availed ourselves of a couples massage at the Larimar Spa on the Radisson property. VERY nice! It was Kevin's first hot rocks experience and he loved it.   Dinner that night was at the Sunset Grill, a Mobil 4 Star award winner for a number of years. The menu is based on a Steak House theme but also includes a number of great seafood items as well. Kevin will have more on this later.   A self-drive Jeep tour gave us a chance to see the old gold mine facility from the 1800's a beautiful coastline, light house, and more.   A lazy afternoon on the beach/pool was followed by an evening BBQ with the Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleaders who were here shooting this years calendar photos.   Tomorrow we head back to Missouri to prepare for a trip to the Mexican Riviera.   We would like to give a special thank you to the staff of the Aruba Radisson, Casino, Resort and Spa. The service was genuine, friendly and over the top from start to finish. We would also like to say that we saw this same service for all the guests in the facility. It was not just because we did our Travel Planners Radio Show here.   We would also like to thank Aruba Tourism Association for helping arrange the guests for our show. Again, a job well done.   We may have found our second home in Aruba. real estate prices are very affordable. Unlike other Caribbean destinations, where you feel safe as long as you are locked in your resort compound, but wouldn't think about "going downtown", this entire island nation is yours to see and enjoy. Everyone speaks English. The Dollar is accepted everywhere (and they do not double the price when you pay in Dollars)  You will feel right at home, except everyone here seems to be more friendly. Aruba is One Happy Island and this is about as close to Paradise as you can get on this planet!

We are in Aruba

Sue and I just arrived in Aruba to do our Travel Planners Radio Show. We were on the same plane as Peter Greenberg. We sat in on his show tonite and we will do our show live Saturday afternoon from the Radisson Hotel Resort Casino  and Spa. We have already met with the Aruba Tourism Department, who helped arrange our guest interviews, and this will be a very good show.   The tropical breeze is perfect, the Radisson is fantastic, the food is great and the beach is beckoning. More later, Thanks for checking in.   Kevin and Sue McCarthy

PowWow

Who put the WOW in PowWow!  This years annual U.S. Travel Association's PowWow is being held in Miami.  I'm staying at The Palms Resort and Spa in South Beach (Kevin couldn't attend this year due to commitments at home).  Press Brunch started the event and followed with a tour at the Miami Seaquarium where I played with and swam with a Dolphin, holding onto the Dorsal fin and gliding across the pool.FUN FUN!  Another thing to check off my "bucket list of things to do".   The first night's activities included a kick-off party on the beach. Lots of food, drinks, music and animals from Jungle Island. I had my photo taken holding a yellow python, a skunk, a baby kangaroo, a black and white big lizard from Argentina, parrots and a monkey on my head....not all at once.   More to come. By Sue McCarthy

PRSA

Busy month of conferences and travel.    PRSA/SATW (Public Relations Society of America and Society of American Travel Writers) held in Kansas City.  Kevin was a guest panelist on Syndicated Radio.  Great 4 day event and a chance to catch up with old friends and meet new friends and contacts. Sue McCarthy

I love NorthWest Airlines!!!

I''m a bit late posting this, but here goes. On our triip to Norway I had to do some charity work in St. Louis, so Sue went ahead of me. I was to go from St. Louis to Detroit to Amsterdam, to Copenhagen to Oslo to Tromso. The longest layover was less two hours! It sounded like a tough schedule to keep.   I left St. Louis on a Sundaqy morning and as I headed to the airport we had two tornadoes in the area and severe thunderstorms. We were 40 minutes late leaving St. Louis. I had a 55 minute connection to my international flight and I figured I was in trouble already. Northwest did make up some time on the flight, but there were storm in Detriot as well. We touched down with 15 minutes till take off of my overseas flight. The international flight was in the same terminal and I had 5 minutes to get to it when I finally got off the plane.   Luckily , I made it and they were already pushing back from the gate as I got seated. At this point I knew I would never see my checked bag untill I got home. After arriving in Oslo I went to the baggage area to find out where to make a claim for my bag and to see if there was some way they could get it to me on the cruise ship, As I was looking for the baggage office I turned around and my bag magically appeared on the carousel!   I have no idea how Northwesr Airlines made that happen but THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! for your dedication to customer service. I am truely impressed.   After almost 20 hours, 5 flights, and 4 countries, I, and my bag, were standing on the dock at Tromso with 30 minutes to spare!!  Kudos to NorthWest Airlines!!